Friedrichsbad in Baden Baden

This being my first entry, I think it's fitting to describe my first experience in one of the oldest and best - the Friedrichsbad Roman-Irish Bath in Baden Baden, Germany.  This spa has been around since the 1800s.  In fact Mark Twain wrote about it during his grand tour of Europe.  It's essentially the same as when he visited. 

As I walked in, knowing it was a nude / naturist / FKK (as the Germans call it) facility, I wasn't sure what to do or how to act.  So I eavesdropped on the front desk assistant helping another couple in front of me.  When it was my turn, I walked up and asked for a ticket.  After confirming yes, I know it is all-nude, and yes, I know today is a "mixed day" (men and women bathe together on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays and holidays.  On other days, men and women follow separate, generally identical tracks, and meet up in the center bath together.)  She sent me upstairs to "the right" which turned out to be the women's changing room.  But again, on mixed days, there's no difference.  After getting a bit turned around in the locker room, an English-speaking attendant took pity on me and explained: go into a stall, undress, grab a sheet, and come back to the entrance to the bath.  Once I arrived, feeling a bit awkward to be wearing just a sheet surrounded by attendants in white shirts and pants, she told me to put the sheet in a cubby hole, take a shower, then follow the 17 stages.

The first stage was the shower, in a room with nine or ten powerful (really powerful) shower heads.  There was a woman in her 50s there as well, but as we were both naked, it didn't seem that odd.  Basically - you get over the "I'm naked and so is everyone else!" thing quickly.  After a shower, it was on to a hot room, when you laid your sheet down on a wooden bed and relaxed.  There was already a couple in there, a man in his 50s and a woman in her 20s, but there were plenty of beds.  After the hot room - there was the even hotter room behind a curtain.  I couldn't stand that one for long, so I went to the next step.  After explaining, and later regretting, not getting the optional massage, I went into the steam room.  It had a pyramid where about three or four other men and women were sitting.  The higher you went, the hotter it was.  At this point, you'd discarded your sheet, so there were disposable pads for sitting on.  After the steam room was a warm pool, large enough to swim across in four or five strokes.  At this point, a few more people (men and women, including one family from Asia) came in and out, but people had long since given up caring about our state of undress.  All that mattered was relaxation, and this was it. 

After a few more pools, you reversed your trip and ended up in the shower room again, only this time you were *supposed* to go into a freezing cold tub to cool off.  I got a foot in and decided to take another shower to rinse the sweat off.  When you're finished, an attendant gives you another sheet to dry off, and points you to a lotion area to sooth your skin.  Finally, it was time for the cocoon stage.  You go into an oddly 1800s hospital-ward looking room and lay down on a table.  The attendant then wraps you tightly in a sheet and blanket, mummy-style, and lets you drift off to sleep.  When you're ready to go, you can grab some tea in an adjacent room, then re-dress and rejoin the world.  It's really amazing how relaxing and wonderful it is.  Don't be nervous, afraid, or bashful.  Just do it - you won't regret it.