Vals / Therme

Relaxation.  Architecture.  Snow.

Ahhh, we just spent a very relaxing weekend at the thermal baths in Vals.  During the 3-hour drive southeast we passed Alpine pastures and several ski towns chock full of traditional chalets.  The final portion of our drive up to Vals was on a windy little road following a river on one side and steep mountains on the other. 

The town of Vals itself has a population of less than 1,000 but is famous for its Valser spring water, which is sold in grocery stores throughout Switzerland.   

Ok, there is literally nothing in town!  It reminded us of Roslyn, Washington, but much much smaller.  We did a loop around town and found one cafe to get a snack, but that was pretty much it.  We overnighted at the Hotel Therme, where the baths were designed by Basel-born architect Peter Zumthor.  “Using 60,000 slabs of local quartzite and playing on light to amplify the feeling of space, Zumthor created one of the country’s most enchanting thermal spas”, which is now listed as a historical building.  There’s a labyrinth of both indoor and outdoor pools of varying temperatures, watery nooks and crannies, drinking stones as well as purifying steam rooms.  It was heavenly!  Cameras/electronic equipment aren't allowed inside so we nabbed the below photos from online.   

 

We relaxed in the baths upon our arrival Saturday afternoon when it was very packed, and again on Sunday morning, when it was open to hotel guests only, thus much less crowded.  On Saturday afternoon it also started to snow….and never stopped.  It was a lot of fun to swim in the heated outside pool to enjoy fresh air and let snowflakes fall on our heads!  The hotel itself was very 1960’s (maintaining its original décor) and quirky though.  It was pretty strange in my opinion and Matt felt like he was in a James Bond movie!  

That night we enjoyed a fabulous 6-course dinner at the hotel’s Red Restaurant, feasting on tasty items like stinging nettles soup (warm and creamy), deer medallions (very tender) and a delectable selection of local cheeses.  I wasn’t sure if the food would be as good as it was considering we were in the middle of nowhere, but it was truly delicious and the restaurant had a very cozy atmosphere.

Although it was beautiful, we weren’t prepared for the huge amount of snow we woke up to on Sunday!  It was a good foot + of fresh powder.  That’s a lot of snow, right (keep in mind it’s still October)!

Time to bring in the goats!

We used hotel brochures as mini-brooms to remove the snow from the car and Matt used a plastic toolbox to scrape off the ice!  Yes, we had to improvise, and it was really really cold, brrrr. . . .  To make matters worse, the door on my side wouldn’t open easily, so Matt had to really pry at it.  It finally opened, but then it wouldn’t close!   We were slightly panicked (ok, I was really freaked out).  Some doo-hickey was frozen, thus prohibiting the door from closing all the way – it would just bounce back open.  Upon further investigation we figured out the little latch inside the door had frozen and wasn’t “catching”.  We cleaned out all the ice out and Matt manually opened the latch so the door could finally “click” and close properly.  Woo hoo, crisis averted!   Now we just had to safely get down the mountain.   
 

On our way out we were lucky enough to pull up behind the town’s snow-plow, which we followed most of the way down, what luck.  It continued to snow all the way past Zurich, but stopped about 30 miles from Basel (although the temperature never really got above 0° Celsius the whole way home).  We were not expecting freezing temperatures and so much snow in October?! 

 

Hieber's Frische Markt

Grocery Shopping in Germany (American style)!

We finally made it across the border to do some grocery shopping in Germany.  We went to Hieber's, a very American style grocery store a mere 6km away from our place.  It's really big, has a large selection, and charges a lot less than what they charge in Swiss grocery stores.

All the aisles are named after their contents in the name of either a plaza (Tomatenplatz), way (Ravioliweg) or street (Milchstraße).  So funny!

They also have nifty displays for the meat, cheese and fish sections.  Lots of gluten-free, soy and rice products as well.

While not as convenient as the local Coop or Migros (which we can walk to), this may be a new grocery destination due to the selection and prices.  Good stuff!  Thank you Hieber's, we will enjoy preparing Asian dishes with our teriyaki sauce and greek yogurt (wa-hoo), heretofore, hard to find.

Freiburg / Baden Baden

Red.  Orange.  Yellow.

Fall is here!  We took a lovely road trip and drove up through the Black Forest in SW Germany, stopping in Freiburg on our way to Baden Baden.  We drove on the Autobahn part of the way - no general speed limit, but the advisory speed limit is 130 km/hour (81mph).  Some cars were going a lot faster and literally zoomed by us!

The Black Forest gets its name from the dense growth of the trees that block out most of the light from inside the forest.  Well, a lot of these trees provided a grand display of vibrant fall colors, so we timed our getaway just right!

Our first stop was Freiburg im Breisgau, a pretty large university town (230,000) approximately one hour north of Basel.  It also serves as the primary entry point for exploring the Black Forest region.  We spent a few hours wandering around the medieval old town and visited the 700-year old Münster.  

 

 

There was a nice market in the main square with seasonal produce, flowers, apple cider and various other stalls selling items typical of the autumn season.  The weather was gorgeous and we were able to enjoy our coffee / hot chocolate outside in the fresh air before pushing on to Baden Baden. 

Along the way we passed through several picturesque towns and stopped again for a very short hike to a waterfall outside of Triberg.  For lunch Matt had the regional wälder Schinken (ham) but we forgot to try the Black Forest cake (silly us)!

 

 

We arrived in Baden Baden with enough time to enjoy the neo-Baroque pedestrian area, Kurhaus (casino - coat and tie required!) and Trinkhalle before it got dark.  There's a wonderful walking path running along the canal that was perfect for our evening stroll.  It was a lovely little city with stately hotels, tree-lined avenues and groomed parks. 

 

 

It was the Romans who discovered the healing powers of the town's twelve thermal springs and built its first thermal baths here 2,000 years ago.  Although it's a renowned spa town, we didn't visit the baths (saving it for our trip next weekend to Vals).  Although the 19th century Friedrichsbad "Roman" style bath sounded the most appealing to us, we read "no clothing allowed inside" and "several sections are mixed."  Umm, no thanks (perhaps we're prudes)!

Lastly, we snapped some photos of the place where my sister (Molly) lived when she was here in the late 1980s!  (17a Jagdhausstrasse).