In the Buff

So, I haven’t blogged in forever!  There have been trips, travels and lazy days where there is no desire to write.  I feel that I do owe some sort of tale on the few adventures we have had.  So I will get a start on them as you read. 

First things first: German wellness and baths

Ryan and I have been enjoying our weekends in town at Cubo in Landstuhl.  Cubo is half-funded by the government in the area of preventative health care.  They supply the locals with steam rooms with healing qualities, saunas (regular and Fin-ish), thermal baths and massage.  We had gone to a bath down in Baden-Baden that was a clothes ON place.  However…this establishment not so much.  Total in the buff immerse yourself into German culture Nek-ed-ness.  When Ryan told me about this I was a little gun-shy.  I am not the most out-there kind of girl…I try to fly under the radar.  But since I was going with Ryan, and there was minimal chance of knowing anyone here...I decided to embrace it and go with it. 

The locker room is a maze as is.  You need to pre-pay for your hours there.  Get a chip that you insert into your bracelet for electronic purchases (total shit-show) and then scan what you want to do (food, drink, massage or the special sauna in the day.)  After this, you drop trough (clothes) and robe up.  Most of the local Germans just walk around bare-naked in the indoor/outdoor areas.  We are not to that point yet.  The funny thing is…the people there do not gawk or look at us weird.  It is Ryan and I who make the effort to keep our eyes up and not be “those people” who stare.  After trip three to Cubo, we are finally getting used to it.

Our favorite thing to do there is get the thai-yoga reflexology massages…although we got pretty beat up last time after our bodies were all contorted from skiing.  There are two Thai women who usually massage us are 5 foot nothing and look like teenagers, but they can dig their elbow into your scapula like their life depends on it.  I think I actually shed a tear last time. 

We usually end the time there with a good healthy meal and some de-toxing of the week.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday or Sunday in my opinion.  Truth be told, I wish us as an American culture could get over some of our hang-ups and not make such a big deal out of certain things.  I feel that sometimes our uptightness is what causes so much trouble in the first place. 

If you ever find yourself in Europe at a spa or bath center…just remember to go with it.  Hold your head high “literally” and do as the locals do.  I promise, it is only weird for 5 seconds.