Baden Baden
The over-the-top decor inside the casino!
After arrival in Baden Baden, we immediately went to the casino for a guided tour. Wow! It was definitely impressive, even though I had a bit of a struggle keeping up with the group.
From our hotel, Iris slowly walked me to an apothecary where I showed off my injury and, on the advice of the pharmacist, purchased a rubber sock (to stabilize the ankle) and some sports ointment (to minimize swelling). I was also to take Ibuprofen and apply ice. I had discovered on the bus that there really wasn't any pain unless I was actually walking, and that was a huge benefit. Again, it could have been a lot worse. Iris procured an ice pack from the hotel, and Dennis dug out one of his walking sticks that he had packed. I was good to go ... slowly!
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We didn't see a lot of Baden Baden. Some of our fellow tour members tried out the baths or went for walks along the river, but we didn't think either of those options would fit our current needs. We contented ourselves with wandering a bit near the hotel and window shopping. Luckily, our hotel was located on a pedestrian-friendly street right in the middle of town, so we could stroll with ease. We even managed a mid-afternoon snack!
We came across this artist doing
a sand sculpture. Quite a talent!
A gorgeous, light and fluffy strawberry crepe with ice cream!
For dinner, we continued our theme of staying close to "home" and ate at an Italian restaurant almost directly across the street from the hotel, but I got a case of the giggles during dinner. Not only were we eating Italian food in Germany, but I was eating what was probably one of the worst servings of spaghetti carbonara that I'd ever had. The restaurant had several good things going for it, however. It was close, Dennis really liked his lasagna, we had a very nice glass of Chianti and we were full when we left! We were feeling lucky!
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The next morning, we were back on the bus (with a fresh ice pack) to continue to the Black Forest, and then on to Switzerland. I had many, many offers of help from our fellow tour members, and Iris made sure that we were in the back seat so that I could sit sideways with my foot elevated along the seat. A fellow tour member even loaned me his flight pillow to further elevate my ankle. By then, my foot was almost fluorescent purple and my toes looked like little pork sausages. They still wiggled, however. Quite a sight!
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Just before our arrival at the Black Forest open air museum, we stopped for a luge ride. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to get myself and my foot into and out of the luge, so I was dubbed "the photographer." I got a kick out of watching the pure joy on everyone's faces as they flew down the hill.
Here is Dennis, flying down the hill. He's a little fuzzy because he was moving fairly fast.
Iris is handing out tickets for a 2nd ride for those who wanted to go again. Almost everyone did.
At the open air museum, a very short distance from the luge ride, I opted to wait in the restaurant/gift shop rather than risk holding up the group trying to walk. Dennis nicely offered to wait with me and we consoled ourselves with the thought that we had toured several of these open air museums before, in Norway and Sweden. We had a very pleasant time in the gift shop, bought a few souvenirs, had coffee and awaited the return of our group. When everyone had arrived we had a wonderful lunch and then Iris brought out a Black Forest cake for us to share, along with a shot of cherry schnapps for each of us. The lunch was great and the cake was wonderful, but we decided we weren't wild about schnapps!
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Our lunch, cooking on the grill.
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Iris, bringing out the Black Forest cake. She's wearing the traditional head gear for women.
Back on the bus, and on to Switzerland! It was a fairly long ride, but we had a rest stop where we could buy a snack and use an ATM to buy Swiss francs. The scenery was spectacular so the time flew by!