Our mission was to find something ugly in the beautiful Black Forest. So we thought a visit of another bigger city in the area might help: And we picked Baden-Baden. Nestled in the foothills it's not a big city per say, with a population of 55,000 give or take, and it's a Spa town with Roman roots (of course!).
We were surprised to find a lot of intact old architecture downtown, and learned that the French allies prevented the bombing of the city in WWII, as they were planning in setting up their headquarters here.
River Oos flows through the Lichtensteiner Allee, a green oasis in the heart of Baden-Baden.
Baden-Baden has a lovely pedestrian zone with lots of cafes, bistros and restaurants, you definitely notice the French influence, which isn't a bad thing.
There were painted horses all over the place. It reminded us of Calgary where they had an exhibition of colourful cows, and Vancouver where Orcas were the theme.
We had a quick glance at the Trinkhalle (pump house) which is part of the spa complex. It is said that its water has healing powers. The arcade is decorated with frescos showing heroes and nude females.
A nymph (female, naked) on the left and a knight (male, dressed) in shining armor on the right. It is never the other way round...
More legalized porn...
Casino Park
Casino with culinary festivities in front.
It became a bit too crowded for our taste, and we had a crave for regional food. Our desires were satisfied to the max in the nice ambience of the restaurant in the
Atlantic Parkhotel bordering on river Oos.
A delicious chanterelle salad for the lady, and steak for the man. Needless to say, it was delish!
Baden-Baden made it very high on our list of great German cities today. It certainly won't be our last visit, and it's merely an hour away.
We haven't succeeded in finding something ugly in the area, well maybe one thing: A construction zone stretching 43km (!) along highway A5 with nerve wrecking speed limits and a challenging obstacle course... it even has its own
homepage.
Baden-Baden, we will be back!
That place really is beautiful. I like the old architecture and all the green space. 43km of construction zone! Were they actually doing something the whole distance?
ReplyDeleteRichard, I have not seen a lot of activity along the construction zone, but was Friday night going on weekend so I am not sure if they are busy or not...
DeleteIn fact the whole length of 42 km can be considered as one construction zone. although there are parts that are finished already. The whole project is about adding one traffic lane in both directions, from a total of 4 to 6 (3 in both directions). The project is quite unusual as it is one of the first German highways that will be built on behalf of a private company who will in turn get a portion of the highway toll for trucks. The interesting part is that - for once - a highway project appears to be ahead of budget AND schedule!
DeletePopulation 55,000 - that's what it says on the sign in Grande Prairie as well. What a difference! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'm in the process of booking my flight, and my memories of Baden-Baden sure help, too.
Petra, I wish you a great trip home, and by all means let me know when you are in the area...
DeleteSonja, well you failed. I encourage you to keep trying though. And please continue posting pictures of the non-ugly stuff you find. By the way, construction sites may be eye-sores, but don't count as ugly. To be ugly it must be man made and be in its permanent state. Like the few houses in our neighborhood we refer to as 'Dukes of Hazard' properties. Let's see you find the Deutsch-version of hideous homes. Good luck! Might be 'Mission Impossible' based on your efforts to date.
ReplyDeleteSorry, David. I will try better next time, and find some man-made ugly stuff that is a somewhat permanent eye-sore ;-) I am a woman on a mission now, and meanwhile will post whatever else comes in the way.
DeleteYou may have been searching for something bad, but you sure didn't find it. Oh well, good excuse for another trip. That mushroom salad looks delish too.
ReplyDeleteAnd in explanation of why you always see the nude female form and not male, in art and in movies is that the powers that be (whoever they are) deem the male appendage to be an "offensive organ". That was a professional explanation I saw years ago and I still chuckle over it.
Oh and I like the picture that has the Bistro sign. Your copyright SonjaM is just perfect to appear that it is on the Bistro sign. Happy accident?
That explanation is hilarious. We could have a lively discussion about how something natural can be "offensive" ;-)
DeleteThe positioning of my watermark is indeed a happy coincidence. Nice catch!
Great photos SonjaM! Martha and I spent some time in Baden Baden, the only thing I recall though, is her reading the tourist map upside-down resulting in us traversing the town on foot, in the wrong direction, for some unremembered goal....sigh.
ReplyDeleteAs to being spared the bombing by Allied bombers so that it would serve as post-war HQ for the French, maybe that fate was worse in the eyes of the locals? :)
Dom, since the area was under French occupation off and on since the early middle ages I believe that the locals would have been content ;-) For the region the French influx has always been positive, especially in culinary aspects and with the savoir vivre lifestyle.
DeleteHi Sonja, I'm quite relieved that you found nothing ugly in my lovely hometown :-) By the way: Next to the Trinkhalle there is a bridge crossing the Oos that is called Waeger Bridge. In 1945 Mr. Waeger argued the responsible German Wehrmacht general into leaving Baden-Baden to the Allied Forces without fight. Thats another reason why Baden-Baden didn't suffer from too much destruction in World War II. Cheers, Moritz
ReplyDeleteAh ... and one more thing: The beautiful English landscape park is not called "Lichtensteiner Allee" but "Lichtentaler Allee" (see e.g. http://en.stadtwiki-baden-baden.de/wiki/Lichtentaler_Allee/ )
ReplyDeleteHi Moritz, thanks for your most welcome feedback. Meanwhile we have visited Baden-Baden several times and are considering moving there one fine day when our work is done in the Kinzig Valley...
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