bad times

Something else I learned this week: Stuttgart is home to the second largest number of baths in Europe. There are three types. Freibad; which are open, outdoor pools of the American city pool type, Hallenbad; enclosed pools, and Mineralbad, which have usually indoor and outdoor pools filled with mineral spring water. Usually the last two types also come with spas, saunas, and lap pools.

Ever since I got to Stuttgart I've been itching to go since I have heard so much about the baths, and I do love to swim. Counting back, the last time I went swimming was in the late summer of 2013, damn near two years ago, in Mexico. So I was excited to go swimming again, splash around, and cool off.

Sunday afternoon, Saori and I loaded up our bags and headed to Das Leutze, probably the best known Stuttgart mineral baths. It was relatively simple to figure out. You tell them how long you want to swim, and pay them in advance, and they give you a waterproof chipped token that you use to swipe in and out. It was kind of expensive- a little over 4 euros per hour. For a two and a half hour swim, it's actually cheaper to go to the movies.

Anyway, they had extensive lockers and changing rooms, and then we explored the various indoor and outdoor pools. Saori's favorite was a strong mineral bath with a lot of carbonation in it. It was quite strange- after sitting in the pool for a few minutes, tiny bubbles form all over your suit and body. You begin to lightly fizz like you are the lemon in a glass of sparkling water.

We swam a bit, lay out in the sun for a bit, floated around. Two hours went by really quickly this way. We checked out by dropping our token in the exit reader but it was rejected since we had overstayed. We had to top up the token ( an extra euro or two ) for the twenty or so minutes of overtime.

Overall, very nice. Very relaxing. Next weekend we will try a new pool until we find our favorite.