bühl + baden-baden

Hypo played a tournament in Bühl this past weekend, which happens to been wonderfully close to the town of Baden-Baden. A fellow teammate's girlfriend and I decided to make the trek. Expecting it to take about 5 hours by car, we planned to leave with MORE than enough time to arrive for the final match...

Apparently, traffic near Stuttgart and Karlsruhe can be pretty awful, especially on the Sunday of a holiday weekend. We arrived to the gym in Bühl almost 8 hours after leaving Innsbruck and ended up missing the final match - Hypo vs. Fenerbahce. I felt especially bad for Liis, who after only 45 minutes out of the car, got in the team van with the guys and headed back to Austria

Andy and I headed north and within 10 minutes, we were in the cutest German town, Baden-Baden. My mom, aunt, cousin, and I had visited this town nearly 10 years ago when my parents were living in Tubingen. It was a memorable trip, as my mom was only recently cancer-free, and us girls celebrated the best way we knew how - get naked with a bunch of strangers at Friedrichsbad, a thermal spa.

I took Andy to said spa for a day of pre-season pampering. With the start of the regular season right around the corner, I wanted to take advantage of this free day and splurge a little. Friedrichsbad is an incredible place. You go through a series of 17 total stations - gradually raising then gradually lowering your body temperature to achieve maximum relaxation in 4 hours time.

The best part - by far - comes at the end where, after your full body creme massage, you are wrapped in a warm blanket and get to lie down in a dark room for a 30 minute rest. Although we spent a majority of our day apart (men and women bathed separately on the day we were there), it was an incredible experience.

Baden-Baden is a magical little place and was perfect for our mini-getaway. We took Harry on several walks along the river, enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine, and had some delicious local food at a handful of adorable eateries.

We made the requisite stop at Starbucks on our way out of town, where I indulged in my first-ever Pumpkin Spice Latte. I'm not going to lie - I don't see what all the fuss is about. It was good but not life-changing. Am I missing something?