The
bath house is rather special. Housed in a large log cabin constructed
without nails, so they say, it is furnished with giant wooden
tubs. The rustic atmosphere of the room is quite charming.
During our visit we found laid out on a large table all kinds
of herbs, salts, and flasks of oil. We were given a choice
of which perfumes to use in our bath water along with some
flower petals, oil of jasmine, and oh yes, the outfit! No,
swimsuits are not permitted in the tub. We were asked to don
a pair of shorts, a bandeau top and a little hat! What a spectacle!
From that moment on we were hilarious and then we began to
relax. Afterwards, we were informed that the three of us would
be sharing the same basin. Okaaay…..! Actually our tub
was able to seat four people.
The
three of us sat on a step in the basin while we waited for the
warm water to reach our shoulders. Meanwhile a large board was
inserted through openings in the tub in order to set a table
of fruit, glasses of sparkling wine, clay, mud and salt. The
fruit and wine were to be eaten later on and as for the rest,
we were to use it on ourselves. First we were to use the salt
which is rich in minerals, mined in quarries in Northern Germany.
This gritty salt was to be applied by the handful to our whole
bodies: arms, legs, and torsos as an exfoliator. Although painful,
the water from the tub soothed our chaffed skin. We proceeded
to spread the clay on our torsos and the mud to our faces. The
mud was to be applied so thickly that anyone would find it hard
to believe it would ever dry. Within a few minutes we had stepped
back into childhood as we wallowed in the mud and slathered it
all over each other. We were howling with laughter and we hadn’t
even tasted the wine yet!!!!!
We
were treated to a neck massage as we ate the fruit and
sipped our wine. After having had such fun smearing each
other with mud it was now time to be rinsed. This took
several minutes as the coat of mud had hardened. To help
with the rinsing process, large containers of iced water
were poured over us as the warm perfumed bath water was
allowed to drain from the tub. The delightful gnomes were
quickly transformed into humans once again after such a
cold shower.
This was an absolutely exhilarating
experience! Who would have thought that plastering
strangers with mud, clay and salt would be a way
to get better acquainted and that it would be so
much fun? In addition, it was such a priviledge
to have visited such an alluring part of the country.
This has to have been one of those once-in-a lifetime
moments.