No Badi? Then go to Baden!

We took our friends Tarik and Daniel, who are visiting from Boston, to Baden yesterday. Baden is a sleepy little town about 15 minutes from Zurich that's famous for its thermal baths.

We had planned to take a bike ride around the lake, but that plan got rained out. In fact, it's been raining on and off ever since we returned from Italy two weeks ago (the injustice!). The rain and cool weather has put an end (temporarily, I hope) to Badi season. Badi is the swiss word for swimming area and is definitely the highlight of a Zurich summer.

I'm not ready to pack the swimsuit away for good, so it was off to Baden yesterday to check out the springs. It was 16 francs for 2 hours at the baths and worth every rappen (swiss penny). It has two pools, one indoor and one outdoor, and each has a series of therapeutic jets. As might be expected, there is a strict protocol for using the jets. A buzzer rings every few minutes to indicate it's time to move to the next jet in the series. If you're not paying attention and miss the cue, you might get some dirty looks. At the end is the "cauldron," a little tub within the pool with lots of wonderful bubbles.

The outdoor bath is surrounded by gardens and had views of vineyard covered hills and forests. It started to pour when we were out there, which was fantastic. The sensation of cool rain drops on your head and face while your body is submered in steaming 95 degree water is amazing.


The scene there is very low key with lots of seniors and a couple of little kids with parents. Everyone is pretty quiet, enjoying the jets and blissfully floating around the pool. All in all a very relaxing experience.

The forecast calls for more rain, which could put a damper on the Street Parade, a big outdoor techno party happening today in Zurich. Reports on that to come.