I didn’t spend much time hanging out in the morning on Sunday because I was chomping at the bit to get out to the thermal baths. After sufficient research, I had my sights set on the Carolus Therma, which was within walking distance in the “hills” on the northeast side of town. Though it was more expensive on the weekends, it was only a one euro difference. There was a different price for the baths with or without the sauna and for whole day or under 4.5 hours. I’ve been in Europe for nearly two months and haven’t done any swimming pools or saunas, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I packed up some water, my onsen towel, a body wash, and a swimming suit (just in case).
It was a good thing I brought the swimming suit because everything in the hot springs was mixed gender. Even the locker room was mixed gender. After two laps around the pool area, I managed to figure out the scheme of things. Most of the pools were lukewarm. Two were outside. The jets turned on/off by their own timers. Even when I figured out how to be in the right place at the right time, they were never concentrated enough for a hydrotherapy massage. One pool was almost hot enough for my tastes, but there was at least one cool pool (though again, I’d rather it had been colder). Amidst the pools, there was also a eucalyptus steam bath that was pretty good, but it was no hotter than August in Florida. I was getting bored of the baths and decided to try out the sauna area for the extra 15 euros.
I had read and there was a sign indicating that bathing suits were a no-no in the saunas. Fine by me, I prefer to be naked. However, after I swiped my chip through the turnstile into the saunaland, I realized that I was supposed to have a terrycloth bathrobe and that even the saunas were mixed gender. My little Japanese onsen towel is little bigger than hand towel and would not suffice, so I immediately exited the area and started obsessing over whether or not I would be on the hook for the fee.
Now that I know what to expect of the hot springs, I would be better equipped to maximize my value from the complex, but after two hours, I was already bored. On the checkout, I was able to get out of paying for the sauna. I really miss my onsens and jimjilbangs.
Since I was in the foothills, I took a longish counterclockwise walk cutting through the green spaces to see Aachen’s “Parthenon” (a few old columns) and climb a hill with a view of the town. I cut down through the northern gate of town and found myself on a bustling street in the student district. Aachen is special in that despite being a small town, it hosts two major universities, one of which is supposedly the best in Europe (excluding England). I had been thinking about one or the other of two pizza places I had passed several times on my ramblings about town, but being in the right place at the right time, I looked up and down the street for a restaurant that appealed to me. I settled on a Thai curry at a generic Asian bistro. It was not bad and included a small soft drink for a reasonable price.
I headed back to the hostel going through the historic heart of Aachen, greedily eying the numerous bakeries and ice cream parlors. In the center, I finally realized that this one weird looking (Greco-Roman) building was the source of the hot springs with two spouts one could sample the water from. The high sulfur content had me questioning the veracity of the claim in the thermal baths of using real spring water.
I was feeling pretty restless in the afternoon and decided to go out for an ice cream. It was good, and I had my backpack with me to work out some thoughts in a notebook. After finishing the ice cream, I had to rush back to the hostel for some skyping, but afterwards I went out again for a nice dinner, finally scratching that itch for pizza. It’s weird to see how much one’s tastes can change over a lifetime. A younger version of me would never dream of choosing to eat a pizza with anchovies, olives, capers, and garlic, but I guess I really am Sicilian.
| Carolus Therman | 13 |
| Red curry with chicken | 6.5 |
| After Eight eisbecher | 5.8 |
| pizza siciliana (incl. 1 euro tip) | 9 |
| Total: | 34.3 EUR (267.5 RMB) (USD 38.02) |
Running Total: 22445.5 RMB (USD 3190.4)
Daily Average: 374.1 RMB (USD 53.17)