Mineraltherme Boblingen-- a Great Place to Discover the Pleasures of Mineral Baths

My husband Bill and I recently moved from the Washington, DC area to Stuttgart, Germany, courtesy of the United States Army. Housing in the Stuttgart area is in short supply; consequently, Bill and I were stuck living in a German hotel with our two beagles for six weeks while we searched for a place to live. A couple of weeks into our stay, I was feeling particularly frustrated about being homeless. At the height of my frustration, I told Bill that I wanted to go somewhere that would make me happy to be in Germany-- some place I couldn't find in the United States.

Okay... let me make something clear. I know that Germany is beautiful and in the heart of Europe. Of course there are things here that I would never find in America. And whatever I can't find here, I can probably find in one of the other fine countries in Europe. I know I'm lucky and a lot of people would trade places with me in a second. But living in a hotel, especially a no frills hotel, can get pretty old after several weeks. Luckily, on our way to Panzer Kaserne, a U.S. military installation, I noticed a large building with steam coming out of it. Then I saw the sign for the Mineraltherme Boblingen. I was intrigued. I searched online for more information and found that the Mineraltherme Boblingen had a Web site.

I surfed to the site and discovered a small problem. It's entirely in German! Yes, that makes sense, since the place is located in Germany and mostly frequented by Germans. But I was curious and I don't speak a lick of German. I kept searching and found one review written in English. It turns out the Stuttgart area has lots of hot springs. In Europe, Stuttgart's concentration of warm and hot springs are surpassed only by Budapest. It was enough to sell me on trying the place. I told Bill I wanted to go. He balked.

"Why don't you want to try it out?" I whined. "I bet it's beautiful there and the warm water will make your joints feel better."

Bill blushed and mumbled something about not having a bathing suit handy.

"You have your nylon Army shorts. Those are close enough to a bathing suit. Besides, you'll be in the water." I pointed out.

"That's true." he said, stil reluctant.