I had a pass for the KA transit system which was good until the end of March. The system covers a lot of towns near KA, so I decided to make a day trip to one of these towns before my pass became invalid. On a Sunday in March I took the streetcar to Baden-Baden, about 30 km South of Karlsruhe. The weather was really great, blue skies and warm. Baden-Baden is a rich city, a retirement haven for wealthy old Germans. There are a lot of nice houses and churches and parks. Baden-Baden has a casino, which residents of Baden-Baden aren't allowed to visit! I guess the city doesn't want to have to support any locals who lose everything playing blackjack and roulette. I walked around the city and just enjoyed the day. In a park I found a small castle, which I believe is called Schloss Solms. I had this view of the city near the casino. The small mountain in the background is the Merkur, which I climbed later in the day. Also near the casino is the Trinkhalle (Drinking Hall). Baden-Baden is a resort town for spa and sauna enthusiasts. There are many natural springs in the area. Some are warm and are used in popular bath houses; others provide drinking water. In the Trinkhalle it is possible to drink the water as soon as it comes out of the ground. The most famous castle in Baden-Baden are the ruins of the Altes Schloss (old Castle). It is up on top of another small mountain. Before heading up the mountain I went by the Neues Schloss (new Castle), which is in the town itself. It was built to replace the ruins of the Altes Schloss. Then I started to make my way up the mountain (just a big hill, really). About half way up I managed to hitch a ride for the rest of the trip. The ruins of the Altes Schloss are in pretty good shape. It was a lot of fun to go exploring through a nine hundred year old castel (built in 1102). After an hour or so in the old ruins, I made my way back down the mountain, hitching another ride on the way. I then went to the other side of the town and started my way up another small mountain (abut 590 m high), the Merkur. There are normally many paths leading up the mountian, but because of a major storm (hurricane, actually) which hit France and a bit of Germany last December, only one was actually passable. At the top of the Merkur is a (TV?) tower. Once up on the Merkur it was starting to get dark, so I got another ride down the mountain before taking the streetcar back to Karlsruhe. Back to the Main Page - Zurück zur Hauptseite