August 8th – Rest Day in Bad Ems

Our rest day in Bad Ems was relatively quiet. We made some reservations for future accommodations and went down to the city. Bad Ems is named because it has a hot spring in the town. Well I think they were more of warm springs rather than hot springs. 33 C is warm not really hot. The changing rooms were quite confusing. Everybody was went up a set of stairs to a large room with lockers. Our entrance ticket were able to release the keys for small lockers. There were also larger lockers and then there were small changing rooms which could be used as lockers for an additional fee. We found the showers that were divided between men and women but no divided changing rooms. Perplexed as to where we should change, we ended up using the 'change room' lockers and then showered before entering the pool. On the other side of the showers was a large pool much like an indoor swimming pool in North America but with no diving boards. We went in and the water was warm, not hot, and slightly salty. There were signs indicating that no jumping was allowed but they did have flotation devices that looked like large square flutter boards. The kids played with these for a while and then I noticed a sign for an outdoor pool.

The outside pool was a little bit warmer and also had a number of relaxation devices consisting of air was bubbled from the bottom, jets of water spraying from under water and water falling from above the pool. Everybody was relaxing, floating and chatting. I grew tired of this quickly and was ready to leave in about 20 minutes. The rest of the family had a great time for the next 2 hours.

After the pool we went to a café that was named Maxeiner. Maxeiner is quite a common name but Maxseiner is quite rate. We had some ice cream (the Maxeiner special) and cake along with a round of warm drinks. A triathlon was fishing just across the street. Sue was shocked to watch one of the participants change right across the street. The rest of us missed this spectacle. We returned to the Youth Hostel in the evening and used a mountain tram to return.

After dinner Alex played soccer for a while and was joined by three other boys. Soon the parents joined in an there was a challenge match between the kids and the parents. I'm proud to say the old timers routed the kids despite being down a player.

We had a great conversation with kids and the parents after the game and talked about how the kids were able to play despite the language barrier. Once names are exchanged, the game goes on with a few hand gestures. Alex and Dad required an additional shower before going to bed but overall it was a great day.