Hawkes Bay NZ Water trail

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Genteel Baden Baden

Today's inclement weather made touring the parks and gardens of Baden a great option. Once done with all my rose admiring, I was ready for a good lunch. With France, literally, just over the next hill, the food here is better than in other parts of Germany. I enjoyed a salad that is Alsatian in style: lettuce, tomato and cucumber, along with jicama, radish and lightly cured sauerkraut, dressed with yoghurt and chive sauce. It accompanied excellent quiche Lorraine, and Lorraine is north of Alsace so again in the neighborhood.

In general, people tend to dress well here, ladies in dress trousers and heels, men in summer suits, even one very smartly dressed elderly woman in an embroidered pink silk jacket that went well with stiletto pumps and her flaming red hair. She obviously was very beautiful when young and still cares about style. Often people have dogs that also are fashion statements on a leash. I've seen some very unusual andcnice grooming on several dogs trotting along with their smartly dressed owners.

As I have no interest in visiting the casino, I didn't feel too worried about my normal daily outfit of knee length traveling pants and a short sleeved t shirt. At least they're clean. I have to wear my one pair of sneakers, because that's what I brought and it's the only thing I can wear for several hours without my damaged ankle swelling up like a balloon. I miss being able to wear pretty shoes but I guess I need another year for my break to completely rehabilitate.
There are some very expensive clothing stores near the casino, but I preferred a store selling Black Dressy, a Berlin brand. There was also Munchen Mode, selling high end dirndl-ish and landed gentry Bavarian style clothes. I like the color schemes of Germany in general, Bavaria and the Tirol in particular. They offer lots of shades of green, which is my favorite color. Clothes are terribly expensive I think, but I've only been paying attention to places that stock natural fibers like cotton, linen and wool, so that explains a lot. Everything I like seems to have the word "oko" attached, which I think means eco or organic clothing.
Being June, I knew the roses would be blooming, and the long evenings of midsummer sure mark the gardens look exceptional here in the Black Forest.

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