We left Austria at around 8:30 yesterday morning. As I mentioned in my previous entry, the mountains were absolutely beautiful. There was a morning fog floating around the top of each mountain and every so often the sun would break through and you could get a full view of the mountain and the springs running off of it. I was struck on the drive out to Vals by those springs. When we were driving close to a mountain I could see tiny little springs that seemed to appear out of the grass and moss, all perfectly clear. Sometimes those little springs would develop into huge waterfalls running down the cliffs. Down the hills beneath us was a deep gourge with the absolute cleariest water I have ever seen running through it. When the water was too deep to be perfectly clear it turned into a pale aqua. Sometimes we were so high up on the mountains that I couldn't even seen the beginnings of the water below, the gourge just seemed to go on infinitely. It's a harsh landscape with its steep cliffs but somehow there are literally trees growing up the side of the cliffs. The roads are just as harsh. Even Fabio, our very competant and AWESOME bus driver, got freaked out a few times. Two lane roads turn into one lane roads with no warning, especially hard for a charter bus. There seems to be a honking system here that one uses for these random one lane roads and tunnels. When you enter them you honk a few times and repeat it one or two times through the tunnel depending on how long it is. There were many sharp turns that Fabio didn't seem to be sure if we could make it around. Shoulders here are also rather nonexistant. If its a steep cliff off the side of the road there will sometimes be one, but they tend to disappear at random. Sometimes we even had to stop and back up on a turn to make room for another large truck or bus to pass by. It was a beautiful drive, but I would absolutely never drive it myself...a little too scary for me.
On our way to Vals we stopped in Chur for Zumthor's Roman Ruins. By that I mean we got lost in Chur for about thirty minutes. Its a beautiful town with a rumored wait-list to live there, but the roads are SO confusing. It was funny too that their sidewalks in that town were virtually nonexistsant. There were probably about 2 feet wide and sometimes would disappear to like 6 inches.
To get into the Roman Ruins you have to stop in a church in Vals to pick up the key. Heiner went to pick it up and we had a mini dance party with Fabio to Timbaland until he got back. The Roman Ruins were interesting. Zumthor sort of created a building around the ruins of a couple of ancient Roman houses. It's absolutely freezing inside because it gets very little light, sunlight is only allowed through two windows and two large, and very deep lightwells in the ceiling. The building isn't entirely closed off, it has angled wooden slats that make up the main exterior wall. We spent about thirty minutes there before returning the key and making our way to Vals. On our way up the mountain to Vals Heiner kindly informed us that if we peed in Vals it would end up in Basel and then Rotterdam via the Rhine River. Very important information, obviously. The highlight of the drive, aside from the trecharous roads and beautiful scenery was having to stop in the middle of the road because there was a herd of cows being led by the road...with cow bells and everything! At that moment I think we all finally realized that we were in the absolute middle of nowhere.
The rooms are Vals were beautiful. I did unforutnately manage to somehow break the light in the bathroom, though--classy, I know. I was trying to dry my hair later on in the day after we had spent some time at the baths, but the hair dryer in the bathroom wasn't working. Thinking that someone had probably somehow tripped the reset button I followed the wiring up to the light and found a button that I figured would restart it. Nayeth. It turned off the light...for forever. Or at least until maintenance fixes it now that Kit and I have left the room.
The baths...oh my god...the baths. There's several of them:
Sound Bath: which I never found, apparently it's just a room of bells or something
Flower Bath: warm bathwater temperature fillled with flower petals. I met a bunch of Urugyians there who were architecture students on their own tour of the world. They were spending ten months traveling South America, North America, Europe, and Asia. According to them it usually takes 7 to 12 years to finish a Bachelor's in Architecture there because it's very lax. We told Heiner and he scoffed and said "Stupid Uruyians!"
Ice Bath: 14 degrees celcius and filled with bits of ice, hence the title of the entry. I did manage to jump in for about ten seconds before running out almost screaming
Fire Bath: 42 degrees celcius...burned when you got in but felt absolute amazing after a few moments
Outdoor bath: heated with the absolute most amazing view of the mountains dotted with tiny huts and a few mountain goats. TJ, Indy, and I performed a beautiful water ballet to much acclaim in this bath.
Mineral bath: this one was centrally located with super soft water. When we had silent night swimming last night TJ and I spontaneously performed an encore of our ballet. It was magical.
34 Degree Celscius Bath: this one was my absolute favorite. Its the perfect termperature and it has a hidden tunned with waist deep water that leads into a secret room. SO COOL!
Saunas (Naked and Clothed): there were two three-room saunas with different fragances mixed in with the steam. The clothing-optional sauna was rattthherrr eye opening and knowing my amazing maturity level, I handled it with total grace and absolutely did not giggle constantly. It smelled amazing in there though, there was some kind of mint mixed in with the steam. The last and most intense room of each sauna was insane and I could barely see because my contacts fogged up, but it felt so amazing when you left.
The architecture of the baths themselves is stunning. The Mineral bath and the outdoor bath are the only really visible ones when you enter the building. There are these columns all around those baths that are much larger than you think and house all of the other baths. The 34 degree celscius one is tucked in a corner that is difficult to spot right off the bat. The point is that you really take your time and explore the baths. The concrete in the ceiling has reveals that run the entire length of the building and connect the interior to the exterior in a seamless motion. The acoustics of each bath is amazing too. It echos beyond belief, which makes it difficult to talk, but it amplifies the sound of the water running off and somehow refilling. It's like being under a waterfall. Most of the spaces are dimly lit and there are a lot of lights running under the water, usually nearby the jets. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to sneak out cameras in so I couldn't get any pictures. But if you search it online, I promise you'll probably fine some amazing ones that will get you the general idea.
When we got to Vals and checked in everyone immediately changed and went down to the baths for about 4 hours. After that we got dressed up for dinner, just for fun, and had one of my favorite meals here. There were four courses.
Appetizer: Pasta Salad
Soup: Some kind of Pumpkin soup...AWESOME
Entree: Mashed potatoes, green beans wrapped in proscuietto, pork chops
Dessert: Coconut and pineapple mousse/ice cream with a piece of fried pineapple
After dinner I headed back to the hotel and got ready for night swimming. It's only held on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday of each week and you have to be completely silent. There was a lot of interesting pantomining going on. Nothing better right before bed than soaking for another hour. I don't think I've ever been so freaking clean in my life.
Heiner and Mario set the leaving time this morning for 10:45 so that people could go back to the baths if they wanted. I took advantage of the time and caught up on sleep and spent some time really enjoying their amazing breakfast spread. Literally every kind of bread I could think of, local cheese, meats (including proscuietto...YAY!), fruits, cereals...just about everything.
We're now on the bus to Zurich for the morning (CALATRAVA LIBRARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and will arrive in Basel later tonight. We will be there until Monday.
BYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Your blog entries make me hungry. I think I'll go eat... dry cereal now :(
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