Überlingen

I have been so busy baking that I've hardly had time to write this blog. However, I can't leave it another day without describing briefly my wonderful trip to Überlingen in Southern Germany. I was invited to visit by my friend Sonja who recently moved there from London. We go back a long, long way and have known each other since art college days. We have both often discussed the idea of leaving London and moving somewhere more peaceful where the frantic pace of life doesn't leave one feeling quite so frazzled. She's done it and I'm impressed. The quality of life she's experiencing in this part of Germany is having a marked improvement on her well being. She exudes happiness. It must have something to do with being so close to the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. Lake Constance is a vast expanse of beautiful tranquil water surrounded by Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Its beauty has inspired poetry and the father of psychoanalysis Carl Jung was born in Kesswil, a small Swiss village on the lake. It is a place of introspection but in a pleasant and calming way. It lifts any kind of depression.

Although I was visiting Sonja I was actually house sitting for another friend Steffi, who has the most gorgeous walled garden. My job was to make sure the garden plants were watered daily. Not too onerous a task and in fact a real pleasure. The roses were a total joy and I loved them.

One of the best bits of my stay in Überlingen was going to the Bodensee Therme. It's described as enjoyment for all the senses and it's pretty good! Basically everyone strips off for the regular sessions in the sauna of which there are at least three, a Turkish steam bath, a wellness area with four cascade pools where you get massaged by powerful torrents of clear mineral water. It's fantastic! Each sauna session offers a different experience and my first involved sitting with my friends Sonja and Catherine and about a dozen others while we were fanned with a wet towel by the sauna master to increase the heat. Half way through we all left to smother ourselves with honey and some kind of exfoliatior all of which makes your skin silky soft. The heat was intense but immediately afterward we all strolled towards the lake and immersed ourselves in the freezing cold water. Other treatments included doing the same thing with white chocolate, salt and being thrashed by the sauna master with birch leaves! Not all at the same time I should add. These are all meant to encourage relaxation and spread a delicious sense of well being. I must admit that I like the Germans' attitude towards health and fitness. There's no sense of obligation towards maintaining healthy living. They genuinely love being fit and healthy. I nearly called this post "Alex gets naked" but thought better of it...