Off to our annual March vacation!

Yes, it is that time of year again. The time of year that both my H and I look forward to - our annual March vacation which we take together - a ritual that we have been observing for most of the past 25 years. We are all checked in online. We have our favorite seats on the plane. There is an impending strike by the crew of British Airways so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will not fall on our travel days.

We usually spend a week in London and a week in Germany. The highlight of our vacation is the drive from Frankfurt to Baden-Baden in the Black Forest region of Germany. It is a very lovely drive, somewhat exaggerated in one of Colin Forbes' novels. My favorite part of the drive is stopping at the rest stops along the autobahn - each little rest stop has its own character and I feel a sense of adventure when we get on the autobahn Germans are probably the best drivers in the world. Some drive at the speed of a small airplane - visible for a moment and they are gone. - quite amazing to watch!

We usually arrive in Baden-Baden shortly after lunch, rest a little and then take a stroll along Lichtentaler Allee or a nice stroll to the very lovely city center. The next morning, after a sumptuous breakfast and another stroll on the Lichtenaler Allee, we have a few options - drive to the nearby mountains to see if we can find some snow, drive to Strasbourg or Colmar and its surrounds for a taste of France. This is the Alsace part of France. It is very pretty and dotted with vineyards - my favorite being Riquewihr which in my humble opinion is one of two of the most picturesque and romantic medieval city in Europe. The other being Rothenberg-on-the-Tauber. Alternatively, we could drive to Zurich for lunch and to buy my favorite sandwiches that are actually more a piece of art than a sandwich.

In Baden-Baden, we always stay at our favorite hotel, Brenner's Park Hotel (pictures below) by the River Oos.

The rooms of the hotel are beautifully appointed. Although the service is no longer as attentative as it was 25 years ago, it is still maintained at a high standard and the chamber maids are dressed in the very traditional black dress with white apron - simply charming.

We always look forward to see the purple and white snowdrops, my all-time favorite early spring flowers that dot the park on the Lichtentaler Allee by the River Oos. The purple ones are lightly fragrant.

Baden-Baden is one of Germany's best known and elegant spa town. Its double name denotes both city and state, distinguishing it from other Badens. The city is dotted with many parks. It also has a beautiful casino built in 1821, an opera house and a modern contemporary art museum. Its reputation as a fashionable spa resort dates back to the early 19th century, visited frequently by royalties including various German princes and was scene venue of the 1860 Badener Furstentag, a meeting between Napoleon III and King Wilheim I of Prussia.

Baden-Baden was founded as a Roman garrison in the 3rd century. Its hot mineral springs were used by the Romans and remains of Roman baths have been found in the city. There is a very beautiful, traditional Roman bath house called the Friedrichsbad Roman-Irish Bath in the city. There are days for men and days for women and I think one day during the week, it is mixed. All clients must be in their birthday suit when using the various pools of different temperature, steam room and the dry sauna. There are clear instructions on how one should move from one section of the bath to another and how long one should stay at each section. The whole process takes between one and half to two hours.

Baden-Baden was the residence of the margravate of Baden from the 14th century to the end fo the 17th century. During the Thirty Years' War and the Nine Years' War, Baden-Baden suffered severely especially from the French who pillaged it in 1643 and left it in ashes in 1689. It was re-discovered as a spa town during the Second Congress of Rastatt.

The popularity of the city as a spa town dates from the early 19th century when the Prussian Queen stayed there to improve her health. The 19th century saw the town rose in popularity to become a meeting place for celebrities, attracted by the hot springs, the famous Casino, luxurious hotels, horse races and the gardens fo Lichtentaler Allee.

The famous personalities that frequent Baden Baden included Queen Victoria, Wilhelm I, Napoleon III, Berlioz, Brahms and Dostoyevsky. Tolstoy set a scene in Anna Karenina in Baden-Baden under a different name. Dostoyevsky wrote The Gambler while compulsively gambling at the Baden-Baden Casino. Johannes Brahms' local residence, the Brahmshaus is open to the public. During the 1850s and 60s, under Napoleon III, Baden-Baden was nicknamed the European summer capital.

Coincidentally last night, we saw a movie about Tolstoy titled "The Last Station" starring Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy, Helen Mirren as his wife and James McAvoy as an avid admirer of Tolstoy's doctrine. It would have been more authentic if it was filmed with Russian stars and the dialogue in Russian. With a host of English actors, I feel I was watching an English classic : ) from one of Jane Austen's novels.

It has been a rather hectic week thus far. I am looking forward to being on the plane and finally some quiet time with nothing to do but sleep and watch movies. LIfe is good - thanks to my H and to God for all the blessings in my life.