phone, and I saw that I had made it to 1000 subscribers. Aaahhh! Thank you. Thank you all so much.
Thank you
so much. This really made my Friday. So as promised back in June, now that I've
hit 1000 subscribers, I will make that video confessing my most embarrassing and awkward
adventures in the naked German saunas. So without further ado then, lets get into
it! Hey everyone! Im Dana, and youre watching
Wanted an Adventure Living Abroad.
As I mentioned in the first sauna video, here
in Germany people go completely naked in the saunas, and most of the time they are mixed-sex, so both men and women are naked in the same area. The sauna experience is definitely something
Ive grown to love, but at first... There were a few surprises. My very first German sauna experience was
when Mr.
German Man took me to a magical place called Therme Erding, which according to Wikipedia
is the largest thermal bath complex in Europe. Apparently, 4000 people visit every day. Thats
a lot of naked flesh! We bought a day pass and then we headed into
the changing room. We.
As in, Mr. German Man and I together. Because there was just one
changing area for everyone. There were some little stalls though, sort of like in a department
store dressing room, so we ducked into one of those to change and then stashed our belongings
in a locker.
We were in our bathing suits at this point,
because first we went over to the water park side, where they have indoor water slides, and you have to wear your bathing suit in that section. But then, after we had our fun in there, we
headed on over to the sauna section. I ducked back into the changing room to grab
something from the locker while Mr. German Man waited for me out by the warm pools.
And
on the way out, I was kind of rushing and I. Came around the corner in the changing room
and ran smack right into this completely naked old guy! As you can imagine, I was pretty startled
and apologized profusely as I bolted for the door. I got out and started telling Mr. German
Man how I had just collided into a totally naked guy, when I suddenly realized, my Mr.
German Man was standing there butt naked too! Were in the sauna section now, he
explained.
No bathing suits allowed. I glanced around and realized, yup, I was
the only one standing there with my suit on. So off it went! And that was probably the
worst part; actually taking my bathing suit off. Like, removing it while people were watching.
We headed into the first sauna, which was
a small room with wooden benches all around the sides. Youre not supposed to just plop
your naked butt onto the benches; in fact, Im pretty sure its not allowed, so we
laid our towels out on a bench and then sat down. There were a few other people in there
with us, and you just basically tried not to stare at their naked body. Or at least
thats what I focused on doing the whole time.
Or not doing. It was nice and warm, and really quite enjoyable. A few of those types of saunas later, Mr.
German Man led me into a room that was considerably warmer in temperature. He figured I could
handle it because I was from South Florida.
But this time we werent just popping into
a sauna and then leaving whenever we wanted to. The room filled up until we were literally
sitting body to naked body, and then a guy came in and started fanning the room with
a towel. The circulating warm air and the wall to wall
bodies quickly went to my head, and I started wondering what would happen if I passed out.
I decided it might not be so bad because there were enough people all around me to break
my fall. But still, not ideal.
Of course I could leave if I really had to,
but we were on the top rung of the wooden benches, so Id have to climb over a bunch
of other sweaty naked people to get out, and theyd told us at the beginning to try our
best not to leave because opening the door would let in the cold air and ruin it for the
other 30 people in there. I did make it. But just barely. I was seconds
away from bolting when the guy finally stopped waving that towel and let us out of there.
Mr.
German Man made a beeline for the water bar in the nearest pool and grabbed me several
bottles of water to down. I felt better after that, but I still took it easy for the rest
of that visit. By my second time to a German sauna, I basically
felt like a pro. We went to a different place, but the atmosphere was pretty similar.
Inside the actual sauna areas and in the pools,
people are uncovered and naked. But walking from place to place, the people generally
wrap a towel around themselves. At the first sauna most of the women wore the towel up
above their chest. But at this second sauna I noticed women walking with the towel wrapped
just around their waist, like the men.
Not wanting to seem prude, I went ahead and
did the same thing. When in Rome, right? Everything was going great, and after a couple
hours of sauna going, we decided to get a drink. Right next to the pools where people
were swimming around totally naked and right next to the main walkway where women were
walking around topless, was this little area of seats where you could order coffees or
smoothies and such. Mr.
German Man and I took a seat and started
looking at the menu, when suddenly the guy working there rushed over, his face flushed
red with embarrassment. Maam you cant sit here exposed like
that, he gasped. Now, he had actually said that line in German,
and my German understanding at the time was not great, so he had to repeat himself in
broken English, at which point I yanked the towel pretty much up to my chin, and then
satisfied with my now appropriateness, he left. I was mortified.
I had just gotten used to
being naked, and then he comes up and reacts as though my naked form is so inappropriate
and shameful when there were literally men and women walking right by our table. I could
have reached out and touched them! But Im pretty sure thats not allowed either. Okay, so those were the big stories for this
video, but before I go, three more things about the German sauna. First of all, those warm pools I mentioned,
yeah everyone just swims around totally naked in them.
Gave new meaning to the breaststroke.
Im sorry, that was really corny I know, but I couldnt help it. Secondly, I was pretty shocked the first time
I went to read that the minimum age to partake is 16. I guess I just figured it would be
18, but to the Germans being naked at the sauna is not one bit sexual. Its all about relaxation.
But still, 16, really? And thirdly, while I did feel pretty comfortable
going to the sauna with Mr.
German Man, a lot of Germans are also comfortable going
with friends and some even with co-workers! I draw the line at co-workers. I dont wanna see
those people naked. No thank you. So my question for you is, if youve been
to a sauna, how was your experience.
And if you havent, would you consider it? Please let me know in the comments below. Thanks so much for watching and subscribing.
Please dont forget to hit that like button and be sure to go check out my Google Plus
and Facebook page where I share behind-the-scenes photos of my travels and videos. Until next time, auf Wiedersehen!.
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