We ventured up to northern Germany to Norderney, home of every bird that Dr. Wasser can name and describe in encyclopedia-like detail. But then again, what can't he describe like that? We biked everywhere which was a fun change, but after the first day, I could say that about three quarters of our group had sore butts from the seats and pedaling all day to get around. However, the wind and weather combined for a very freeing feeling while biking down the streets of the little island with very few cars.
The bike tour was fairly long which got tedious going up and down hills while battling a brutal wind, but the experience of the full island and the complete lack of obligations to anything made it so wonderful.
Okay so now, the best part of the whole trip thus far that was compacted in a mere two hours. When we got to the bath house I was a tad nervous of the mud treatments and exposure that the sauna entailed. But like everyone else, I just kinda went with it and it turned out soooo amazing. We got in and tried every pool and definitely annoyed at least 20 people with our excitement. I laid down in a salt pool that let me float super easy, and I like, hit a zen moment and closed my eyes there for like 20 minutes, 10/10 would recommend. Then when we got to the mud treatments, we (the dudes) slathered every inch of of our body with this warm, sticky mud/salt paste. Every. Inch... We sat on benches as the room began to heat and steam until we began to sweat down black streaks of mud for 14 minutes. Then waterfall showers started without warning, pouring out hot water that washed us off. Well, kind of. The shower heads were small and located directly over the benches so Bryan and I had to awkwardly stand on the benches and squat to not hit our heads while cleaning up. We then wrapped up and waddled to an 85 C sauna (that's 185 degrees Fahrenheit, mom). I thought Texas summers were hot, but this dang room was stifling. Our small group of guys sat there, sweating profusely and joking around about random stuff. We made it all of 10-12 minutes before the first few of us decided to get out, and I left around 13 minutes when my nose literally stung from the pain...It felt like my nose hairs were being singed off. Going from that to the extremely cold "dipping pool" was very relieving but very shocking as the temperature change was so extreme. But after, man, after that... Every single person can agree that you could not get any more relaxed than that. Head to toe your muscles were all loose and you just wanted to lay in a bed motionless for hours after that. An experience like this makes me wanna become a sauna master like Dr. Wasser, sauna cap and all.
The trip came and went, and by Friday night, a group of us made it to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. We visited the attractions, took a canal tour of the city, and experienced the city's nightlife (the I AMsterdam sign was a no-go though, that thing was swarming with people touring the city and you couldn't get a good picture). The Dutch people were in fact huge, and my 5' 11" self was smaller than most of the city's residents. Overall, the weekend was very fun and I highly recommend a stop there if anyone who hasn't ever been there can get the opportunity.
Halfway done with our studying abroad, 3 more weeks to go!
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