A 'Bad' Day in Austria

Today we went to the Solebad in Gostling, about a 20 minute drive through the mountains from us (and I drove us both ways without stalling!!)  Sole means salt water in German.  Bad means spa or pool or swim or bathroom.  Yes, all those possible meanings for one word.  Knowing this helps makes sense of the translation that Google Translate offers on the pool's website:

Family Action Reduction --

From 2 full paying adults pay adolescents (6-15 years) only € 6.50 or € 10.50 incl. Sauna and can spend the whole day in the bathroom.

Luckily, we chose to spend our whole day in the pool and not the bathroom :)

The spa experience is apparently a very Austrian thing to do.  And I see why!  At this spa there were indoor and outdoor pools, with salt water that is 90-93 degrees, a huge slide, and a children's area.  You can also get a massage, go tanning, or go to the sauna.  But a little FYI about the sauna area -- almost everyone is naked.  Fortunately, we were warned of this little fact before we had to make the decision of whether we wanted to pay for solebad & sauna, or just solebad - we opted for the latter.  We've heard from friends that if you do decide to go to the sauna you can keep your towel wrapped around you, but that no one else will be covered.  Even the locker rooms are a little different than the average back home -- they're co-ed, but there are little private changing rooms and separate bathrooms for men and women.

Our family had a blast at the Bad!  Not a bad day at all!

Ellie took swim lessons at Francis' age, he just hangs out at the spa.

Children's area - snake slide! (not sure why that old man is up there)

2 indoor pools

You can swim out to the outdoor pool - with a view of the surrounding mountains

Here's one view from outside - you can see the large slide

Mom, why can't we go in the sauna??