THE SWIMMING BATH.
UP THE MOUNTAIN.
The grand bathing houses are on a scale of magnificence that is truly wonderful, and one almost feels like shamming illness simply to enjoy their luxury. Nothing that money can buy, and in Europe as in America, it will buy almost anything, has been spared to make them as attractive to the eye and the other senses as possible. They make up Baden’s stock in trade, and Baden is too good a merchant not to have attractive wares for sale.
One of the favorite excursions from Baden is up the hill to the south of the city to the old castle, the walls of which are said to have been built in the third century, when the Romans constructed fortifications here. From the twelfth century till the completion of the new castle nearer the city, the old Schloss was the residence of the Margraves of the Duchy.
The road leading to the castle winds up the Battert, giving some beautiful views of the valley, with Baden, rich with its luxuriant foliage, nestling at the foot of the Black Mountains, whose dark profile stretches away off far to the north.