mrgreen

Guys, I think everybody here would get a culture shock when entering a traditional russian Sauna

Clint Bint

If they were budgie smugglers I think I'd complain.They're a crime against humanity.

Gamecock

Actually this is one of those things that sounds a lot better in theory than it works out to be in reality.

FlyingCow

Personally I find wearing swimsuits in a sauna extremely gross, and I'm used to just use a towel. In places where they require you to wear something I just cover myself with the towel. I don't understand the problem or discomfort about other naked bodies around. There's nothing you won't have seen already, and in any case it's not your business either to be peeping.

aztimm

I actually stayed at the Hilton Frankfurt and swam in the pool there--several times.

The pool was actually quite nice, though it did get quite busy. I might have been able to start with my own lane, but I think every time someone else came and I had to eventually share. Thankfully it wasn't that busy that we had to circle swim (would have been quite difficult, since my German is a bit rusty, and with people of different speeds and such).

The unusual thing I found in the locker room was that the attendant wasn't necessarily male. Actually I think they were all female. No one seemed to raise an eyebrow while changing.

DanishFlyer

In Denmark you don't wear swimsuits in the sauna either - the assumption is that you wash before you go to the sauna (not just change from gym or day clothes into swimsuit or even nothing).

So: for the sake of everyone else, you wash before swimming or sauna or whatever, and for the sake of yourself and your companions, you probably wash again afterwards :-)

That said, here I think a co-ed sauna would be quite unusual.

DanishFlyer

William13

CoEd saunas and steam rooms are the norm in Germany and several other European countries. At my Club in Berlin we usually tolerate prudish visitors who insist on wearing their swimsuits in the sauna or steam room, but occasionally a more curmudgeonly member will gruffly inform the visitors to lose the swimsuit for hygienic reasons. That being said, towels in the steam room are allowed.

Always keep in mind - we're all naked beneath our clothes!

safe travels...

Daedalus214

The naked co-ed sauna is the norm in Germany. I've been going there for business for 25 years, and can envision the scene you described with the towels for feet and buttocks from my time there. The first time, I went with a supplier (yes, it was a little strange at first) and thought I was being punked. I wasn't, it's just the way they do it. The only uncomfortable thing was that people kept looking back at the supplier and me as we were talking. Later, he said that most of the people in the sauna were surprised that an American would be in the sauna as we have a reputation for being uptight and uncomfortable in our own skins (literally). Damn Puritans!

Try not to stress about it, next time just do your thing and enjoy the facilities au natural.

mapu

Always funny to read the travel tales of puritan Americans

I avoid saunas that require clothing.

Next time try to blend in or skip the sauna.

stimpy

It is often funny when Americans or even British enter their first coed steam room in Europe. South Africa too. My first experience was at a hotel in Germany in the 90's. It was explained to me that it is unhygienic to wear a swimsuit in a steamroom. I accepted their local rules, quickly got over being nude around other men and women who were also nude and most importantly sweating. Because that's why you go to a steam room. To sweat. It's not a sexual experience so no one gets uptight about it.

What's really funny is when you see Americans going to a family sauna for the first time. There it's not just the adults, but the little kids running around naked too. Of course the little ones don't care at all. But if you come from America you think that all these parents should be arrested for child abuse.

The big family saunas are the best in the winter. You have indoor and outdoor heated pools, jacuzzi's, etc. You can get cooked in the sauna, then go outside and jump in the snow, then jump into a pool or jacuzzi or hit the steam room. And no one gives a hoot that everyone is naked. Of course the only people missing from this experience are the teenagers. For some reason they stop going when they hit puberty.

FlyingUnderTheRadar

Funny as a good friend who is German was very embarrassed while vacationing in Mallorca Spain as he walked into the sauna nude. Realizing he lacked the necessary clothing he exited and put on a bathing suit.

For Americans, what we might wear in a pool as a bathing suit (i.e. lose shorts) is not a bathing suit in other countries.

roberino

I remember going in the famous spa at the Gellert hotel in Budapest when I was a student at a conference. It was separate male/female sections on either side with a coed pool in the middle (like swimming in a cathedral - I can highly recommend it). On the male side it was clearly intended to be a nude area throughout (can't vouch for the ladies' area) so I strolled out of the changing room stark naked. My fellow student was waiting for me wearing a bright pair of board shorts and greeted me with the words "I'm leaving. It's bad enough I have to see these old guys' twigs and berries but having to look at yours is going to make me sick.".

meisdmtr

same here in Czech Republic.
I'm surprised, though, that you can't use towel, which most people would do (usually loosely putting over knees). No swimsuits, obviously.

Heidelberg Barbie

This was an hilarious read. Most here are well seasoned travellers most of whom know that there will be cultural differences encountered along their travelled path. Americans, amazingly, once out of their own country expect to find bits of American culture in all other nations. Having lived in Germany for quite a number of years I found that the German mind set was more akin to the mind set of the northeastern US, particularly the NYC/NJ 'attitude' (where I was born and raised) and Germans base their lives on being orderly. They expect others to adhere to those rules as well. As for nudity, most Europeans do not have the stigma about nudity that Americans have developed. Once you can get your attitude in tune with your host country's attitude you will relax and enjoy.
I recommend, upon a visit to Germany, travelling to Baden Baden for the luxury of the Friedrichbad - 3 -4 hours of pure relaxation in the NUDE.

jimquan

Hilarious story about the so cool about nudity Germans:

When I was stationed there I swam at the Fuerth Hallenbad (swimming pool).

One day I was in the -male- communal shower and there was an older gentleman washing up as well. An attractive young woman entered and nonchalantly did her thing assuming that it was a coed shower. It was not. The old guy and I looked at one another but we were not about to spoil the view. A minute later she gasped "Oh, Gott!" and made a hasty exit when she realized her error.

I love telling that story!

Jim