Hello, Baden-Baden

Nestled on the fringes of Germany’s famed Black Forest region lies the spa town of Baden-Baden. Its regional, natural beauty, and the fact that it boasts more than 1000 hiking routes, 630km of cycling and mountain bike trails and 10 lakes makes it a magnet for city slickers. For a while in between, it even got pigeon-holed as a spot for the more gentrified and geriatric, but now, it has finally managed to shed that image.  Today, Baden-Baden, has transformed herself from a grand old dame to a young and vibrant  cultural capital housing one of  Europe’s finest modern art collections and its second largest concert hall in Europe. According to Frank Marrenbach, CEO, Oetker Collection of hotels, that owns the legendary Brenners Park Hotel, “The city isn’t afraid to evolve.”   But the town’s concert hall wasn’t the reason why I was in town. For me, it was a starting point to get some much needed exercise and I was planning to hit the hiking trails with a vengeance. However, much to my surprise, my hosts, at the Brenner’s Park Hotel and Spa, had other plans lined up for me. On day one, the concierge asked me If I would like to take