Sunday we managed to get up and out of the house. We visited a spa town in the Czech Republic called Karlovy Vary (which apparently translates to Carlsbad). The town has a beautiful main street that straddles the Tepla River. The town is famous for it's thermal springs which produce water that supposedly has healing powers. Along the main street, there are 13 springs that can be sampled by visitors. The map we got at an information booth informed us that each year 50,000 patients are sent to Karlovy Vary by their doctors to drink the magical water. It's said to be able to cure many ailments including: Digestive tract disorders, Metabolic disorders, Diabetes, Gout, Obesity, Gingivitis, Locomotor system disorders, Diseases of the liver, pancreas, gall bladder, and biliary ducts, Oncological convalescents, and Neurological diseases. Pretty incredible, eh? Near each spring is a little souvenir kiosk where you can purchase ugly and surely overpriced porcelain mugs with built in straws. The town was busy and they were making a killing on these mugs, and of course we ended up buying them for the kids. Carissa was warned that the water is an acquired taste and whoever told her that was correct. The water was very salty and maybe a little bitter. As we walked along, we sampled them all, which vary in temperature. At one of the hotter springs, Carissa provided the kids with a tea bag from her purse which improved the taste quite a bit.
Karlovy Vary
Preparing to be healed
Hallelujah!
After a while we sat down and had lunch at a little cafe beside the river and then continued down the main street. At the end of the street is the largest and hottest spring, which is enclosed in a very modern and therefore very out of place steel and glass building. This spring shoots steaming water 20 - 30 feet in the air while the tourists gather around and watch, most of them (including us) munching on wafer cookies that are made using the spring water. The wafers were cheap and actually quite good.
Lunch
We then made our way to a nearby church, snapped a few pictures and headed back for the car. There is more to see there but we figured we'll be back at some point and we wanted to get home before it got too late. This week the kids have a couple field trips through the base and then on Saturday we head to Salzburg, Austria. I suppose we'll have to rent the Sound of Music before we leave.
Next time you go, please bottle and send me a sampling of the waters. Use your judgment on which ones would be appropriate for me. Thanks!
ReplyDeletetea bad. Our girls loved Ramona and Beezus and so did I. It was a very touching movie. I don't know why you have to be so sexist to imply that guys can't tolerate the movie. Your family doesn't have any ailments to heal, but the kids look much happier in the "after" picture.
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