A Day in Karlovy Vary

Last Saturday, the 4th of April, we went to the small spa town of Karlovy Vary. It is about 2 hours outside of Prague by charter bus. We met up at Florenc metro stop at 10am. Well, everyone else did. Daniel and I thought we were going Hlavní Nádraží which is the main train station in Prague. It's a good thing we left early because we barely made it to Florenc before 10! We had to run! So, we were not off to a great start, but the trip went smoothly to Karlovy Vary.

We got to Karlovy Vary a little after noon so we ate lunch at a McDonald's and then went on our way.

(Notice the apostrophe)

Karlovy Vary is known the world over for it's natural hot springs and many spas. There are at least 12 natural mineral springs throughout the city. The mineral water is said to have medicinal properties helping with digestive problems, mineral deficiencies, etc. The only problem is that the water doesn't taste very good. We first went to the Park Colonnade. It is a walkway attached to a building, but that's like saying that the Mona Lisa is just another painting. It is placed in the middle of a beautiful garden setting and is very ornate.


(Flowers outside Park Colonnade)

After that we went to the Mill Colonnade which has its roof supported by 124 Corinth-style columns that shelter an orchestra pit and five mineral springs. A little side note here, some of the springs are hot springs as I found out the hard way... Live and learn!



From there we walked through the city center following the river that divides the city down the middle. We ended up at the Grand Pupp (pronounced poop) Hotel. It might look familiar if you have seen the movie the Last Holiday with Queen Latifa.



After that we went up to the top of a big hill that overlooked the whole city. There we climbed up to the top of Diana Lookout Tower to see a great view of the city! After that we climbed down the hill and went to the Market Colonnade to get some dinner. We ate at a little cafe and I had a traditional Czech meal consisting of Roast Pork and Bread Dumplings in a sauce. After that we headed back to the bus and home we went. The movie on the way home was an old Czech fairy-tale that was hilarious to watch! I didn't know what it said though because it was in Czech. It was a delightful experience!!!!



Karlovy Vary (Part 1)

Karlovy Vary (Part 2)