Karlovy Vary and the Twelve Springs

For Phil's 30th birthday, we decided on an mini-vacation to the Czech spa town, Karlovy Vary, with Brooke and Dustin, new friends who live in Prague. (She's a writer, he's a musician, and they rock). Karlovy Vary is a town nestled in a valley about two hours from Prague. Legend has it that in the 14th century, Charles IV's dog actually discovered the hot springs for which the town is famous. I don't know if that's true, but in light of the Czech culture's love of dogs, I believe it. Because of these natural springs, it became a center of healing and relaxation over the centuries for those who could afford to come here. In more recent times, this tradition has continued and there are an incredible number of spas offers a wide range of "treatments". These spa treatments are "medicinal", and Czechs actually get doctor's prescriptions to come to KV. While looking at the menu of available spa packages, there were massages and facials, but also lymph drainage treatments and colonics...we opted out of the spa experience.

We did decide to "take the waters". What is that, you might ask? Well, the twelve springs are found throughout the central part of the town, flow freely, and can be sampled as you roam around. There are supposed to be healing properties of the water, or maybe just digestive benefits, I can't exactly remember. The only thing I can recall is the awful taste of the water. I had a Czech friend tell me, "The water in Karlovy Vary tastes like blood". She wasn't kidding. The "minerals" in the water must have an absurdly high iron content. The water we sampled was 30, 40, 50, 60, or 70 degree C iron-flavored water. Bleeeeeeech. Brooke, Dustin, and I had enough after just one or two sips from our commemorative Karlovy Vary sippy cups. For his 30th birthday, Phil thought it was important to sample all twelve springs. A fountain of youth, perhaps? Later, he told us that he felt at least 28 after drinking all the water...

More important than "the waters", Karlovy Vary is absolutely beautiful. You can really see how the architecture of the town was built into the rolling hills. I thought KV was quite "vertical" in both the buildings and the landscape. I didn't expect it to be so visually impressive, so I was just thrilled that it was. What I really loved about it was that there are miles and miles of trails all around the town. So as soon as you leave the central downtown, you can be walking in the woods in just a few minutes. If you can tell from the photos, Phil's birthday was a gorgeous, sunny day, and we tried to take full advantage of it. We spent most of our afternoon roaming around on the trails, and found some incredible views of KV from the hills. In true Czech style, you can't hike to the top of a hill and not find a beer garden. So we even had a birthday beer toast along the way. Na zdravi!


After taking the waters and hiking, we roamed around town and in the evening, had his birthday dinner at a Czech restaurace, Posezeni u Sveska. Fried pork, goulash, and Pilsner Urquell for everyone! Our second day was much of the same, but with more fog and gray skies. Brooke and Dustin were amazing travel companions and we were thrilled to share this birthday extravaganza with them. Happy Birthday, Phil!


Last random thought and a factoid that may only interest me (á la Peter King;) - The last James Bond movie, Casino Royale, was actually filmed in the Czech Republic. The first few scenes were filmed at the Prague Hilton, and the scenes in "Montenegro" at the casino were filmed in Karlovy Vary! You might recognize this hotel from the movie, the Grand Hotel Pupp. Strange name, I know, but really beautiful.