Karlovy Vary

On Saturday, November 3rd, I took a day trip with one of the English teachers from my school to Karlovy Vary (English name = Carlsbad). This town is famous for its hot springs, mineral water factory, blown glass, international film festival, five star hotel, and Russian population. It also happens to be where the Last Holiday with Queen Latifah and Casino Royale with Daniel Craig were filmed. The town itself is named after King Charles the IV, who once was hunting a deer in the woods around Karlovy Vary. That deer is believed to have jumped off a cliff and when King Charles went down to find the deer he found hot springs instead! I hiked to both the spot where the deer jumped off and to a lookout tower, which were high above the town. Don't worry! I did not try to imitate the deer!

People come from all over the Czech Republic and Europe to Karlovy Vary to enjoy the heeling powers of the spas and hot springs. Many locals go to the spas in Karlovy Vary and neighboring towns after they have operations for rehabilitation. However, you don't need to be sick to enjoy the them. In fact, the first activity I enjoyed was walking by each of the 12 hot springs in the town and tasting their water. My fellow teacher and her husband bought me a special cup to taste each of the springs. The springs are supposed to heel stomach ailments, but I was warned by the teacher that they actually can cause stomach issues if you drink too much of the water. I just had a drop from each spring, but some people I saw filled entire water bottles full with the water and gulped them down! Most of the springs were 50-75 C (122-167 F), although, they did not feel that hot. I did not find the water particularly refreshing. It mostly tasted like it smelled - like metal and sulfur. Regardless, I will hopefully live much longer now!