Spa Town Karlovy Vary

I travelled a couple of hours outside of Prague this weekend to the spa town of Karlovy Vary or Carlsbad (in German) as I had read it was beautiful. The guide books did not exaggerate! (See full range of pics on my profile page on FB.) Anyway, the bus was inexpensive and the scenery along the way was rolling green hills and attractive hamlets which made the journey even nicer. Karlovy Vary has an interesting history so I'll give you the nutshell version. It was discovered back in the 1300's when Emperor Charles the IV was hunting. One of his dogs fell into a spring and Charles decided to build a hunting lodge to take adavantage of the natural thermal waters. It became known as "Carlsbad" or Charles Bath. Many famous people started to come including Bach, Freud, Marx, and the list goes on. It soon became a center for the performing arts and the architecture followed. Anyway, there are a total of 13 springs all located in the "Spa District" and the buildings that house the springs are designed to capture the benefits allowing visitors to bathe, drink or absorb the curative vapors. The Strudel Spring is the largest and most famous and shoots 15 meters into the air at a scary temperature of 162*F! Step back! Elderly tourists stroll the promenades clutching their "invalid cups" and dip from the thermal fountains found throughout the spa area. There is also an "elixer" on sale called Becherovka which was created by a Dr. Becher back in the 18oo's. It's an herbal mixture with alcohol so I guess you could get a nice buzz while "taking your medicine." I bought a small bottle just to try and it tastes like jacked up cough medicine. It's still the main souvenir today so I guess the Dr. must have profitted nicely! I also ate my first Schnitzel and it was sooooo delicious!! The place I had it at had a variety of sauces on the table and one of them was Salsa Maggi, all the way from Mexico so I had some with my boiled spuds. : ) All in all it was a very enjoyable side trip and I look forward to the next one.