Karlovy Vary

Prepare yourself for a shock! Jeff went to a spa town and got a massage! And, it was part of a class tour!

We went to Karlovy Vary (German/more popular name is Carlsbad) this weekend. It is a very famous spa town. Founded in the 14th century, it was pretty much the centre of European aristocratic treatment until the end of WWI. Pretty much anyone halfway famous in this time period went to the spas. Even today it remains popular due to it being the site of one of the most important film festivals in Europe.

In addition, it is also the site of of the Becherovka plant. It is a liquor, but a liquor that was designed for therapy. 20ml in the morning and evening is supposed to help you live longer, if you can get past the liquor tasting like Christmas in a bottle. Perhaps the coolest part is there is a 9km long transport pipe buried under Karlovy Vary that carries the liquor from one part of the plant to another. Apparently the Prime Minister of the Czech has been bugging the company to run a line off its transport pipe directly into his house, but they've declined thus far.

Anyways, the whole town reminds me of Mackinac Island, almost like a step back in time. Everything is old and fancy, most of the classical part of town is pedestrian only, or at least heavily restricted auto traffic, and there are still horse drawn carts.

Hmmm, guess every city I've visited has had horse drawn carts, and none for the same reason. Karlovy Vary uses horses for taxis for rich people, Krakow uses them as sightseeing for tourists, and Pristina uses them cause people are poor and actually need a horse drawn cart.

So in other news, I did find cheap tickets for spring break, I'm headed to Paris for a few days with Peter, hopefully to Normandy and one of the close wine regions, then I'm headed to Geneva for two days.

Unfortunately, after having this scheduled, the Czech krouna decided to jump a lot in value, so it will be the last trip for me that isn't planned and paid for through the school program. Hopefully the CZK doesn't get much stronger while I am here, the dollar has already lost about 20% to it since I arrived.