MAR-GOES

Well today has been interesting to say the least. Again, Greg and I decided to get up early this morning and venture off to another small town in the Czech Republic. We figured we might as well see parts of our host country other than just Prague while we can. For today we chose Karlovy Vary, located about 2 hours west of Prague. Karlovy Vary, also known as Carlsbad, is considered a spa town, so you know I was excited when I first heard this. Who wouldn’t love a spa town? Anyways, little did I know that “spa” in Europe is different than what we know in America. A spa in Europe is more of a place for health treatments and bathing in mineral waters. So no, I didn’t go to a town full of facials and massages. After learning this, I was slightly discouraged. My hopes were re-lifted when we found a beer spa and learned about the hot springs there. You’re probably thinking.. “beer spa?”. I’ll go into more detail about the day once I get through explaining our adventure to get there.

We arrived at the bus station at 9:25, just 5 minutes before departure this morning, but made it on the bus in time. I was dreading the thought of sitting on a bus for 4 hours today BUT this bus was pretty cool. The seats were comfortable, there was a good selection of free movies on the screens in front of us, and free WiFi on board. As I settle in my seat and prepare for the next two hours, I am asleep before I know it. I woke up from my surprisingly lovely nap to find the bus at a dead stop on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere about 45 minutes away from our destination. I thought to myself, “well we are either all about to die or the bus ran out of gas”. Clearly happy thoughts. I woke Greg up who didn’t seem the least bit concerned… at that moment. Three minutes go by and 2 police officers step on board. The bus attendant walks to the back of the bus to tell us to have our ID prepared. (In the Czech Republic it is illegal to not have your passport on you at all times). Of course I knew that and grabbed my passport and all of my nerves were eased. I look over at Greg and told him to get his passport out. I could tell immediately from the look on his face that he didn’t have it with him. I went right into “mom-mode” and was like “what, how, why?!!”, a little angry and anxious. That was it, he was going to get taken into some station and I’m alone on this bus in the middle of nowhere going to some town I’ve never been to with 10 words of Czech in my vocabulary. The cop gets to us and I hand her my passport no problem. Greg hands her his PA license and a picture of his visa on his phone. Although it looked for a quick second it would pass as ok, it didn’t (she didn’t know what Pennsylvania even was). She held onto his license and moved on to the next people. She signaled him to come with her off the bus. I AM INTERNALLY FREAKING OUT RIGHT ABOUT HERE. I see him step off the bus and have no vision of him after that. I sit there for what seems like 10 hours going back and forth between planning how I’d get him from a station in the middle of nowhere to “he’s ok, they can’t take him for this, it’ll just be a fine”. What was actually about 7 minutes later, I see a 6’3″ blonde head coming up the bus stairs.. with a grin on his face. He sits down and shows me a ticket for 200 Czech crowns, about 10 USD. All was well, lesson learned. But if you know me and my worrying, I’m SURE you can imagine me in this situation. At least it wasn’t flipped and I was without passport, because I would’ve no doubt been in fetal position crying to them. There we were though, Greg with the charm and social calmness and me with the preparedness. Perhaps this is some of the good balance we give each other. We arrive in Karlovy Vary around 12:30, an hour before our 1:30 beer spa appointment.

After a stressful morning, there was nothing we needed more than a relaxing spa treatment. This wasn’t your typical spa. The place is called Pivní Lázne and it’s a small building in town. We walked in and walked down a few flights of stairs into a basement. A happy older woman welcomed us in extremely broken English, but like I’ve said, this is their country their language. She explained to us what the deal was. Basically, 20 minutes of a whirlpool warm bath filled with the ingredients of beer (brewing yeast, selected varieties of hop, and malt grist) and 40 minutes to dry off and lay in a bed of hay, yes hay. Oh and unlimited beer from taps and beer bread. (I’m not a huge beer fan but it was definitely worth it for the experience). There’s not a great way to truly describe this place so I have pictures for you! If you are still confused or more interested, google image “beer spa Karlovy Vary”.

According to their website, “the bath procedure boosts your metabolism, washes out harmful substances from your body, relaxes internal and external tension, fatigue, as well as stress, thereby offering you moments of absolute mental and physical relaxation.” Sounds great!!

Feeling rejuvenated, we went to walk around the town and try to find the hot springs. There are 13 main springs, so I figured we’d stumble upon one sooner than later. And that we did. Across the street was a small souvenir stand filled with small and large novelty cups to gather the water in and drink from. Of course I needed to get one. Greg and I picked out the cutest little one (shown below) and we ran off to try some of the “healing” water. I figured it was great timing, as I feel a head cold coming on. We go over to the hot spring and are excited that the water is hot since it was so cold today. By the way, hot springs contain groundwater that is heated geothermally.. pretty cool. I was eager to take a sip and… gross. I felt like I had bent down and got some water from the side of a road after rain hit some mud and was driven over by 100 cars. Let me tell you, the earth does not taste good. AND people were loving this stuff in this town. My cup was small but people were chugging this left and right out of huge cups. Maybe the one sip I got will cure my head cold.

We found another cafe to relax for a bit and caught a small crowd watching a biathlon with a Czech competitor. People were getting really into it. #TotalLocalMove

A successful, non-police stopped, bus ride home later we were sitting at a local restaurant eating some good food and thinking about the one-of-a-kind day we had.

Phew, sorry if you weren’t in the mood for a novel today. I figured everyone at home would have time for it since you had a snow day.

Ciao for now. I’m ready for my first morning to sleep in since I got here.

P.S cool note: Beethoven, yes THE Beethoven, used to frequently visit Karlovy Vary for its spa treatments and to take walks.

xx