Taking the waters.
The scenery on the bus to Karlovy Vary is dramatic, wintry stark black trees, misty greys, soft mulberry shades interspersed with the soft dusty sage green of the pine forests. I arrive at Villa Brasilia, a beautiful old villa built by a Princess in the 19th century. Lovely room overlooking the river and a hill of russet undergrowth and bare trees.
It's such a beautiful town, the architecture is Grand Budapest Hotel style, in fact the Hotel Putt that I pass by was the inspiration for the movie. Found a lovely old retro restaurant but again the staff are so grumpy. The one thing you need when traveling solo, is friendly staff.
This town became famous for it's mineral waters in the 18th century and people flocked here for cures. There's beautiful colonnades in different styles and 15 different mineral springs. Along the way, there's little stalls selling beautiful little cups with spouts that you collect the waters in as you go about the town. Oh, I love this place! I feel like I'm back in the thirties. The waters are warm and a bit salty. After a few tries, I go for the hot spiced wine at the small Xmas market along the river.
I walk up into the hillside, past all the coloured gingerbread houses and look out over the view. That night I have had enough of the heavy Czech food and go for Italian. Lovely waiters! A win.
The next day I do a short trip to Loket castle. It's on the outskirts of a tiny village that seems to have shut down for the winter. The castle is interesting and the views beautiful but there's not much going on so I head back to Karlovy Vary.
I find a great cafe with good coffee and settle in for a while and later wander back through the town to where the springs shoot up in a main square, seasoning the cold air with a strange mineral smell.
I try the famous Spa wafers, layers of wafer thin biscuits flavoured with spices and the slightly salty spa water and then walk home through the Xmas light displays.
Then I'm back to Prague for a day, staying at the beautiful Bohemia Plaza hotel, still on the edge of the Red light district but a bit more wholesome. I find the Museum of Alchemy, which has been making elixirs since the 16th century. It has underground caverns and the most exquisite bottles full of interesting herbs and concoctions but beyond my price range. After that I find a cute French cafe, Le Gourmand and have the best pistachio eclair and, friendly service! And tomorrow, I'm on my way back to Italy for Xmas.
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