Sep 23 – On the map, Plzen and Karlovy Vary are so close together that it was just unimaginable that there was no direct route from one to the other without having to go back to Prague. Yet online, not only could we not find a train or bus, but there did not seem to be any tickets at all, through Prague or otherwise. We spent an anxious evening exploring FlixBus, Omio, Rome to Rio, and every other site we could find online, then determined to walk to the train station in the morning and see what was what.
It turned out that there were plenty of buses and trains, even a direct train that would get us there in less than two hours! We purchased the tickets gladly, and it made us wonder if we could have made better choices in other cities if we had not relied on the internet. A word to the wise for our fellow travelers!
So now we are in Karlovy Vary, the northernmost and last stop on our tour. We are almost at the German border, and, in fact, this city used to be part of Germany, once called Carlsbad or Karlsbad. Karl for King Charles IV, and “bad” the German word for bath. In Czech, Karlovy for King Charles, and Vary meaning boiling. The hot springs here healed King Charles’ wounded leg in 1342. In the 1800s, it is where the wealthy came to relax and partake of the medicinal hot springs, purported to cure just about any disease and disability you can think of.
We walked from the train station …taking in all the fancy pastel buildings…right along the riverAs a splurge for our last city, Jim booked us into the Grandhotel Pupp!Very opulent With OMG breakfasts – check out the salmon!Every food you can think ofWalking to the spa in our comfy robesA pool with with upholstered lounges, private jacuzzis, and a waterfall There are portraits of famous guests lining the halls – Morgan Freeman!I think we’re going to like it here!
Unusual fountains in the main Namesti Cathedral of St Bartholomew – tallest spire in Czechia What an interesting MadonnaWe climbed up the spire past the bell towerA view of the city from the top of the spireOutside the cathedral is a railing with little angel faces – the one on the right has been touched so often that its face has totally disappeared. We watched a steady stream of people walk up, grasp the angel and bow their heads in prayer.Faces at the playground …and at the bakeryThe Great Synagogue, with its Russian orthodox domes, is the third largest in the world Majestic interior The hallways are filled with stories of those lost in the Holocaust – the Jewish population of the city went from over 2000 to less than 200 todayFootsteps leaving the synagogue The Puppet MuseumJim was very good at the marionettesHere are heavy wooden puppets of shepards, Joseph, Mary and the Magi – puppeteers put one arm through and carried the puppets on their shouldersI liked them allOutside on the squareMore facesWe had a wonderful time in Plzen – now we’re off to Karlovy Vary!
Sep 19 – Another travel day, as we returned to Prague by bus and then went on to Plzen by train. After the fairytale experience of Česky Krumlov, Plzen looks like a big, noisy, gritty city. Why are we here? Beer!
You might not recognize it without the vowels, so I will tell you that this city is better known by its German name, Pilsen. It is the home of Pilsner , the light lager on which many other beers from all over the world are patterned.
Worker statues greet us at the train station More workers in the murals above the doorsThis rail inspection car, proudly built in Czechoslovakia in 1947 is also on display The triumphal arch at the Pilsner brewing plant. We’re here for the tour!Mostly guys in our tour group – do you think there’ll be free beer?The water tower provides the famous soft water used at the brewery Pilsner was first made in 1842 when all the beer brewers in town got together and hired a member of the Groelsch family to help them make a superior productThe Emperor Franz Joseph drank his Pilsener out of this crystal gobletAre those Clydesdales?How do you make beer?Only three ingredients Barley doesn’t have much of an aroma…but hops does!The beer is still brewed in copper containers …and aged in oak barrels The brewery produces almost 3 million pints per day. Urquell means Original, to distinguish this from all the other pilsnersThere are three ways to order a beer here: one third foam, two thirds foam, or all foam! I don’t know why, but they do!Ah! Fresh, unpasteurized, unfiltered Pilsner – delicious!For our main meal today, Jim ordered the ultimate Czech dish: Pigs Knee, also called pork knuckle. It is soaked overnight in beer, absolutely huge, and twice the price of everything else on the menu. Between the two of us, we finished every bite, and may never eat again!
Sep 17 – I bet you know that rich nobles back in the day kept nightingales and song birds around just to hear them sing. But did you ever wonder whose job it was to catch those birds? They were called fowlers, and today we’re climbing the Fowlers Hill.
At the top of the hill is a monument, called the Little Castle or Bird Castle, that was originally intended as a memorial to commemorate the victory over Napoleon Bonaparte in the Battle of Leipzig of 1813. The troops there were commanded by a brother of the Duke of Česky Krumlov.
Walking back through our fairytale townLooking up to the Cloak BridgeOutside the castle wallsThrough the castle gardens…and out past where any tourists goA path up Fowlers Hill – see the trail marker on the tree?A shady path through the woods Here are those funny mushrooms againAt the top, the Bird Castle, originally intended as a memorial to the Napoleonic Battle of LeipzigHere’s what the unfinished monument looked like before it was privately acquired in 2010Now it’s a cozy residence See the birds on the gate?Down the other side of the hill, back towards townBack into the castle gardens…on toward home…and back to the tourists Jim enjoys speaking with the Syrians who run the local kabab and pizza places (there are no KFC or McDonalds here).Today we enjoyed a kebab pizza – the best of both worlds!Česky Krumlov, we’ll miss you!
Sep 15 – Today you get a story, told at length to tickle my dear friend Tom. It’s a beautiful fall day, and we are going to the top of the mountain! Jim found directions online: take a local train to a nearby town with a ski lift, take the lift to the top of Mount Klet, and enjoy the gentle wooded walk back to town. Sounds lovely – let’s go!
In the fairytale town of Česky Krumlov there are no intercity trams, trolleys or buses – if you want to go somewhere, be prepared to walk! The walk to the train station took 45 minutes, all uphill.
When we arrived, there was no one to sell us a ticket, and Google didn’t know anything about this train. Luckily, a lone student was sitting outside, and he said we would be going on the same train as him and could buy a ticket onboard. Nice person of Czechia!
Twenty minutes later we hopped off the train at the Holubov station, and started to walk. And walk. How far was this ski lift? Another 45 minute walk! Now it was midday and getting warmer. After a while, Jim stuck out his thumb and a young man pulled over and drove us to the ski lift. Another nice person of Czechia!
We encountered a couple at the ski lift office, knocking on the door and then calling on their phone. The ski lift is closed today. The man said according to the internet it should be open, but the internet is often wrong.
Now what? Back the way we came? Who knows when there will be another train? We asked Google Maps for the shortest way home and, you guessed it, it told us shortest route was up and over the mountain.
A young lady jogging down said yes, there was a path straight up the mountain. Just follow the ski lift towers. She assured us it was doable. From the lips of a twenty year old!
The path started off gently, but the higher we climbed, the bigger the rocks got, until we were scrabbling instead of hiking. Three hours later, we scrabbled to the top. The restaurant? Closed. The observation tower? Closed, of course, so no scenic view. Luckily, Jim had packed sandwiches. What we thought was a soda vending machine turned out to be a beer dispenser, so at least we weren’t thirsty!
A long walk to the train station Our nice student made sure we got off at the right stopThe deserted Holubov station – nothing to do but walk…and walkSunflowers!Sheep!A nice young man drove us to the ski liftSki lift closed? Let’s just walk up the mountain! How hard could it be?A nice path at the startLook! The ski lift!The higher we climbed, the bigger the rocks gotIs this a smile or a grimace? Jim kept saying, “I see the top! You’re almost there!”Where is the top?A memorial on the rocks, presumably for all those who died trying to hike to the top!At the summit, a closed restaurant, and a closed Josef’s observation tower behind it. No scenic view for us today!No food available, but there was a beer vending machine, so at least we were not thirsty.On the way back down, we encountered a big silver worm unlike anything that we’d seen beforeLots of moss and shadeHere’s a view! Sort of…Kinds of mushrooms we don’t see back homeThere we areBack to town! And for those who count steps, I walked 29,000 steps today, and lived to tell the tale!
Sep 13 – This little fairytale town was built around a medieval castle on the bank of the Vitava River. No battles were fought here – it’s just a castle that was owned by one rich family after another, and is now the property of the state.
The Industrial Revolution passed by this place. Since becoming a World Heritage site in 1992, the town has revolved around tourism. Bus loads of tourists arrive every day to wander the cobblestone streets and take selfies with the castle tower in the background.
The Castle Tower dominates the landscapePretty pastel buildings house restaurants and tourist shops. In the square is another Plague Tower, erected in the 1700s giving thanks to the Virgin Mary for the end of the plague.So many tourists!Lots of facesThe castle,s outer walls are painted to appear three dimensional A view from the Cloak Bridge that connects the lower and upper castles This rider doesn’t fear falling off his horse!Jim made friends with the castle sentryYes, three bears occupy what once was the moat – a sign assures us that these bears are not being exploited, but have been in the care of the state since the circus closed.An art supply shop where all the paint tubes look like fingers!The castle garden hedges are precisely trimmedThe beds look a bit dryThe castle garden fountain We encountered a vineyard …and a display of historic beers of Česky Krumlov For our midday meal, we found a mouthwatering Czech restaurant – Jim had the aromatic goulash with red cabbage, and I had a dish worthy of my German Oma: pulled pork and onions over a mound of sauerkraut with potato dumplings. Heaven!What a lovely day!
Sep 11 – When Jim planned this trip, he booked us into cities in a circle around Prague, and we figured we would travel around the circle. Turns out that you can’t get anywhere in this country without going through Prague, so our travel days will be like spokes of a wheel, going back to Prague every time before advancing to the next place.
So we spent this whole day traveling from Olomouc back to Prague by train, then onward to Česky Krumlov by bus. (The little karat above the Č indicates a Ch sound, so CHESky.) We met a young family in the train station who said they shared our sadness on this anniversary of 9/11, which we thought was so sweet. Nice people of Czechia!
On the (free!) trolley in Olomouc going to the train station Our very comfy 2nd class seats on the train – half price for seniorsLooking out the window of the bus to Česky KrumlovSo now we are in Česky Krumlov, high in the hills and away from the city – the weather is a little cooler hereThis town is full of pensions attached to private homes. We are staying at Pension Klima, in an efficiency studio with a full kitchen. Our host has a face collection at our door that made me smile. Jim has some hiking planned for us this week – oh boy!I think we’re going to like it here!
Sep 10 – For our last day in Olomouc, we went back to the historic square.
Part of the castle walls that once surrounded the cityWe ducked into Our Lady of the Snows, which was closed the other day.You don’t often see angels giving communion A docent let us into the sacristy behind the sanctuary From there we moved on to Olomouc Castle, where we saw ruins of the original foundation A chalice made of an ostrich egg…and lots more Madonnas…including one carved in ivory He’s got the whole world in his hands A precocious readerI like this one the best – very peaceful and natural looking A marvelously embellished rococo carriage…and the ornate outfit of the horse who pulled itOutside the Modern Art Museum hangs (literally) another work by David Cerny, this one depicting a thief making off with an artwork hanging out of his backpack. The robber inches along the balcony, trying to escape.The featured artist was Maria Bartuszova, who worked mainly in white…and a collection of photographs by Jindřich Streit that reminded me of the American Appalachian photos from the 1930s, although these are of Czechs in the 1980sThank you Olomouc – we had a great time!
Sep 9 – Today we traveled an hour by bus out of the city and up to the top of a hill. We are visiting the Basilica of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, a pilgrimage site and Czech beginning of the Way of St James that goes to Santiago. We’re not hiking this time, just paying a visit.
Here’s the story. In the early 1600s, Jan Andrýsek, a wine merchant, vowed that if he ever became wealthy, he would build a chapel to the Virgin Mary near Olomouc.
When he inherited a fortune, and didn’t follow through on his promise, the Virgin Mary appeared to him twice in dreams, reminding him of the vow. The dreams showed a radiant forest and the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child.
In 1629, Jan was riding east of Olomouc in a blizzard. He suddenly saw a brilliant light, in exactly the place he had seen in his dreams. Thus reminded, he built a chapel, which was enlarged several times as more pilgrims visited each year.
The bus let us off a short walk from the basilicaNothing but farmland for miles aroundIn we go!The Virgin wanted a chapel right hereThe light during the blizzardThe altarpiece contains some bones of St Pauline, the patron saint of Olomouc. The small stone relief of Mary in the silver frame survived a fire in the original chapel in the 1600s and is considered miraculous.Fancy organ pipes So baroque Is that a camel?Is that a dragon?An angel holding dice – referring perhaps to the soldiers who cast lots for Jesus’ cloak?More Madonnas for my collection …including two Black Madonnas This one reminds me of Our Lady of Guadalupe Whoa! Isn’t this the best reaction of St Thomas that you’ve ever seen?The basilica is also part of the Camino Santiago, and we looked at several pics of locals walking the Way of St James. I don’t think this bunch is going all the way to Spain.On our walk home we spied some wall artVery colorful And even some sidewalk chalk art!
Sep 7 – Olomouc advertises itself as the place that has everything that Prague has, except the crowds. It has a huge historical central square. The Czech word for square is Namesti, so wherever we go, we are reminded that the light in me honors the light in you (this is a yoga joke).
There are so many things to see here!
The Holy Trinity Column is the tallest monument in Czechia and the biggest group of statues in Central Europe The top depicts the Holy Trinity, accompanied by the Archangel Gabriel and the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Looks pretty crowded up thereLike Prague, there is also an astronomical clock! Instead of apostles, this one shows working people.Unlike the clock in Prague, these figures aren’t rotating, ( I think it is in need of repair?) but we can see musicians, miners, athletes……nurses, businessmen, and blacksmithsNot only can you see the time, but also the current astrological sign …and the current constellations in the night skyThere are also many fountains – here is the fountain of CaesarThe fountain of Hercules, holding his cudgel and smiting the hydraThe Triton fountain The fountain of Mercury And the Arion fountain There is the Marian column, erected in the 1700s to thank the Virgin Mary for saving the city from the plagueThere is a (temporary) sculpture of Mozart here, made of sand. When Mozart was performing in Europe as a 5 year old prodigy, his father brought him here to Olomouc to escape the plague.Unfortunately, Mozart contracted the plague anyway, but he recovered right here in this palaceA modern artist with something to say to the popeThe Opera HouseSt Maurice Cathedral – too big to see in one photoInside, we heard the most beautiful organ music. There was a concert that evening, and we got to hear the world famous organist Jean Baptiste Robin practicing! A fine day.
