Czech Republic

This is a photo of Lobster Lake in Czech Republic where we went this weekend to finish our Scuba open water diver certification. Action and Dive shop in Ansbach arranged our stay at the Penzion Black Eagle and drove a divers van for the 3 hour drive.
The lake is tiny but used a lot by divers. We finished "making our skills" but did not see a whole lot of fish. There were carps and the elusive catfish that never came out to see us. The lake was more interesting on the outside with carvings like the ones below.

The owner of the lake lives in a cabin here and makes all these decorations himself.

Before we were certified divers we had to take the oath from Neptune who came to swear in the new divers with a dink thru their snorkel We were able to celebrate later with some Gamberinno beer from the lodge.

It seems no matter what or where I am I wake up around 0700 so we were ready to go by 0830 after having our donut for breakfast at the hostel. The hostel was about 20-30 minute walk from the Old Town so a bus ticket was in order. The ticket was about 26 crown or 1 euro and took us right to the Charles Bridge. The rain from yesterday was now snow so our first looks at Prague castle were thru a haze of flurries. I think we had a special travel moment this am with the snow and no other tourists.

The free tour on the agenda didn’t start until 1030 so there was a couple of free hours to walk across the Charles Bridge, take photos and shop a bit. I had to hit the garnet stores! By the tour time we had seen the charles bridge, been down Karlova street and photographed the astronomical clock and old town square.

At 1030 the guide was waiting at the meeting point hoping no one would show up for the tour in the snow. The tours are run by college students that do it is a part time job – they basically work for the tips. She was a bit hard to understand but she was a sport about guiding us around in 20 degree weather. She took us from the old town to the new town and ended in the Jewish quarter. The highlight was in the WARM national library where there is a seemingly endless tower of books that appears to hold up the ceiling. The tour was over by 1300 and we tried to make a beeline for lunch. When I say tried I mean that we couldn’t seem to find anything very easily even with a map because the streets are very curvy and change names frequently.

One of the maps had mentioned a pizzeria that appears to be in a cave where you can watch the guy flip your pizza dough. The place was called pizzeria Kmotra Kavarna near Wenceslas square. The order of the day was margarita pizzas with the beer I promised myself yesterday. It was great to be able to thaw out in a nice cozy environment. By the time lunch was finished it was almost 1500 so we headed back to Karlova street to see about the marionette show – Don Giovanni. Supposedly this opera was Mozart’s gift to Prague. The show was 1 hour 15 minutes for 1000 crown. The theater felt like it was in the attic of an old house with wooden benches. The puppets put a funny twist on the opera and I was glad we were able to fit the show in.
I had read in Rick Steve’s book about a tea house – Dobra Cajovna or “Good Teahouse” – where they elevate tea to an almost religious ritual. So of course we headed there. When you sit down they bring you a long menu of teas and a bell. After you finally decide what you want you ring the bell and a “tea monk” comes to take your order. I got some kind of phoenix tea that tasted pretty bad and Curt got a cinnamon flavor. The problem was they didn’t give me the sugar I’m used to dumping in my tea! But the place was cozy and warm!

After tea and just down the street was our second show – the WOW show at the Blacklight theater. It was definitely an experience. The tickets for this one were 1100 crown for an hour show. The storyline was about the dancers trying to find their inner child. It was an interactive theater with rain falling on us, bubbles, snow, big beach balls the audience bounced around and last but not least actors dressed up as giant spiders that came to harass the viewers. The display was amazing because it seemed as if the actors just disappeared from the stage. It can be related to a somewhat tamed down Cirque de soliel show.
Of course when we came outside to walk the rest of the way home it was snowing again. As we were fighting the map, the snow and the highways with no sidewalks Curt decided we should just take a taxi and in 5 minutes we were safe and dry back in the hostel. Tomorrow we leave early to head back to Germany and the snow awaiting us there. See you next week for Thanksgiving from Vienna!

12th Combat Aviation BDE had a welcome home celebration in Furth (near Nurnberg) last night so we got today off work. Of course I took this as an excuse to go somewhere for the 3 day weekend. As we were already east of home due to the ball we decided to head to Prague. So this morning we woke up a bit too early to leave our Pyramid hotel (looks like the Luxor in Vegas) and head to the train station.
Five hours and one switch later we arrived at the main train station in Prague. Of course our hostel, Hostel Elf, stated it was a 10 minute walk from the train station. Naturally this is only if you know exactly where you are going. We even picked up a map and some Czech crowns at the train station but headed out the opposite of where we needed to be, then went up the wrong street. We had to start in some direction in order to see a street sign. So we head back the other direction but there seems to be an uncrossable highway standing between us and the road we need to be on. So one more stop back at the train station is in order to ask how to get across this road. Then it decided to start the freezing rain coming down in buckets. So there we were….back and forth to the train station 3 times and still not on the same road as our hostel. Finally the road appears but the building numbers seem to be going up, not down. Luckily we refused to give up because apparently the even numbers on one side of the street go up while the odd numbers on the other side go down! Who knew.

So we arrive at the hostel dripping wet and starving. This is the largest room to date with four beds even though it is just the two of us. They seem to smoke a lot in Eastern Europe – there is free tea and coffee at the hostel but the area that provides it smells like a pub.
Upon request of a good place to eat nearby we are sent to a restaurant called Shlep with a 15% discount card from the hostel. Eventually we found it (once again not a 5 minute walk even with the map on the back of the discount card!)
So I know we are in Czech but there was so much to drink last night at the ball that I just wasn’t in the mood for beer. I had a baked pasta with papardelle noodles, chicken, mushrooms and Roquefort cheese. Curt had a beef stroganoff. The atmosphere was cozy being in a solarium with low lighting, wicker seats and lots of decorations. With our discount card we got our dinners and four sodas for 500 crown including a tip, about $25.
It was cold and our clothes were still a bit wet (I got splashed by a bus in the rain storm on the way to the hostel) so we headed back to the hostel after dinner to rest and plan for tomorrow.

On Sunday our whole goal was to get our “procedures”. We had breakfast, checked out, stowed our bags and headed to the clinic Our only choices were Thai massages so I got the hot stone and Curt got the classic full body. It was mostly relaxing but I can say those thai people or the people in Karlovy Vary have a different idea of what the hot stone massage includes. Afterwards they gave you tea which was delicious.

We moved the relaxation party to the Elephant Café for a lunch of Pepsi Lite and panini sandwiches. The sandwiches were great but the service was very European....slow. After lunch we headed back to the hotel taking a few pictures on the way. We headed a different way back and ended up seeing the downtown from above.

I don’t think we have been able to go on a weekend trip since the beginning of PA school so this feels great. We left for the train station Friday night and after 4 hours and 3 train switches the buildings of Karlovy Vary showed themselves. It was 2300 when the train pulled in and the walk to town was a big scary. The station is way up on a hill and a 30 minutes walk from the spa section of town. Our abode for this weekend is Hotel Avita by Best Western. Curt had a discount at Best Western which influenced our decision to make the reservations. However upon arrival the man at the front desk said we did not have a reservation. Luckily it was the off season so there was still a room available. Before long we were sound asleep.

Saturday was our day to sleep in – well until 0800! The room came with the usual European breakfast so we started our tour of Karlovy Vary with full tummies. The first stop was to buy little ceramic glasses fashioned with the name or picture of karlovy vary.

These are used to drink from the many fountains with healing waters This would be a good weekend for Rheumy Russ! The idea is toget some of the salty water in your cup, have a sip from the handle and then eat a sugary cookie to take away the taste.

We roamed down the main street by the water, drinking, eating and trying to find the spots shown in the movie, The Last Holiday. We passed the Grand COllanade, a building with a hot water spring in it and the church of mary magdolin.
Crystal is the thing to buy in Czech and I found some crystal flowers that I loved. There is also a liquor which is made only here – Becherovka. Apparently only two people know the recipe for this – I think they don’t realize that the Listerine mouth wash company got ahold of it. So a sip of that was enough!

At the end of the main walkway is the long awaited Grand Hotel Pupp! It looks much smaller than in the movie and we never found a ceiling that made us cry but it is still a beautiful hotel. Since we didn’t stay in the hotel an agreement was made to have coffee and a cake in the café Pupp. We got the Pupp cake which was layers of an apricot like fruit with cake and topped with chocolate.

The next mission was to climb to the Tower named Diana and have a look over Karlovy Vary. There was a furniculur that would take you to the top but what fun is that ?? We hiked and it was beautiful with all the leaves changing color and falling. The elevator then whisks you to the top of the tower and you have a beautiful view of the countryside. It doesn’t take long to take this in and you are back on the ground. We paused for a left over pizza break and some pommes. Now the only thing to do is go back down!

At the bottom the Carlsbad Medical Clinic was located and we secured appointments for our incredibly expensive "Procedures" - massages!
Dinner was at the Embassy pub and Hotel. Outside there are pictures of all kinds of actors like Morgan Freeman and Michael Douglas who have dined there. We didn’t need the reservations because at 1830 we were the only diners in the restaurant, therefore the waiters could pay lots of attention to us. The dinner was great and lasted like 2.5 hours.
The menu included parno ham wrapped around gorgonzola cheese with a slice of melon as appetizer. I chose white wine and curt had a Czech beer. Next came tri-colored pasta with cream sauce and bits of salmon for me. Curt had a stuffed pheasant with mashed potatoes. We took a plunge in getting the strawberries in pepper sauce with ice cream. I wasn’t a big fan of those but otherwise the dinner was great.