Františkovy Lázně, Czech - Day 2

View from my hotel window to the right

The Great Master House (where Bethoveen stayed in 1812 for a month)

Another gloriously sunny Czech day from when I awoke to when the sun set it stayed as bright and beautiful and although again not warm it was still a prefect day.

View from my hotel window to the left

Main Street through town (Narodni) - Something about these streets remind me of New Orleans although only from what I've seen in pictures

After an early breakfast I had my first treatment here which, like most of the hotel, required us to meet on the 1st floor of the hotel near the treatment rooms anytime between 8:30am and 10:30am to take part in the procedure. There was a line when I arrived and I got behind two ladies but as I made my way to the line and actually before that when I first came off the staircase and headed toward the hall I saw people walking about with their hands together wrapped in a towel. It was like they were all warming their hands in a brightly colored terry cloth muffler. I would say there were at least 20 people all around, anywhere they could find a seat all with these towel hand wraps. I continued to observe the proceedings around me and in the little room where two people at a time went in, washed their hands at the tiny sink, dried them and then went over to a petite women the high table who had a towel with a large piece of plastic wrap on top just waiting for the patient to dunk their hands in the metal container three times and then come to her to be rolled up. One women was a bit confused and kept putting her hands in the pot with fingers straight down and the petite women was getting exasperated with her and finally she put her palms facing down and dunked the according to the other women's wishes and all was back on track. So by the time I got in I was ready to go and knew the lay of the land, wash hands, dry them, dunk palms facing down three times. It was hot paraffin wax as I could clearly see when I got to the pot and that was something I was familiar with from having it done many times at the nail salon so I pressed my hands right down but to my surprise it was so hot I really thought I was getting a first degree burn. I pulled them out and then not to get on the petite women's bad side like the other lady I dunked them back in slowly and it was a little better and by the third time it was bearable. She indicated with her hands to put my arms across my body with my hands, fingers facing each other and with the right on top of the left hand then she quickly swaddled my overlapping hands with the plastic wrap/towel combination and I was directed in German to sit for 20 minutes or at least that's what I think she was saying and I just did as the other were doing and found a place to rest until those who were right before me got up to remove their makeshift muffler.

Glauber III & Glauber IV pavilion where a women in a secure box pumps the water from spouts that look like beer should be coming out of them

Glauber III & Glauber IV & another spring I don't remember

A very sweet older women came up to me as I was resting and my hands were throbbing from the heat and started to speak in a heavy European accented English. It turns out she lived in San Francisco and Oregon for a while and her son still lives in Oregon now so she speaks a little English and was very excited when the women at the front desk told her there was an American staying here so she could practice some of her English. That was so cute and strange that it was shared by the front desk that an American was here but I imagine it is a strange occurrence since very few staff members speak any English at all. But everyone here has been so nice and actually since it's German they're speaking it really is much easier to understand what is going on.

New Spring Pavilion

Glauber I Spring

Shrine off the walking path

And just as I thought it was exactly 20 minutes when it was time de-swaddle and you go back to the tiny room and unroll the towel, plastic wrap and then peel off the wax. I, clearly not being as observant at the moment, didn't realize no one was washing their hands afterwards so I went right for the sink and petite women, in a school teacher tone, scolded me so I had to wipe the liquid soap off with a towel and walk around for an hour or so or at least until I had to go to the bathroom without washing my hands.

I'm still not sure exactly what the procedure does with the exception of making you hands nice and smooth but it did raise my heart rate a bit so perhaps that's part of it.

So not having another treatment for a while I took a walk around the town center taking pictures of the hotel where Ludwig van Beethoven stayed for a month in 1812 formerly called the Two Golden Lions House and now called the Great Master House after their illustrious composer guest.

I made my way past toward the Frantisek Spring, the Gaseous Spa where in the early 20th Century they did radioactive treatments there and the new colonnade building. I'm pretty sure from my research this is the area where 1789 where the first pavilion was over the mineral springs and where a doctor Adler who had just finished his studies in Vienna, wanted to make sure a hygienic drawing of the mineral water was done so he had the pavilion closed off by bars but the women of Cheb (the town nearby where many of the spa guests where staying and therefore a huge means of economic stability for the town) who were knows as water carriers (women who came to the spring from Cheb about 2 miles away and brought the water back to Cheb for the guests to drink their cure) were so enraged by the doctors interference with the spring that they "...marched to the spring to the roll of the children's drums and under the flags made from bed sheets to regain it and their rights." The famous Women's Riot culminated in the demolition of the pavilion.  Doctor Adler got the title of a "bread thief" and was not allowed to leave his house. The women fought under the the motto "one for all, all for one" and the town council did not dare interfere. Nobody knows at the time that the women had just founded their own women's spa."

I had a back, head and neck massage and water massage to follow and then my procedures were done for the day and it was only 11:00am so off I went for a nice walk and then to the Harvey Hotel which is the sister hotel to mine and where the front desk attendant said they'd be happy to let me use their sauna since we don't have one here in our buildings.

On my way over there I walked Glauber Spring Hall which is a large beautiful building  with several spring fountains inside. The Glauber IV spring has the highest amount of Glauber salt in the world and therefore has strong purgative effects of which I can attest because exactly one hour later I spent a great deal of time in the bathroom. The liquid tasted like the clear stuff you get before you have a medical procedure like a colonoscopy so I should have guessed it was going to have the desired effect of that medicinal formula. I must admit though that I felt great about 90 minutes later when all was well again. The really good thing is I had passed the Harvey Hotel just before the hour was approaching and decided to try out the sauna so I was safe inside a warm, clean, private bathroom when the worst of it hit me.

Lake near petting farm. It reminded me of Tunstall, UK but without my furry little Teddy running and playing

View from past lake to field of grazing deer

Eating the apple half I gave him

Resting Owl

And as for the Harvey hotel what a fabulous surprise. I was expecting a 2 or 3 star hotel like mine but it was actually a newly renovated 4 star luxury hotel with not only a wonderful sauna but a scented steam room with light therapy and a small but really nice swimming pool with massage jets and bubbling sitting areas.

Harvey Hotel

Thoughtful White Owl

I ended up spending over 4 hours there between the different rooms and the resting area and enjoying a book I found in my hotels tiny library. It's not a great book, more of a trashy British romance but it was the only one in English. Anyway it was a great afternoon and very useful for detoxing the body as well.

Grey Owl

I left around 4:30pm and took a really lovely hour and half walk along the trail near the hotel. Lots of people out enjoying the sunshine and the now warmer breeze including several families with their small children in strollers and on bikes. I followed them all to the end of the trail which yielded a pleasant surprise, an animal petting farm. There were only two beautiful black ponies out for us to pet but that was exciting and I had an apple on me so I split it in two and gave each a piece. Next to the horse pen is the raccoon hut but they must have all been napping and next to them is the owl hut and fortunately a grey and a white owl were kind enough to give us a little glance so I could get a picture before turning away with an air of superiority.

Glauber II fountain

Ice melting in forest brook

The walk back to the hotel was just as nice with lots of families still heading toward the petting farm and along the way I stopped at a few spring fountains to try the different water and thinking the whole time I hope I make it back to the hotel with out any water related issues which thankfully was the case.

Dinner was very nice and healthy with a simple clear broth soup with some small beef bits and I, to enhance the texture added the cabbage and carrots salad they had as a starter and it was just what the soup needed to make it interesting.  The main course was baked chicken leg with  boiled potatoes and actually quiet good considering it looked rather bland. And then dessert was a banana. I actually think the food is much healthier here then the other two spa towns. It's all about health here because there isn't anything else to do. No stores, no other distractions, just walking the parks, drinking the water cure and getting lots of fresh air. There is a theater and some museums but mostly it's the above activities that occupy everyone's time and happily I might add.

There is nothing pretentious about this town just good people enjoying good healthy activities. The entire town is protected from any further development and has for some time so it remains pretty much in tact from over 100 years ago and only refurbishments of existing buildings can take place. It does feel like you've gone back in time when you're walking around here.

Luisa & Studeny (cold spring)

I am seated at a table with a very, very nice German family who are from Berlin. None of them speak English but we are managing to communicate and I happened to have my laptop with them when I went down for dinner and showed them what I had seen when I visited Berlin and they were amazed I saw so much in just two days. They are from East Berlin and the husband and wife and their daughter who must be about my age lived through the Communist occupation and were telling me that life was actually simpler back then. The husband, 40 years ago, had to travel to New York City for business when he was exporting camera's for a living and was of course required to go right back. I asked if he had contemplated trying to stay in America at the time but he said he had his family and he couldn't think of doing that. They all said that although they couldn't go to many places unless it was work related they did travel to Communist countries like Hungry, Czechoslovakia, Poland, etc. so it wasn't like they weren't allowed out of the walled in city ever. It would be so nice if I could understand German I would love to hear more from them about life during that time and especially what it was like growing up as a child behind the wall. It's all so interesting.

Glauber I Pavilion

I have been in the lounge typing my blog and the same family came in to play cards and then a sweet, sweet older Czech man came in to watch a TV program and of course we all said "yes" when he, in Czech, explained what he wanted to do. About 10 minutes after the Germany family had gone up to bed the Czech man's show finished and he turned off the TV and turned to me as I said "good night to him" and smiled and then started dialing his phone. He spoke to the person on the other end of the line and said something about English and then handed the phone to me and what was his daughters voice said in English that her father wanted to say thank you and he hopes he did not disturb me too much with is TV program. I told her to "please tell your father that it was my pleasure and I hope he enjoyed his show." And then he took the phone listened to her and smiled at me then waved goodbye and left.

Everyone is so polite here and very respectful and I really love that I'm enjoying a Czech spa with Czech natives. The women I mentioned above from his morning who lived in Oregon came in about 10 minutes ago and said "hi" and that she had just been to the theatre next door and saw a British play in Czech and it was very good. The theatre called is called in English Theatre of Božena Němcová

 and in Czech Divadlo Němcová named after the famous female Czech writer Božena Němcová who wrote one of the most famous Czech fairytales "The Grandmother (Czech: Babička) is a novella written by Czech writer Božena Němcová in 1855. It is her most popular work and is regarded as a classic piece of Czech literature. This most frequently read book of the Czech nation was published more than 300 times in the Czech language alone and translated into 21 other languages. The book describes, in an idealized form, the childhood of Němcová. The plot weaves together a remembrance of the agrarian calendar and customs of the neighborhood with the love stories of several women, which reveal more of the history and customs of that area. The main action of the novel seems to take place during the first one or two years after the Grandmother has come to live at the Old Bleachery with her daughter's family, to help manage the household. The father is frequently absent due to his job as equerry to the local noblewoman, which takes him away to Vienna during the winter. The principal action of the story is to tell the intertwining tales of Viktorka, Kristla, and the Countess. The author is identified with Barunka, the eldest daughter of the Prošek family; however, the novel is not told from her point of view."

It sounds charming and  I looked it up on Amazon.com but they don't carry it but the New York Public Library has a copy so I have it in my "later" folder in my library profile so I will remember to check it out when I get home. I love these happy little occurrences when people share such nice bits of their culture and I could see instantly when she mentioned the book and the author how much she loves the works and how proud she was to share it and even encouraged me to look it up online but I had already begun typing it in as she came toward my laptop.

So that was my happy Czech day!!!