Mariánské Lázně, Czech - Day 4

A  lovely cool March morning and after a very nice breakfast I was off for a quick 15 minute walk to the Church of the Assumption for 10:00am mass. It was a very nice service with beautiful music and the church was only about half full and extremely cold, we could all see our breath with every exhalation. I've found that every church I've gone into here in the Czech Republic has been frigid and I imagine mostly because they're all just too expensive to heat. This particular church I'm sure would would take a great deal to keep warm as it is in the round with an enormous open space in the middle covered by a huge dome that must reach at it's highest point 7 stories and with seven distinctly large alcoves including one that houses the alter. It's a beautiful church illuminated by a set of large stained glass windows all around the top.

Ski Slope Tram

Kiddy Trail

View of the slope from the top where I had hiked up too

Tram Pods in the Distance

After church I went for a two hour walk first going past the ski slope where lots of families where enjoying their Sunday afternoon together. People were coming and going in all directions most going up with the simple pole lift where you just stand and wait for a hanging rod with a horizontal flat pole attached at the bottom to come and whisk you off your feet and take you up the hill on a tram track. Some where also heading up the other side of the mountain in little red pods which picked the people up at the base and quickly bobbed it's way up on a tram track as well. They're tiny little pods that have baskets on the outside where people put their skis. It was so strange to be walking the trial near the slope and to look up and see these red pods zooming along through the forest, surreal and futuristic.

Surreal Tram Pods skimming between the treetops

They also have a kiddy area fenced in with two mechanical methods of getting the wee ones up the small incline so they could ski down. One was a rope on a pulley system which only requires the skier to stand at the base, grab hold of the moving rope (while wearing their skis of course) and let the machine do all the work. And on the other side of the pen was a moving sidewalk where the skier just placed themselves on at one end and was slowly carried on the conveyor belt to the top.

Kids gliding along

Kiddy Trail moving sidwalk

The kids were having so much fun and they are fearless little creatures and it made me a little envious to see them swish and sway and slid to a sudden stop all so effortlessly. I think being so close to the ground they don't have that constant fear of falling and breaking something although all the adults I saw don't seem to have that fear either, it may just be me.

View of the Town Center from the hiking trail

I continued my walk up the hiking trail which is different then those in Karlovy Vary because for the most part you and can see or hear the town below the whole time. There were lots of people out and about and everyone so friendly. One of the things I love best about traveling overseas is the diversity and getting to recognize different cultural peculiarities for lack of a better word but by no means do I mean it in a negative way. I love all that makes each culture different and in the way that many of the wonderful Russian people I've met feel compelled to talk at me in Russian even when they know I don't speak the language the Germans I've met are the complete opposite and, like the Russian people, very friendly and helpful but very succinct in their answers. I met a lovely couple on the trail and they were telling me to be careful for the icy road which I had seen as well and was walking on the side in the snow since it was more secure and when I asked about the park which was on the map as being just up the hill they said in German with a telling hand gesture that it was closed. I asked if it was worth going up the trail and they, in German, answered yes and then we all said goodbye in our languages and went on our way. There were no other words needed there was no necessity for us to try and speak further they answered my question satisfactorily and the conversation was done. So both ways are good and the Russian way is probably more fun and usually gives me a more interesting story but the German way helped keep me on track and got me up the hill in record time.

Friendly Deer eating an apple

Suspicious Deer in the distance near their little hut

At the top of the hill I was rewarded with a deer farm. I just love seeing these animals, free-roaming or safely in a large happy pen. I've given it a lot of thought lately from the stray kitties in Karlovy Vary to the doe yesterday an the deer today that I seem to have this strange (although maybe it's the same for many people) empathy for animals and wanting to make sure they're not hungry or cold or suffering more so than I do for humans. Maybe because I subconsciously think humans can fix whatever needs to be done to be okay where as animals are at the mercy of so many uncontrollable factors like snow and locating food in winter. But the thing is some humans have uncontrollable factors that keep them down as well. I just wonder what life is like for someone how doesn't have this obsessive need to want to see all animals safe, warm and well fed. And with that said I didn't have an apple with me today to feed the one deer that stayed by the fence while the others scattered as soon as I stepped with in 20 feet of their pen.  The lone deer was feasting on a yellow apple that some other kind (animal obsessed person like me) brought up for them. I had the banana peel from my mid-morning snack but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have liked it and besides there are signs about what you can't feed them and although it mainly pertains to bread products I'm sure banana peels aren't approved food. And there were several huge receptacles  of hey in the distance so it's not like they would ever be in danger of starving.

Villa Mettior

By this point the cold had really gotten to me and I also had to use the bathroom keeping in mind my daily intake of water has been exponentially increased the last few weeks. I do think they should consider putting WC's on the trails. Yes, I know, there are acres and acres of wilderness WC's but I just haven't been able to bring myself to go behind a tree or bush this whole time. And besides the water has some very specific qualities that ensure your body eliminates more regularly than usual and with that comes flatulence and since that is something I have issues with already I'm only more offensive at times. But I take comfort in know that everyone else around me is suffering from the same issues and in fact last week I was walking through the Park Mill in Karlovy Vary sipping my spring water from fountain #15 when a women a foot or two in front of me made a loud fluff (fluffing, for those who never knew it was a term I've used for many years refers to passing gas) and then looked embarrassingly from side to side. I, being one who has been in her position more than once, just played like I heard nothing and was enjoying the beautiful architectural details and that seemed to make her feel better. The water in these spa towns have many effects and on the negative side fluffing is probably the most prominent. So enough about that topic as my sister, Jean Marie, would be so horrified if she knew I was actually writing about it.

Cafe Villa Mettior

I fortunately found, across from the deer farm, a charming, tiny little restaurant, Villa Metteor with only 5 tables it was warm and perfect for a quick bathroom break and a nice restful lunch. A very sweet German couple chatted with me about the skiers that were on the TV to the right of our tables. It seems there was some important world competition going on in Germany. The American skier came in 4 I think.

Miniature Castle at the Park Boheminium

I left there and went up to Park Boheminium which was closed for winter but looks like a fabulous place to visit in the warmer months especially with kids. "All the exhibited models in the Boheminium Park are exact replicas of existing listed buildings in the Czech Republic. All the models are made to a scale of 1:25 - the models are 25 times smaller than the originals. Diminution makes it possible to show in precise detail the architecture and the form of an object in a way that is similar to seeing it from a plane at 200 metres. The exhibits are difficult to make. They are handcrafted by the Boheminium Park’s own model makers. Expensive models are made according to precise plans and documentation. The cost of a model can run into hundreds of thousands of crowns. The models are made of a plastic that is weatherproof but brittle, and which must be handled with care. Visitors are therefore requested to only look at the models and not to touch them. The park was opened in 1999. Three - five new models, depending on how difficult they are to make, are installed every year. Visitors are therefore welcome to return in the future when new and interesting treasures of Czech architecture can be seen."

Horse Farm - horses in the far disttance

I took a picture of the only model visible from the road a castle, perhaps the Loket castle I saw when Nikola took me touring around the area a few weeks ago.

There is also a horse farm up the road and they were out in the pasture enjoying the day as well as we hikers.

Tower Hamelinka

I stopped off at the Lookout Tower Hamelinka which  “...was built in the shape of a romantic ruin by the builder Fridrich Zickler, a native of Mariánské Lázně in 1876. It is 20 meters high and has 100 stairs. The tower once boasted a telescope at the top of the tower to observe the town's life but sadly this is no longer available. For many years, one could see the entire city and its surroundings from the uncovered observation deck and mounted telescope but in 2006 the tower was reconstructed and topped with a roof by the design of the architect Zdenek Franta. The Hamelika Observation Tower is only a 30 minutes' walk from the spa colonnade in Mariánské Lázně. It is located on a hill bearing the same name and rises to 722 meters above sea level near the Panorama Restaurant.”

I also came across several really gorgeous buildings that are now in a state of disrepair. There are so many construction projects going on in the city so I know lots of work is being done to reconstruct these amazing buildings and restore the glamour the city must have had a hundred or so years ago. Yerka, the young man I met with his mom at the art class a few nights ago, told me that for those countries that suffered under Communist rule for thirty years are so far behind all the other European countries who began reconstructing and redevelopment on their cities right after WWII. They've had a huge head start and the Czech Republic is only just beginning to see the benefits of all their hard work since they gained their freedom in 1989. But the one good thing is that in these hard economic times there is so much work to be done that those in construction at least have good jobs for now.

Dilapidated Building that King Edward VII of England stayed at

Dilapidated Building that King Edward VII of England stayed at - Main Entrance

Dilapidated Building that King Edward VII of England stayed at - Balcony details

One one of the larger of the dilapidated buildings and one that is closest to the Tin Colonnade, Assumption Church and prominently sitting atop a highly visible hill is a plaque stating that the English King Edward VII stayed there. King Edward VII was one of the most frequent guests and in the period of 1899 - 1908 he came to stay nine times in total. The building is very beautiful even in its desperate state and I imagine it’s high on the city’s list to be renovated soon or at least I hope so.

Floor Tiles in the Roman Bath

The city was pretty quiet most of the day and it being a weekend that makes sense. I've seen from my experiences in Karlovy Vary, that many Russian guests leave for mini-breaks to other European cities like Venice, Paris, Berlin, and Vienna. In Karlovy Vary there are travel agencies on just about every corner and in fact there was one on the 1st floor of my hotel and each day they have representatives standing outside all day until about 9:00pm each night trying to solicit Russian's to go on these mini-breaks. For most of the time I've been here I have wondered why if they've paid for a full month in a hotel including meals they'd want to take 3 or more days and go off to some other city and loose the money they've paid for those nights in Karlovy Vary and also miss out on a few of their treatments. I figured since they have the money to travel why not just go to Paris first and then come to the Czech Republic spa towns. Well I finally figured it out. The young couple from Kazan, Russia, I met the day before I left Karlovy Vary  had mentioned in passing that it is very difficult for a Russian native to get a visa to travel to most European countries with the exception of those that were formally Eastern Block. And yesterday when I was walking around and looking at the signs for some of the travel agents here I put it together that once they are here they can book travel with any one of these agencies and go to France, Italy, Austria, Belgium, etc. without any visa's being required so even thought they loose out on the money they've spent for room and board here and the treatments they miss they get to see cities they most likely wouldn't be able to if they went directly from Russia.  I think being an American we do take so much of it for granted because with most of Europe we can just come and go as we please with virtually no questions asked and often when I have had to show my passport they see United States and just wave me along or maybe it's just that I look so innocent.

Ceilings in the Roman Bath

Roman Bath Skylight

Resting area in Roman Bath

Kneipp Hot/Cold foot pool - Sebastian Kneipp (May 17, 1821, Stephansried, Germany – June 17, 1897 in Bad Wörishofen) was a Bavarian priest and one of the founders of the naturopathic medicine movement. He is most commonly associated with the "Kneipp Cure" form of hydrotherapy, a system of healing involving the application of water through various methods, temperatures and pressures. In Norway, he is mostly known for his wholemeal bread recipe. Kneippbrød is the most commonly-eaten bread in Norway.

Cold Shower area Roman Bath

Ceiling in the Roman Bath Resting Room

Man Wrapped up in blankets in the resting area across from mine

Titles in the Roman Bath Resting Room

Roman Bath Ceiling - Resting Room

After what ended up being a 4 hour walk I had my water cure and went to the Roman Baths for three hours and just enjoyed being in the warm bubbly whirlpool, under the warm inferred lights and in the hot steam room and saunas. It was just what a weary, cold body needed.

Strollers through the park at dusk

Cherub sculptures holding up the bell at the top of the building

Row of hotels down the road from the ski slope

Central Park just after Dusk

I had my water cure before having dinner at the Polenski Cafe and then walked the 15 minutes back to my hotel. It may not have been warm and sunny but it was a wonderful day and this town, although small, has an abundance of natural beauty and man made as well to keep a person busy for days especially in the summer months when everything open for business.