Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic

Karlovy Vary is truly one of my favorite cities in all of Europe!

It's about a two hour drive from Prague, and we arrived in Karlovy Vary before lunch, so we had plenty of time to check out the kayak and paddleboard river race they were having on the Tepla River.  It was really fun to watch (surprisingly!) - except for this guy on the paddleboard who bit it.

The kayakers had to navigate the rough waters along the Tepla and then try to go back upstream at the little control structures.  It looked really hard!

Karlovy Vary is probably more well known for it's German name: Carlsbad, which means "Charles's Baths."  It was named for the Bohemian King Charles IV (who also happened to be a Holy Roman Emperor) and is most well known for it's thermal springs and baths.

The Bailey family in the Park Colonnade.  This Colonnade, one of many in Karlovy Vary, was built in 1881.

Lots of people were out along the Tepla River on a warm, sunny day.

Todd snapped this pretty picture of the kayakers on the Tepla.

The Mill Colonnade is the largest one in Karlovy Vary and has five mineral springs inside.  Although there has been a promenade hall here since the late 1700s, this one in particular was built in the 1870s.

Strolling along Vridelni, looking for a place to grab some lunch.

Outside of the Mill Colonnade, someone had made a sand sculpture!  I also love the buildings creeping up the side of the hill.

I want to marry this building.  Is that a thing?  Is that possible?  It's just so beautiful!

It was time to eat, so we escaped the heat beneath an umbrella at a restaurant right on the Tepla River.  After a couple of beers, we started yelling out, "Ahoj" to the kayakers going by.  It's pronounced, "Ahoy" which we all found really amusing.  Some of them ignored us, but most would yell "Ahoj" back at us!

"I'll have the meat skewer with three kids of meat, please!  And don't forget the vegetabels and peppesauce, please!"

Sometimes I don't even know this kid.  Escargot with goulash in a bread bowl.  That's what she ate for lunch.  This one.  Who won't eat a grilled cheese.

Gangsta.

After our lengthy lunch, we kept exploring Karlovy Vary.  We decided to walk from one end of the city to the other - which is VERY doable in a day.

There was a church on the site of St. Mary Magdalene as far back as about 1350, but was destroyed due to fire and rebuilt in the 1730s. 

 Across the street from St. Mary Magdalene is the Hot Spring Colonnade.  The newer building was built in 1975 in the Functionalistic (read: ugly) style.

It's not much prettier on the inside either.  The thermal spring water comes out at various temperatures (warm, hot and hotter.) 

This is the super hot mineral water.  It tasted just how you would expect:  like a penny!

It was unanimous that the water was just gross.  But we sure had a fun time drinking it!

Warm springs also geyser into the air outside of the Hot Spring Colonnade.

Isn't he the cutest!?

I think they normally have fountains running here but they must have stopped them for the kayak race.

With my honey on a bridge in Karlovy Vary.

The architecture is so pretty and can be overwhelming to the senses!  How about the random palm trees in this picture though!?

Thanks for feeding my need to see pretty manhole covers, Czechia.

Sassy in front of our next destination (after slow walking past many garnet jewelry shops):  The Grand Hotel Pupp.  This hotel was built in 1701, and has hosted MANY famous people, such as Lou Reed, Johann Sebastian Bach, Robert Redford, Beethoven, Napoleon, Keira Knightly and... 

One of my favorites, the Empress Maria Theresia!

This is exactly what you should do at the Grand Hotel Pupp. 

The Grand Hotel Pupp has even been featured in several big name Hollywood movies, such as Queen Latifah's Last Holiday and the James Bond flick Casino Royale.

The Grand Hotel Pupp is at the far southern end of the downtown area and this is the view looking to the northeast.

Kern got in trouble for taking this picture in a store as we walked back through the city to check into our Airbnb.  But it was just so pretty!

I can't even stand how pretty this is!

Our walk back to the Airbnb took us past the Market Colonnade.  This was once the home to the oldest baths in Karlovy Vary. This building was built in the early 1880s.

At the Market Colonnade, turned around and looking back south again. Market Colonnade covers three mineral springs: the Charles IV, the Market Spring and the Lower Castle spring.

Flowers were blooming in Karlovy Vary.  This city is really pretty all year round, but seeing in the late spring was much better than in the dead of winter!

We finally checked into our AirBnB, which was AMAZING.  It was on the north side, near the bus station.  It was two stories and had a great balcony!

There was just enough time to enjoy a glass of wine before dinner and before the storms came.

Thankfully, there were lots of restaurants on the block we were staying on.  We went downstairs and about 50 feet to the left to have dinner outside at the Charleston.  (I know, I know... at first I thought - "Why did they name a restaurant after a city in South Carolina?"  But remember the German name for Karlovy Vary is Carlsbad, or "Charles's Baths!")  Duh, Colleen....

And once again, my drink came in a series of four glasses.  One glass of bourbon. One of ice.  One empty glass.  And one bottle of Coke Zero.

Before we drove back home the next morning, we decided to go on another walk around Karlovy Vary.  We saw people eating Karlovy Vary wafers and decided we MUST try them!  Good news for peanut allergy folks:  There are no peanut products in them, at least not at the place we bought them, Lazenske Oplatky.  The kids got white chocolate and Dorothy had gotten a coconut and they were both AMAZING-- much better than I had expected them to be!

Sometimes we like to play with silly filters.  Todd took this one of the Park Colonnade and it turned out really cute!

This time, our morning adventures took us to the other bank of the river.

He's funny.  I'm gonna have to make sure he brings his sunglasses from now on!

Kern looks like he's trying to grab that random woman on the bridge.  But they had discovered that when their put their arms out and made shadows on the river below, the fish got scared and moved. 

Alas, we had to get back home so Kern and Dorothy could continue on to Munich for their following day journey back to Seattle!  Come back soon, Kern and Dot!

Until next time, Karlovy Vary!

Prague, Czech Republic (take two!)

We decided to take our friends Kern and Dorothy to Prague and Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic on their great European adventure - mostly because Todd and the kids had never been to Karlovy Vary, and we hadn't been to Prague since about six weeks after we moved here in 2015.

Czech out my chips!  Sorry... couldn't resist.  Todd is literally crushing me in this picture trying to get the kids third row seat belts fastened.  Good thing he has long arms!

The ride to Prague was largely uneventful until we go to the parking garage (Mr. Park It.)  First of all - it was obviously not meant for large American cars.  And our car isn't even the largest of the American cars we see, not by a long shot. But they put us in a car elevator (!!!) to drop us down a floor.  Don't forget to bring those mirrors in!  Then they had us park in a spot along the wall where we couldn't block the car elevator.  Czech!

After our parking adventures, we went out to explore a bit before we had to check into our AirBnB. Prague has cute manhole covers.  In my recent travels, I haven't seen any cute ones so I was happy I found them in Prague!

I'm not sure we got 4 blocks before we stopped for some drinks at Kavarna Adria.

I just loved this picture of Kern with Natalie!

After lunch, Natalie and I wanted to do a little shopping, so we headed into C&A where she bought a few things.  The rest of the crew went and explored the surrounding area.  Honestly, I leave these guys alone for FIVE MINUTES....

A great view of the Narodni (or National, in English) Museum from the Mustek area.  The building is under construction and has been since 2011!  In front of the National Museum is Wenceslas Square with the statue of Good King Wenceslas.

While Natalie was trying on some clothes, I was in the window at C&A with the mannequins. These clowns were outside also pretending to be mannequins!

Now here's a phrase I never thought I would say: "Check out this gorilla made of colored pencils!" How cool is this!?!  I love strolling around cities and checking out store windows - you never know what you will find!

The last time we were in Prague, it was November.  And cold.  And I didn't feel like having any ice cream.  So the kids and I were really excited to finally try a Trdelník (and no, I don't know how to pronounce that!)  It's rolled dough that's then dipped in a sugar and walnut mixture and filled with soft serve vanilla ice cream.  Divine!

We continued our stroll around Prague with our Trdelník, checking out the architecture and window shopping.  Love the wrought iron balconies on this one!

What is going on here?!?  Gross!  Hungry fish eating dead skin off of people's feet?  Do they clean the water out every time? Or does everyone just put their feet in water that other people have put their feet in?  Gross!

Because... Czech Republic.  "I have an idea!  We can just put some wooden plyboard over this giant hole in the sidewalk!" "What?  You mean it doesn't fit or fully cover the hole?  Oh well!"

For dinner, we went to Restaurant Blatnicka.  It was an amusing experience.  The poor waitress didn't speak very much English (I mean... little to none!) so we had all kinds of problems, like when we got white wine when we asked for red.  Then the waitress walked away without even letting Dorothy order because Kern decided to ask a question about which meal he should order and the waitress thought he was ordering one for himself and one for Dorothy!  I think she was super annoyed with us.  We finally made the waitress laugh when we kept saying, "Chutna chutna!"  (Pronounced: Hutna Hutna, but as if you were getting out some phlegm at the beginning of the word.) Google translate told us this means, "Tastes delicious" but really it means something more like, "Yummy yummy!"  Which made us look officially insane.

This place had been packed earlier when we went to dinner, but when we walked back it was pleasantly empty and looking really pretty in the sunset at the Havelské tržiště market. 

After a long day and after putting the kids to bed, the four of us hung out and drank... a lot.  Todd was Lurch in the Addams Family at the GPAC this past winter, so Kern was trying to take a picture of him while he held his phone up (that had a real picture of Lurch on it.)  He could NOT get it together! 

This is legitimate laughter from my husband.  I think I've only ever seen this when Kern or the Wilmington crew are around!  I think this might be one of my favorite pictures of him ever.

In the morning, we made a little in-house breakfast at our AirBnB before heading out on a BEAUTIFUL day.  Don't forget to look up!  There's so much to see!

Our first morning stop was the Astrooohhhhhhh….. Bummer.  The Astronomical Clock is under construction until later this summer.  In defense of the repairs, it's the first full repair since World War II. But it was really disappointing for our friends who had never seen it before!  They did have a video playing, so at the top of the hour, you could see what it would look like if it wasn't under construction.

Todd has a much steadier hand than I do when it comes to taking panorama photos.  This one is of the Old Town Square and the Astronomical Clock.

Looking west toward Little Square which is just west of the clock tower. The architecture in this part of Prague is phenomenal.

The Old Town Square is one of the most touristy parts of Prague, but it really is lovely.

The monument to martyr Jan Hus in front of some really pretty government buildings. Over 600 years ago, Jan Hus was burned at the stake for criticizing the Catholic church and stating that the Bible needed to be in languages other than Latin.  He was one of the very early reformers, long before Martin Luther and John Calvin.

There is always a guy in the Old Town Square blowing an insane amount of bubbles that my kids love to run and jump in, getting themselves doused with ewey, gooey bubbles.  But they do have a good time, and the bubbles always make for great pictures.

For example... this cute pic of a couple having wedding pictures done.

Everyone squinting in the sun in the Old Town Square, with the Clock Tower behind us.  And the bubble guy.  He's there too.

We bought tickets for the Hop on Hop Off bus so we could get up to Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral.  My kids look THRILLED to be here.  To be fair, it was getting much warmer at this point.  But not warm enough for one of my kids (take a guess!) to be complaining as if it was the end of the world (and it wasn't even lunchtime yet!)

Meanwhile, Kern and Dorothy decided to do the "prom pose with a water bottle and a smartphone" in front of St. Vitus Cathedral.

Outside of the entrance to the courtyard where St. Vitus Cathedral is, stands a little guard with a bayonet.  He's not quite as still or imposing as the guards at Buckingham Palace!

We have been to St. Vitus before, but our friends have not.  There was a line forming on the left side of the Cathedral, so we got in line, not really knowing what the line was for.

Turns out the Archbishop of Prague was having a mass inside of St. Vitus and we were waiting for him to leave so they could re-open the Cathedral.  His name is Dominic Duka and he's also a cardinal-priest in the Roman Catholic church.

This was me pretending to be Natalie not knowing Kern was behind me doing whatever it is that he is doing.  Meanwhile, we waited in line for about 20 minutes before realizing that the church wasn't going to open for another couple of hours.  Ho hum. 

We decided it was lunchtime so we made our way down the 208 steps down Thunovska.  The view from outside of the Matthias Gate of Prague Castle is really beautiful!

Down the steps we go! Me and my little buddy.

At Pivo Basilico Café for some lunch down the steps from the castle.  I don't know why I'm calling out the bartender here.

After lunch, we made our way back out into the sunshine. I snapped this pic of Prague Castle from down below and little did I know that on the Column of the Holy Trinity, the Illuminati was spying on me with his little eye!  

We wanted to take Kern and Dorothy to the Charles Bridge, and just before you reach the Lesser Town Bridge Tower, you are rewarded with a series of beautiful and ornate buildings!

The Baileys and a Dorothy looking back down Mostecka from under the Lesser Town Bridge Tower near the Charles Bridge.  Also:  My kids.  Tell me which kid takes after which parent.

The Lesser Town Bridge Tower on the west bank of the Vltava.

The south view from the Charles Bridge.

The Old Town Bridge Tower stands at the other end (the east end) of the Charles Bridge and for a few coins, you can go inside and climb to the top of the tower for some great views!

The views are great from the top of the tower.  This tower was built in the mid 1300s, around the same time that the Charles Bridge was built.  Bohemian kings used to walk from the Old Town, through this arch and across the Charles Bridge to St. Vitus for their coronation.

Perspective.  It's a warm day in May and everyone is visiting.  Now imagine this bridge in August.

See? I wasn't kidding when I say she makes this face a lot.  But I love being in the tower with my girl and Prague Castle, blurry in the background.

 When you've just gotta floss by the Vltava River while waiting for your river boat cruise.

More views of the Vlatva River (see the tiny Eiffel Tower on the left, up on the mountain?)

Prague Castle towering over the Charles Bridge.  I think I mentioned this in my other Prague post, but the wooden trash catchers protect the Charles Bridge from large debris that might ram the bridge supports during periods of flooding.

The Charles Bridge and the entrance to Old Town Prague.

The boat turns around up near Štvanice Island.  That big boat on the right is a Boatel.  A hotel in a boat!

When we were safely back on land, we went back into the Old Town Area for some different views of the Old Town Square and the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn.

Two (or three!) can play at this game!  We ate dinner outside in the courtyard at U Balbinu.  Lots of beer and green beans.

We wanted to get some drinks on our way back to the apartment and stumbled across this super weird Mini Market, complete with bongs depicting many... er…. ummm… Karma Sutra positions!  Let's just say that Dorothy and I are blocking everything that was fun.  Czechia is the honey badger of Europe!

We got up early the next day to drive to Karlovy Vary, but not before one more view of Fred and Ginger on our way out of town!

Until next time, Prague!