The weak-gened members of the family have now recovered from intrigues with various respiratory afflictions. Unfortunately, Kyra and Cord suffered the worst of it on our one week break in the Czech Republic. I remained fit throughout, Jared had a cough for a short time, but we had a pleasant enough time in Prague ( a third trip for me ) and absolutely, though to be fair I must speak for myself, loved Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary), a beautiful spa town filled with Rococo, Baroque, Neo-classical,, Jugendstil/Art Nouveau, and here and there Soviet-style buildings set in idyllic hills on the banks of the river Tepla. The spa water was absolutely revolting to drink, but it is supposed to do wonders for all sorts of ailments when ingested or bathed in. Cord quaffed copiously.
In the spa areas, almost any activity ( apart from concentrated sipping) is prohibited during the drinking cure periods, spaced regularly throughout the day until 6 p.m. - the business of wellness is taken VERY seriously there. Mostly, silver haired pensioners loitered around the various hot springs and geysers ( up to 72C), which are housed in splendid colonnades of various architectural styles, imbibing the hot spring water from uniquely fashioned porcelain mugs with handles which double as drinking tubes, and hoping at last to have stumbled upon the fountain of youth - or at the very least, health. Well, hope springs eternal......
We stayed at the historic Grand Hotel Pupp, established in 1703, a truly grand hotel both in the old-fashioned sense and in scale. Despite the name, of which Cord and Jared made no end of fun, it was magnificent. The rooms were capacious, (the corridors alone were wider than some of the rooms in our apartment), every whim was catered to and it was a true pleasure to reside in. There were Russians galore, who wined, dined and shopped regally ( i.e. could I have NINE of those (bombastic) crystal chandeliers?) and I got into conversation with a few here and there.
Just as infirmity threatened to keep the whole family hotel-bound, I managed to cajole Jared, who was no longer ailing, into a walk up into the inviting, wooded hills behind our hotel, and we enjoyed a vigorous and invigorating ( my poor son would probably not agree with the latter, as he was out of breath most of the time, forcing me to slow my pace to a crawl at times) 7 or 8 km walk up through the autumn landscape to various vantage and lookout points. The view over the town was stupendous. There was an overwhelming sense of history, as we walked in the footsteps of Chopin, Peter the Great of Russia, Carl IV, Goethe ( to all of whom monuments were erected along the way ) and so many others. It was a shame that the day was rather gloomy; on the other hand, had Kyra and Cord been in better health, the steep climbs would have robbed all of us of the pleasure and opportunity of attaining the heights that Jared and I could reach without Kyra in tow. It would also have been a crying shame to undo all of the good to my fragile back which 2 massages had produced. In any case, to Carlsbad I intend to return.
By dint of crafty coaxing and threatening, I succeeded in getting us all out to Marienbad, another spa town in the western Bohemian spa triangle, made famous in literature, on a 1.5 hour hit and run trip. Perhaps it was the anticipation, but I was rather disappointed with it. My first impression was that it lacked the sophistication of Carlsbad and though the architecture was stunning, the effect was of a sleepy, "all dressed up and nowhere to go" town. Having said that, there was a rather quaint musical fountain which seemed to catch the fancy of all those milling around the colonnade. There were also lovely wooded areas that invited to long, unhurried walks. Alas, it was not to be. On a subsequent trip, we visited Frantiskovy Lazne (Franzensbad), where the waters are said to work wonders on the female physiology. Pure magic!
October, 1999 (update 2000)
Return to my home page