Weekend Trips

◊ Since I could not go on the ski trip, I signed up for the other two trips available this past weekend. The first one was to a town called Karlovy Vary. It is better known by its German name, Karlsbad, and is the most famous Bohemian spa. The town is the sister city to our own Carlsbad. It was named for the Bohemian king and German and Holy Roman emperor Charles (Karl) IV who allegedly found the springs in 1358 during a hunting expedition. In the 19th century, royalty went there from all over Europe for treatment. Among the rich and famous who visited Karlsbad are Goethe, Schiller, Beethoven, Chopin, and Karl Marx. There were really just two major attrations, aside from the town it's self, that we were shown. Many hot springs dot the area and one in particular is giant. We also toured the Becherovka Liquor Museum. This was one doozy of a tour though because it ended with some tastings. Wierd stuff. That is all I have to say about that. It is herbal liquor, but I thougt it tasted like it was distilled from pine needles.

◊ Sunday's trip was to the town of Kunta Hora. The history of Kutna Hora is closely linked with the mining of silver. The Kutna Hora silver mining district, abounding in silver ore, eventually became one of medieval Europe's largest sources of silver. Already in the late 13th century, one third of Europe's total production of silver came from Kutna Hora. Thanks to its wealth, Kutna Hora became the second most important town of the Kingdom of Bohemia, and an economic, political, and cultural rival for the capital city Prague. The first recorded reference to a systematic mining of the local deposits of silver ore dates from the second half of the l3th century.
◊ The tour was not as good as the others I have been on recently, but it didn't help that it was colder than any day I have been here yet. I think I that I lost my voice from being out there all day. It's main attractions that were were shown included St. Barbara´s Cathedral, the Bone Chaple, and the old Bohemian mint.

This place was just plain creepy. These pictures don't give the sheer scale of this all. There were four of those huge bone stacks.
The person who made this place had some serious issues.

At first I figured it was just going to be another hugh cathedral. And it was, but something made it unique. It actually had statues and images of people going about their day-to-day lives. Especially noticable were the miners who funded it's construction as opposed to aristocracy or the church who normally built them. On top of that, we saw many orgional 14th century frescos. I have grown very tired of hearing about how paintings like these were replaced by new ones in the baroque period.




Something I never thought I would see...
An off-brand McDonalds


The Mint