Weekend breather

A friend and I took a spa town trip this past weekend. Sounds luxurious, right?  But we didn't actually indulge in many of the spa treatments. But this town, Karlovy Vary, is quite interesting. The thermal springs in this town are supposedly good for certain health issues: digestive disorders, metabolic disorders, musculoskeletal system problems and periodontitis,  People actually come for weekends or a week or weeks for individualized treatments. The primary treatment is to drink the water; sipping while walking slowly, not in a hurry, preferably in the vicinity of the spring and through this special cup. There are something like 80 thermal springs in the town, 15 of which are public. And then of course there are all kinds of resorts and hotels which offer all kinds of other spa treatments, with doctors and nurses on site to prescribe the right kinds of treatment for your case.

Of course, we had to try the water, especially since it apparently treats digestive disorders. It was horrible. But I drank for my health. Each spring has a slightly different composition of minerals and temperature. None of them were good. We ate dates to get rid of the metallic taste in our mouths. And were amazed at the many people sipping this water who drank like it was normal tea.

Healing waters

Freedom spring

The other thing we tried was sitting in a salt cave, completely surrounded by salt from Poland, Pakistan, Siberia and the Dead Sea . It was supposed to be good for your respiration, skin conditions, depression and tiredness, among other things. We laid in the dark with soft music playing and water trickling behind us for 45 minutes. We didn't feel any different outside of a nice nap, though possibly we would have had a really bad day if not for breathing the salt fumes. :)

But the town is fascinating. Many different museums including one of the most quality producers of Bohemian crystal and Becherovka (a Czech liquor). We didn't get to those museums, but may have if we had had more time. We did walk through part of the beautiful woods to an observation tower,

visited a butterfly house (these guys are all REAL),

Hey, nice disguise!

saw a Russian Orthodox church

and an exhibit of the Terracotta Warriors.

Did you know these guys were originally brightly colored?

And even with all that, it was a blessedly relaxing and refreshing weekend - much needed after many weeks of winter and routine.

One of the two public spas

One of the 4 colonnades sheltering the public springs.

And a reminder of many experiences far from home.