Hello, we are back (on the road)!

Finally!

We managed to get away!

It was a long hard winter for me, boring as hell, while my human and Carmelo spent seven(!) months in Thailand. She says she was working there, but I have my doubts, she got back pretty tanned and chillaxed, so...

Anyways...

After she put in a few (unexpected) days of work in Munich, bolstering our travel budget, and a quick side trip to the Rheinland for some family business, equally as unexpected, we crossed the border to the Czech Republic with a mere three weeks delay.

Well, we are used to delays, aren't we? Why should it be different this year?

Anyways, we went straight to Pilsen, home of the world famous "Pilsner Urquell", first brewed in 1842, some 500 years after some of our Bavarian beers, just for the record. Nevertheless, it's a tasty brew, especially when enjoyed in the city's oldest restaurant, "U Salzmannu".

The center consists mainly of the Republic Square, one of the largest in the country, which in the middle of sits St. Bartholomewˋs cathedral.

Guess which angel is the "lucky one"

I guess this is the camel

And this the angel?

There are three golden fountains which are meant to depict a greyhound, a camel and an angel, which are motives from the Pilsen coat of arms.

Where once stood the city's walls, you can now stroll through a belt of gardens, one adjacent to the next.

A theater with an...

... egg in front of it?

And, to be scrupulously honest, that's pretty much it. Sure, some shopping and such, but there really isn't that much to do there.

So we didn't. Instead we enjoyed a lazy afternoon by a nice lake, watching some dragon boat racing.

Another place with not that much going on is Marienbad, one corner of the fabled spa triangle of the Republic, together with Karlsbad and Franzensbad.

You could almost hear the average age plummet as we drove into town. I think it's still recovering from it's nosedive.

A stroll up the main thoroughfare and back down through the spa gardens showed us all there was to see.

Trying to get information about the Königswald, which lies between the triangle cities, from the information center proved to be difficult as well, they didn't seem to be aware it was there at all.

This left us with one option, just go and see.

From the small hamlet Nova Ves, and under the scrutiny of the local men sitting in a tiny watering hole enjoying their after work beer, my human went on a little hike through the surrounding forest, where she found a few more friendly locals - rabbits, deer and squirrel.

Power from a different angle

We spent the night at the trail head of next days hike, right along the road, but very quiet at night, nothing but birdsong after 8pm.

After a 15km hike the next morning, we moved along towards Karlsbad.

Little Red Riding Hood in Czech?

A positive surprise awaited us there, Karlsbad is a rather quaint little city, built into the hills along the river Eger. The biggest of the spa towns, it is quite lively with colorful buildings and impressive architecture.

This is not what a savings bank looks like back home...

Hotel Pupp, the crash pad for the rich and famous

My brother reckons drinking those thermal waters gives you plenty of time to read the newspapaer

The Eger cycle route runs, not surprisingly, along the river Eger for 300km. Too much for one day, but when she got back, my human had cycled some 90km along it's banks, having stopped in Loket, which means elbow in Czech, to visit a 12th Century fortress.

Loket Castle

Loket

Unfortunately, there were no more tours that day, so she went through by herself with a sheet of rather unhelpful information. All the explanations on the exhibits were in Czech only. Only the displays in the torture chamber were also in English and German - go figure!

Even so, she got back sweaty and happy.

Up to this day my human hadn't really arrived yet on this years trip, unable to pinpoint a reason.

All it seemed to have needed was a good ride on her old and trusty mountain bike (creaky as it may be), and she was back in the game, finally!

The city is also a good starting point for some nice hikes, up and down the surrounding hills. So this is what she did the next day.

More crosses

Mozartˋs lookout, apparently he spent quite some time in Karlsbad

Nope, she didnˋt dare

Next up, Prague. Fun trivia, the Check name Praha means threshold.

As usual, my human went on a walking tour to get a first feel for the city and it's layout. As usual, it was very good and full of historic facts and stories, which the recounting of would go beyond the scope of this little write up.

Franz Kafka, the Habsburgs, Wenzel of Böhmen, Jan Hus (very interesting and less than popular man with the church in his time, a precursor Lutherˋs) and Hitler all played there parts here.

A lot of good view points around

A Botel, hilarious!

A hobbit style entrance for a giant

More views

Prague is known as the city of a hundred spires, which is not surprising - the historic center alone sports over 60 churches.

Obviously, a few of them have to be part of every trip to the city. The Basilica of St. Peter and Paul in the 10th Century stronghold of Vysehrad, the Emmaus Monastery and of course the St. George Basilica and St. Vitus Cathedral on the grounds of Prague's castle.

St. Peter and Paul

Not much about her online, probably an interesting woman

Emmaus Monastery; apparently the spires have a demonic air

St. George Basilica

St. Vitus Cathedral, the second oldest church in Prague

And then there is the Church of St. James the Greater, where a hand hangs right next to the entrance. Back in the 14th Century it belonged to a thief who tried to steal from the church. It's been there ever since.

Jep, that thing hanging down there, thatˋs the hand. Excuse the bad picture but the taking of photos is not allowed in this church...

The Jewish Quarter with it's "Old-new synagogue" (that's it's real name, you can read up on it, quite a funny story), the Old Town and the 600 year old New town, Mala Strana on the other side of the river Vltava, where you can see (and climb) Petrin, Prague's version of the Eiffel Tower, the Karls Bridge, the Astronomical clock and so much more make for a very historic, picturesque and interesting city.

Karls Bridge from one over

All these people are watching...

...this! The oldest still operating clock in the world, first installed in 1410.

In the latte 19th Century Paris was thought to be the epicenter of the world, everyone in Europe wanted a piece of it. So they just built their own Eiffel Tower in Prague.