Adventures in MIddle-Aged Tourism

If you are a regular reader of this blog, I just want to point out that this is actually my second blog of the day. I had problems posting before and couldn´t publish the previous post until now. So Mom, you can be sure to print the one before this, please.

We arrived into our hostel room on Sunday night to a new roommate, replacing Carlos, the Brazilian. We opened the door and there was an old man, meaning elderly, sleeping in his tighty whities, with his balding head face first in his pillow. It was a bit of shock for us. It´s still weird to sleep in a room that may include guys at all so having grandpa in their was awkward. He didn´t realize it was a mixed dorm until he woke up the next morning, rather sheepish. He wore sweatpants the next night.

Kutna Hora is a town about an hour away from Prague. I picked Mer up at Municipal House where she was having her necessary breakfast and we hopped on a bus at Florenc station, which we knew well from the day we tried to get a bus to Cesky Krumlov. The route was a little windy and at times, made me reminisce about the awkward long and precarious bus rides Gregg and I enjoyed in Laos. We had to switch buses midway and this time had a bus driver who liked to chat as he drove, complete with expressive hand gestures and even turning around to make eye contact with other people. But still I felt safe, even when we met oncoming traffic and I could still see the whites of his eyes.

Kutna Hora was built up because of its treasure of silver. But alas, Monday is the one day the mine is closed and we could not get a tour. So we sat in a park and ate sandwiches made with cheese buns and drank in the vivid autumn view. We wandered up to a cathedral on hill overlooking the forest, but alas, it being Monday, St. Barbara´s was closed too. So we took a bus to another part of town and the real, yet strange, reason why we ventured to this town at all.

The first Cistercian monastery in Bohemia was located in Kutna Hora. This fact may only seem interesting to me because I have been reading the autobiography of a Cistercian monk, a Trappist. The monastery closed a long time ago, but a cemetary remains with a little chapel in the middle. Outside, the cobblestone sidewalk has a skull and crossbones motif. It´s all too fitting because this chapel is completely decorated with bones, the human remains of about 40 000 people, the majority victims of the plague. It is supposed to make one think about mortality and the need to be right before God. But it is just chilling and strange and the cold dank feel doesn´t help. There was a chandelier which contains every single bone of the human body. Pyramids of unbound bones rest in the corners as a surreal form of art. There is a coat of arms of an ancient family, pillars, garlands, and even a couple of crucifixes. Despite the gruesome nature of the display, the English write-up gives hope and tries to point people to God in a right way to respond to the spectacle.

We returned to Prague again for one more wander through Wenceslas Square, which is really a boulevard. We were delighted to see that the scaffolding had been taken off a statue. We were beginning to feel that everything in Prague had a scaffold or two on it, in higher proportion to the rest of Europe. We went our separate ways for the evening. Mer went to the puppet opera, Don Giovanni, but I didn´t feel the urge. I saw one puppet show this year. I didn´t want to get puppeted out. So I wandered the rainy streets by myself, and watched the shops close one by one. I found a quiet place by the river to sit and think and pray and even sing when I knew that no one was walking by. I didn´t want to be mistaken for a busker. And I felt refreshed. Nothing refreshes me like quiet time by the water´s edge.

Today, we said farewell to the city of middle aged tourists and travelled to another town where all the tourists are middle aged. And I mean all. I think we are the only people under 40. We are in Karlovy Vary, also known as Carlsbad, the old spa town where Marx and Freud and some composers and other rich or famous people used to come for vacation. Baroque hotels and mansions rest on the hills around the river where sulfurous hot springs gush from the earth. The leaves have changed to their brightest shades and produce a stunning panorama from the tops of the hills.

Our books had both recommended a hostel named Buena Vista, good view. In fact, it is the only hostel in this place. However, at the information counter at the bus depot, we found out that they had changed their perfectly good name to the horrid Titty Twister. In spite of the atrocious name, it is a great place. Instead of just being in a six bed dorm, we are in a six bed apartment complete with a sitting room and kitchen. The facilities are gorgeous. They seem to have embraced the new name and I would like to talk to someone about their choice. Do they know what it means?

The thing to do here is wander along the river with your spa cup and sample the healthy waters of the different springs. Mer and I each purchased a cup with a spout that you drink out of. Most of the cups look like something that the woman from Keeping Up Appearances would desire as something nice. There were a lot of floral patterns with gold edging. Everyone walks around with these ridiculous mugs in hand. The hottest and highest spring shoots into the air and crackles and pops like fireworks. We sat there for a while before we noticed the fountain to taste the water. Mmm mmm - sulfur and minerals! We ventured further to a classical colonnade with more springs and made ourselves comfortable in the midst of the elderly throngs. We kept getting smiles because we clearly don´t belong here. I feel like I have doubled in age overnight! Another fountain was shaped like a snake with water issuing from its mouth. The imagery was effective. The water was truly venomous. Mer could drink it, but I spewed it out as fast as I could.

A nice girl stayed after hours to put our pictures on CD. We had supper and arrived at a swimming pool in time to find out it was closed. So that gives us something else to do tomorrow.