Karlovy Vary - known for its Moser Glass works and famous spas, Czechoslovakia

Eons ago, I had taken my daughter to Prague after her graduation as it’s a beautiful city and we went to see the Moser Glass works as I love crystal ware.  We splurged as we both love crystal and Moser has its own special charm and beauty. This time, I wanted to show Moser to my wife, even though she hates my collecting glass, as a ruse to possibly convince her to buy a piece for me. But fate dictated otherwise – the booking for the visit turned out to be the day before the scheduled trip to Karlovy Vary; hence we missed the glassworks tour!!   

Organized tours to Karlovy Vary take 9+ hours which means reaching the tour start at an unearthly hour. I hate that. We decided that we would go on our own and if possible get a local guide there. The bus ride takes just under two hours - the 10.20 am luxury coach with pre booked reserved seats was a comfortable ride, no stops and we reached by 12.00. What we did not know was the geography of the town. 

We were at the upper end. Trying to find a place where money could be changed and the tourist office (for a guide) led us downhill, all the way to the real centre. Very few people about… luckily for us as this is a really popular spa town.  

We walked and we walked and walked. It was getting tiring as the locals went on pointing to a tourist office in the distance! It was really frustrating. 

The town was named after the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia - Charles IV who discovered its water springs in 1350’s. Hence Karlsbad = Charles + bath = in German. He granted the spa privileges of a free royal city on August 14th 1370 next to the Hot Spring. Now known as Karlovy Vary, it's famous for its mineral springs and its gorgeous Belle Epoque architecture. It lies on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá.

As you near the end of the long road, you come across a canal. On the far side, stretch many hotels all offering spa facilities. Then, comes a garden with this Castle like hotel, and the spa waters in water fountains available for anyone to drink. These are covered under many different style structures – all very ornate.

This is the best explanation for you to read. 

“Císařské lázně is the most important spa building, protected as a national cultural monument. It was built in the historicist style of the French Neo-Renaissance in 1893–1895. The largest colonnade with five mineral springs is the Mill Colonnade - a pseudo-Renaissance structure, built in 1871–1881. The best-known spring is Vřídlo, located in Hot Spring Colonnade built in Functionalistic style in 1975. The spring gushes out in a geyser up to 12 m (39 ft) high. Other colonnades in the city are Park Colonnade (Sadová; cast-iron architecture structure built in 1880–1881 by Fellner & Helmer), Market Colonnade (Tržní; a wooden structure, built in Swiss style in 1882–1883 by Fellner & Helmer), and Castle Colonnade (Zámecká; built in Art Nouveau style in 1910–1912 by Friedrich Ohmann)” source Karlovy Vary town data. 

“Karlovy Vary is the site of numerous hot springs (13 main springs, about 300 smaller springs, and the warm-water Teplá River) and is the most visited spa town in the Czech Republic. The historic city centre with the spa cultural landscape is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation. It is the largest spa complex in Europe. In 2021, the city became part of the transnational UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name "Great Spa Towns of Europe" because of its spas and architecture from the 18th through 20th centuries.

They are a part of the Eger Graben, a tectonically active region in western Bohemia. Although the infiltration area is several hundred square kilometres, each spring has the same hydrological origins, and therefore shares the same dissolved minerals and chemical formula. The hottest of the springs can approach 74 °C, while the coldest have temperatures under 40 degrees. All of the springs combined provide roughly 2,000 litres of water every minute”. 

The city map shows  how the river meanders through the town .  It has welcomed such figures as Goethe, Beethoven, Gogol, Paganini, Casanova, and Mozart along with dozens of heads of state, while in recent times it has hosted many movie stars thanks to its Karlovy Vary International Film Festival which is one of Europe’s most important.

The city has been used as the location for a number of film-shoots, including the 2006 films Last Holiday and Casino Royale, both of which used the city's Grand Hotel Papp (below) in different guises. Moreover, the Palace Bristol Hotel in Karlovy Vary had been used as a model for The Grand Budapest Hotel.

I had heard of a cable car and eventually found it; tucked away in a side lane across from the Hotel Papp. I took it to the top which we reached in a few minutes. Then, outside, all I saw was a tower like structure – it had a lift but I found everyone going up / down the stairs and I did not wish to get struck in the lift so, I just strolled around and got the best view possible from near the funicular’s entrance. Rather disappointing after that really long walk right across the town and the canal sides. 

This is a panorama shot of the town bordering on each side the canal.

We finished sightseeing with about two hours to spare before the coach back to Prague. We asked a cab driver to take us to the coach station as rain was imminent and we did not want to walk back -- I could not see any cabs around. He said it was better to enjoy a local pastry at the Elefant café opposite and he would definitely wait for us. So, relaxed with the knowledge that our ride was waiting, I enjoyed an apple pie with ice cream, an Elefant chocolate truffle cake and a hot chocolate drink. My wife had a delicious quiche and tea.  Artem, the cabbie, a refugee from Ukraine, was true to his word. He took us around the town and dropped us at the coach station which was adjacent to the train station. As we had fixed reserved seats, we did not have to worry about the bus being packed on the way back.

I leave you with these mouth watering photos of the various pastries one can enjoy. The menu actually had 15 such delectable items but I thought that would be too much for you to bear! 

If you do go to Karlovy Vary, do ask for Artem - he will make your trip memorable. 

Text and photographs copyright of the author. No part of this article or photographs maybe transmitted or reproduced by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without written permission. Do contact the author on email -- helpthesun@gmail.com

The Sound of Music tour in Austria - a trip down memory lane

One is assaulted by certain aspects of Austrian history whilst you are in Austria. You cant get away from the fact that Mozart was born there and there are any number of concert halls, gardens and even chocolates celebrating his name ! Similarly, one can never forget the famous movie Sound of Music, produced in 1965, featuring Julie Andrews and Christoppher Plummer. There are tours visiting all the places where the film was shot…. even though the film did not stay true to the real life story.

So, whilst in Vienna, its obligatory to go on such a tour – more to see some beautiful Austrian countryside as well as see the locations! We were very fortunate in getting a guide who, dressed in her drindl, was charming, spoke excellent English and lived the whole story. She had tapes and puppets and broke into song each time we came to the particular relevant spot. What was also awesome was that most of the full bus group joined in full heartedly in the singing.                                          This is the itinerary given to us. 

Whilst the itinerary states we begin with Mirabelle Gardens, we actually end the tour there - as the coach starting / ending is at the Gardens. So, it made sense to start off with the next stop first.Schloss Leopoldskron is now an 18th Century Palace for our 21st Century World. Across its three centuries, Schloss Leopoldskron has been many things.

• ·         A summer palace for an autocratic prince-archbishop.
• ·         A failed shooting lodge and spa.
• ·         The centre of the creative arts and theatre scene of Europe.
• ·         A stage to represent a fascist regime.
• ·         A bombed-out dilapidated shadow of its former glory.

·         Now, its owned and operated by the international non-profit organization, Salzburg Global Seminar. It is an award-winning hotel and social enterprise. It is not a museum. It is a living, breathing, working space. It is open to all who share in the Salzburg Global values.

Schloss Leopoldskron was built in 1736 by Prince-Archbishop Leopold Anton Eleutherius Reichsfreiherr von Firmian of Salzburg. The construction was funded by his expulsion of more than 20,000 Protestants from Salzburg. He bequeathed the Schloss to his nephew Laktanz who installed a portrait gallery on the top floor to house his large art collection. For over 90 years, the Schloss remained in the Firmian family before being sold in the 19th C. Since then, it had a series of private owners.

In the 1830s it was acquired by a local gun range owner who plundered the art collection and squandered the majority of the remaining valuable artworks at an auction. In 1851, King Ludwig I of Bavaria acquired the Schloss and lived there on and off until 1869. Later owners included Austrian politician and poet Alexander Julius Schindler, a.k.a. alias Julius von der Traun, and local banker Carl Spängler.

The famous Max Reinhardt bought Schloss Leopoldskron in 1918 when it had fallen into a state of disrepair. The theatre impresario and founder of the Salzburg Festival reimagined the building’s interiors as a place to celebrate cultural innovation and a place of seamless connection between historic preservation and artistic creativity. He committed his considerable creative talents to the restoration of the Schloss, and with the assistance of Salzburg artisans, he renovated the staircase, the Great Hall, and the Marble Hall.

During the Reinhardt years, Schloss Leopoldskron was an important gathering place for theatrical producers, writers, composers, actors, and designers from both Europe and abroad. Together with Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Richard Strauss, Max Reinhardt founded the Salzburg Festival at Schloss Leopoldskron in 1920.

World War II brought an end to the Reinhardt era: Schloss Leopoldskron was confiscated by the Nazis as “Jewish property” following the Anschluss in 1938. Max Reinhardt fled Austria for the US, where he died in 1943. The Nazis used the Schloss as a guest house for leading artists and cultural figures in the Nazi party as well as local party administrators. Plans were drawn up to transform the grounds in the fascist style of Albert Speer.

Throughout its history, Schloss Leopoldskron has been inextricably linked to cycles of power, persecution, and renewal. Despite dark periods in the history of Schloss Leopoldskron, the cycles of renewal – through vision, enterprise, and cultural and social leadership, and the founding of Salzburg Global Seminar – have ensured that Schloss Leopoldskron has remained a space of creativity, inclusion, and inspiration for people from all over the world.

The Salzburg Seminar in American Studies first rented Schloss Leopoldskron from Max Reinhardt’s widow in 1947 before buying the palace outright in 1959. Today, Schloss Leopoldskron is both home to Salzburg Global Seminar and a hotel, the revenue of which directly supports our mission: “to challenge current and future leaders to shape a better world.”

We ofcourse saw the Schloss from a far distance as can be seen from the photos!! 

Next stop was Hellbrun Castle where the famous Sixteen going on Seventeen was films.  The castle entry is at some distance from the gazebo – so for us, we went straight to the gazebo to see it. 

Enroute, we suddenly saw this amazing building with a sloping multi layer roof, in the middle of a body of water, with nine bulls made from steel. Very strange. Turned out to be the headquarters of Red Bull, the energy drink.

We passed by the Nonnberg Abbey, a nunnery of the cloistered nuns where Maria was a novice nun, enroute to Gilgen, a very pretty town. 

We zoom by Lake Fuschl and Lake Wolfgang. The route is very pretty and we stop to see the lake and rooftops of Gilgen. Because we covered such a long distance during the full day tour, we had to pass by some interesting places, like Gilgen. 

Our final halt was at Mondsee Cathedral where the Trapps were married. We parked way out of the village on a large expanse of green. Then we walked about half a km. The Church was in the town square, surrounded by cafes and shops. 

Nothing unique about the church’s architecture except for its history. As we had an hour to spend here, as the driver needed his rest break, we sat in a cafe and enjoyed a hot chocolate drink. 

This final shot is of our excellent guide who must be credited for her enthusiasm. Imagine doing this daily for a bunch of foreigners who may or may not tip her well. It’s a labour of necessity and I wish her well for the future.   

Text and photographs copyright of the author. No part of this article or photographs maybe transmitted or reproduced by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without written permission. Do contact the author on email -- helpthesun@gmail.com