Blogs from Karlovy Vary Region, Czech Republic, Europe - page 2

This is started on the bus out of Karlovy Vary (KV) to Plzn (pron. Pilsen as in beer! – as if we need more). Better compact this or we will be here all day. (and posted at 4.30pm 8 June from the Best Western in Plzn) 6 June – got bus from Prague to KV which took 2h15min or so. Unfortunately on the way there were some very heavy downpours and when I arrived it continued to dribble form time to time, so I had to take shelter while walking to the hotel. This seemed to take an hour around the curving hillside way, with rain stops and false turns as LP map not that complete. This morning on way back to bus station with no stops and very brisk (and knowing where I was going) ... read more

Karlovy Vary – a feast for the eyes We met the AMA Waterways group that had been in Prague to transfer on the bus with them to Nuremberg. We were stopping about halfway (2.5 hours) at the spa town of Karlovy Vary. A very special town for the rich. Karlovy Vary is an old town. It's original Germanic name is Carlsbad ("Charles' Baths"). The reference to "baths" was quite accurate, as the city's thermal springs made it into a very popular spa town that was being rediscovered by westerners since the end of the Cold War. As Czech moved closer and closer to full integration with the West, Karlovy Vary (just a stone's throw across the German border) became one of the Republic's darlings. Karlovy Vary was a feast for the eyes. I was greatly impressed ... read more

In 1984 I started Kindergarten, the Soviets boycotted the Olympics and Big Brother was watching (but not in the Diary Room or the communal showers). It was also the last time central Europe had such a cold winter. The snow started mid December, conveniently disappeared for Our Scottish Christmas in France and returned shortly after. The mercury has rarely popped over zero until this last week, meaning the snow mounds had become ice mounds on every curb and we faced a perilous climb over them to get into the car! There have been a few things that have helped us get over the freeze, not least of which is the bragging rights we feel we've earned from surviving such a winter! Although it was easier for some...Just as the frost set in, the girls set off ... read more

When we got on that bus to Dobra Voda, I really was not sure of what to expect. To be honest, I wasn’t so happy about waking up at 6:00am on a day off from classes. However, I can say that I got off that bus feeling like I had experienced something very fulfilling and enriching. I feel in order to truly understand the Romani people; you need to spend at least a day in their community. I worked with ages eight to twelve. We had originally planned a whole program of games and rules, etc. However, we didn’t end up doing even half of the games on our list. We were not prepared for their short attention span and hyperactivity! However, we still had a lot of fun teaching them games that we as Americans ... read more

Czech Republic Paint Day and Beyond 9/8 - 9/17 (CR start 9/1) The last blog left off after the Day of Silence and before the Day of Paint. So, one night while we were all hanging out, the boys told us how they had been planning on painting the kitchen for a long time. At the moment it was just a pale yellow color with fun drawings the boys had made here and there. But they wanted a full make over for it, and had been hoping we could do it when we arrived. This was wonderfully exciting for us! So, on Wednesday the 8th we decided to dedicate ourselves to painting. Luckily their friend Caleb’s mother in law owned a paint shop in the square, so we were able to get a deal on the ... read more