November 2, 2021: Ahoj! We’re back in the Czech Republic, but that doesn’t mean we were only in Prague in the last week. In our last excursion of the term, we visited a uranium mining town (turned ski resort) and the famous spa town of Karlovy Vary. Keep reading to hear about Bohemian glass, healing mineral water, radioactive rocks, and a nail-biter of a hockey game!
On Thursday, we went to the opera at the National Theater in Prague. The opera we saw was called The Bartered Bride,which was a comic love story written by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. We had the opportunity to dress up and arrive to the beautiful theater early to look at the stunning architecture and fancy interior. I would love to tell you more about the plot of the opera, but I regret to inform my readers that I only stayed through the first act (at which point I was caught fleeing the scene by Sara and Hisui, our avid music fans, and shamed for my lack of appreciation for the arts).
On Friday, we left on the bus for our last excursion of the term to Jáchymov and Karlovy Vary! After working on some group projects and catching up on some sleep on the bus, we arrived at the Moser Glass Factory. The Czech Republic is known for the clarity and quality of its glass, and Moser is the best of the best when it comes to handcrafting incredible works of glass. As part of our tour, we were able to watch skilled glassblowers meticulously work with molten glass. After the glass is blown, it goes through stages of decorative cutting, smoothing, polishing, gold plating, and engraving. If anyone messes up at any stage in the process, the piece is thrown away!
We also had the chance to browse the glass shop where the finished masterpieces are available for purchase. Although we were impressed by the craftsmanship, the prices were a little bit outside of our budgets, with some of the individual pieces exceeding $10,000.
After leaving the glass factory, we drove to Jáchymov, a small town that was the site of extensive uranium mining as a part of Soviet efforts to develop atomic weapons during the Cold War. We learned in our history class that political prisoners arrested under the communist regime were often sent to labor camps to mine uranium given the dangerous working conditions.
Tomás, our history professor, leads an NGO dedicated to the history of political prisoners in Central Europe. As a result, he was able to lead us on a walking tour through the site of one of the uranium mining labor camps in Jáchymov. Surprisingly, there are almost no signs that the area was a site of Cold War uranium fever and human rights violations. The picturesque, forested area is now a ski resort, with vacation cabins and hiking trails. Only a few remnants of pipe and concrete, as well as some uranium waste rocks, provide any evidence of its historical past.
After the hike, we made a brief journey to the German border. Although travel is currently not permitted from the Czech Republic to Germany because of rising COVID cases, we’re pretty sure that we stayed safe throughout the entirety of our ten-second German vacation.
After spending the night in a hotel that previously existed as a communist-era indoctrination dormitory for groups of schoolchildren, we toured a partially reconstructed uranium mine in Jáchymov. We were able to walk through the tunnels and even pick up the mining equipment recovered in the mines. As this was our third (!) mine that we’ve toured this term, we’ve become well-practiced at navigating confined, underground spaces.
Before leaving Jáchymov, we stopped at a local museum with a selection of mineral, minted coins, and information about political prisoners, the history of uranium mining, and tourism. The highlight of the museum (at least for me) was looking at the green-glowing, uranium-infused dishware and jewelry. If anyone reading this is concerned about our exposure to radioactive material this weekend, don’t worry, we were assured that we would be fine given the brief nature of our trip (as long as we didn’t bring home any fun radioactive rocks as souvenirs).
After another bus ride, we arrived in Karlovy Vary (German name: Carlsbad), a spa town in the Czech Republic renowned for its healing mineral waters. The town is beautiful, with a mix of cute shops and cafes that open late and close early, as well as a large number of luxury spa hotels. In order to take advantage of the famous healing qualities of the mineral water, we bought decorated spa cups and went around to twelve different mineral springs scattered throughout the town. The temperature of the mineral water ranged from lukewarm to hot, with different concentrations of various minerals and heavy metals.
Critiques about the taste of the water ranged from Minneh’s comment that the water tasted like “dirt and urine” to my own experience of drinking “hot, metallic blood water”, to Sara’s optimistic perspective that “it wasn’t that bad.” Luckily, Ken planned ahead and brought us some spa wafers (thin, flat cookies that are famous in Karlovy Vary) as a “chaser” for the water.
As part of our mineral water drinking tour, we also saw Elizabeth Spa, a gorgeous and luxurious spa established in 1906. Celebrity guests of the spa have included Karl Marx and Chopin, who are both commemorated in statues and plaques in Karlovy Vary. Unfortunately, we were not able to follow in their footsteps and get a spa treatment since all the appointments were already booked for the weekend.
We stayed at a very nice hotel in Karlovy Vary that had its own spa, pool, and saunas. A few of us visited the sauna in the hotel but were shortly kicked out for wearing swimsuits in the co-ed, naked sauna. It was definitely a first to feel overdressed while wearing a bikini!
On Sunday, we checked out of our hotel and joined Ken on a hike in the hills surrounding Karlovy Vary. We passed by an ornate Russian Orthodox Church, but only got a brief glimpse through the doorway since a service was currently in session.
The fall leaves were incredibly vibrant, and the views were amazing. We climbed to the top of Diana Tower, which gave us a great view of the city and a bird’s eye view of the surrounding forested area. At one point we lost sight of the trail we were supposed to be walking on, so we went off-roading on an adventurous trek up and down the steep and slippery hillsides.
Before leaving Karlovy Vary, we watched a hockey game! The Czech Republic is well-known for their amazing hockey players, and many of the NHL players in the U.S. are Czech. The game ended up being incredibly close, with the tie-breaker point won by Karlovy Vary in the literal last second of the game in overtime. It was an exciting way to end our excursion!
Stay tuned for the next blog post about our last clinic visit of the term and our 8th week in Prague! As always, thanks for all of the great pictures!