Photo Flashback

At long last, I'm going writing a post from an actual computer with photos on it. And so, without further ado, I'm going to have something of interest to look at on the blog again.

During our last few days in Czech, yes this goes way back to February, Mark did some research on things that were taking place in the region during WWII. After spending so much time looking at things online, we decided to literally go out in the field and get up close with some artifacts.

These old bunkers are out in a field just outside Marianske Lazne. Obviously you can't really go into them anymore, but it was fascinating to be so close to the history.

Naturally, I had to get some nature shots as well.

And what would any photo shoot be without a little self portrait to finish things off?

And so we close our last trip to Czech. With all the insanity going on involving owning a business, it's hard to say when we'll have a chance to get back again, but hopefully we can figure something out soon.

If I Wrote A Guide Book

If I:

wrote a guide book it would be different than what you typically see. There are countless books highlighting the biggest cities and the most international locations. I love going to these places and experiencing that fast paced life, but there is always something unreal about it. It is even easy to live in such a place and never get a feel for what the culture and real life of the people is like.

So if I wrote a guide book I would focus on the gems that the common tourist misses. If my guide book was about the Czech Republic I would be certain to highlight the magical city of Marianske Lazne. My goal would be aimed at opening up people to the idea of really digging in and finding the hidden beauty in a country. So here are a few pages that I would definitely have to put into my guide book.

Walking through parks is definitely worth the time. You can watch the train pass, enjoy the sunlight through the trees, maybe even see a random old guy walking around carrying a tree, then climb a viewing tower. Of course, once you climb that tower you'll discover that it was built in an older era when the trees were not nearly so tall. At this point there's not a whole lot to view, so people use this place for other activities.

At least that is what we discovered on our walk through the slushy late February snow.

Then I would focus on looking at the famous sights from different angles, focusing on the details.

I'd take a different look during a different season, then get up close and personal with the details.

I would look for little bits of art that tell a story. The first is clearly on a quest. The second is a pair that demonstrates a common practice in art. Note how the woman is exposed while the man is concealed. Interesting, no?

If I wrote a guide book I would want to really live in the place first. I would want to be able to understand the world I was sharing, so the people reading my book would feel like they could experience the heartbeat of the city. It would also be great to point out cultural things like this. A dumpling shop:

I might not ever write a guide book. I do, however, have a story idea based on the life lead by a transient drifter. I hope, one day, to write in such a way that I can bring the travelers soul to the life of a tourist, enhancing their experiences as they walk wide eyed with wonder through this scarred but beautiful world.

All That is Picturesque

The first time I visited Marianske Lazne, it was a rainy day. My friend, Tammy, and I traipsed around, not really having much clue where we were going. I think the funniest thing is knowing that, a couple years later I ended up living in the area where we fully lost ourselves. Even through the dripping rain, and the long lost walk, I was captivated by the beauty of this little spa town.

If I could market this place, have my day to speak to the world about the wonders that can be seen, I would tell them that entering ML is like walking into a page in history. The old downtown area is still filled with the beautifully ornate hotels that were designed to pamper spa guests in the mid-19th century. While some of the buildings have fallen into disrepair, they still stand like ancient protectors keeping watch over the healing waters that spring forth from the earth.

I like to imagine what this city looked like during it's heyday. I can picture the ladies in their frilly dresses and parasols, strolling arm and arm with men in top hats carrying canes. The old part of town was paved with sand, and were designed to encourage health and wellness.

The old springs still deliver water to the doddering German tourists, and there are a number of four or five star hotels open to give guests the pampering of a lifetime, but the tourist industry has suffered since the presence of communism. While nearby Karlovy Vary draws in international clientele, thanks to the international film festival held there every summer, the hotel that once housed the King of England when he came to visit his favorite spas in Marianske Lazne now sits abandoned. Visitors from Mark Twain to Freud, Neitzsche to Chopin, Emperor Franz Josef and of course, the region's beloved Goethe, all spent time basking in the natural beauty of this incredible place. It would be so glorious to see this towns revival, and to watch the decrepit buildings repaired to their former glory.

For now, I must be content to share the final photos from last weeks walk, and hope that the readers of this humble blog will enjoy what little I can share of the place I've been living the past couple months.

Okay, for a second my internet crashed and I thought I'd lost all of this. (sigh) So glad it auto saved and I didn't have to pull it all back out of my head!

So I'll start off with a couple pictures as I came down the mountain and got my first glimpses of town.

In the photo with the cross you can see one of my favorite churches in the background. The second picture is of the church and the hotel King Edward used to stay in. I walked around toward that hotel to get some better views. It's an incredible building and I'm always so sad to see it so downtrodden.

I tried to get a picture of the sign that talks about how much the King loved to come and stay here, but it was too high up on the building to come out clearly. I especially like the last photo with the Goethe statue covered in snow with the hotel as the background.

I walked down past the colonnade next. I already have lots of pictures of this building, and it is the most photographed place in town, so I'll just put one up here for now.

After getting my duetto oplatky (a large round wafer type treat that is one half hazelnut and one half chocolate for those not in the know) I continued making my loop back for home. On the way I passed this little beauty that was built for Emperor Franz Josef when he came for a visit. Sadly, it is also abandoned.

This fence runs along the road down to the hotel.

Nearby I also snapped shots of an Art Nouveau style hotel face, as well as a light pole with the symbols of the city.

Finally, I hurried along through the park close to home past Ferdinanduv Pramen in its coating of snow.

The moral of this blog post is: Marianske Lazne is beautiful. People should come here to visit. Old buildings that speak the tales of the past should be repaired and shown some respect.

Oh, and I hope you enjoyed going on this little walk with me. The End :)

Walking In A Winter Wonderland Part 2

I'm really having trouble trying to decide if I should post all these great pictures in one post, or break it up into two. There's just so much good stuff in here, but I don't want to overload a single post. We'll see... Like I said, I took this great walk last week, and was definitely snap happy. The best part was that so many of the pictures turned out looking good in my own personal opinion. I know all sorts of people swear by having the right camera. Well, let me just say that my little Olympus that I bought in Hong Kong 8 years ago, still does the trick for me. Plus, it fits in my pocket. And, it has survived being dropped and visiting sub freezing temperatures on multiple occasions, so I really can't complain. Sure, it gets grainy when the lighting isn't right, and there is only one lens, and the effects are limited, but when I snap a moment of brilliance, it turns out and that makes me smile :)

Again, an apology for if these paragraphs all get smashed together. I promise I pushed return and added an extra line for space, but this program has been idiotic for the past month or so, and continues to push it all together in a hard to manage mass. Perhaps they're hinting that I would write shorter blog posts so as not to intimidate people. Who knows, but it does bug me, and I want people to be aware that I still know how to properly construct a paragraph. End Vent.

After walking around Usovice for a while, I took a turn to steeper trails and made my way up into the woods. I started out walking through a little park that houses a lovely spring. It was currently closed, but still looks sweet at the end of the trail.

I was feeling adventurous and decided to follow the signs. I've walked this way several times in normal weather, but the snow was about to get extreme.

I did find one spring still open along the way. There was an assortment of plastic cups sitting there, but I opted just to take photos and to leave the funky tasting, and naturally very healthy, water for someone else to enjoy.

I wish you could see how the water literally bubbles up here. It's hard to tell from the pictures, except for the expanding circles, but this spring produces three liters a minute, so that's quite a lot of water passing through.

At the top of the stairs leading away from the spring I walked through this lovely snowy meadow. I didn't bring a measuring stick, but I would say there was at least a foot and a half of snow up there. A lot more than down in town.

The trail came out up near the Boheminium park which I think is closed at this time of year, and also near a little enclosure where they have some unusual deer. They were pretty far away, so I climbed up the tower to get a peek at them. The snow on the stairs was deep, and the climb was steep, but I was up for it :)

I was still determined to reach the Rozhledna Hamelika, which is a nifty observation tower, so I kept on going, until I heard random music playing in the air. I had hiked this way plenty of times in the summer, but never when the ski slope was actually open. Oops. So I had to do a little improvising to skirt around the slope. I'm sure the skiers thought I looked crazy, but eventually I made it around and at last reached the object of my hike.

I did actually climb to the top, but it was fairly hard to get a good picture due to the low hanging snow clouds that kept sending down little flurries along the way. I then proceeded past a place that makes me sad. Back in its heyday, Marianske Lazne was very popular with tourists from around the world, who made the pilgrimage here to care for their health. As a part of their cure, they would walk along the magnificent trails, and take in the fresh air and lovely views. In order to make the whole experience even more romantic (as Anne Shirley would no doubt find it) they built lovely hotels in the woods with little cafe's where the seekers could find a good cup of coffee and a spectacular view. Most of these places are now closed, including some of the incredible hotels in the town itself. Makes me longer for those "Golden Days" of yore.

All right, I've decided to leave myself up amongst the trees for now, and save the city pictures for my next post. Imagine me sitting at the old cafe and warming up after my freezing walk, and come back for more soon :)

(Oh, and I just might have figured out the paragraph issue. They seem to have added a new options bar to assist me after I sent feedback saying the new program was driving me crazy. Here's to hope!)