The Wild West... of Bohemia

The excursion we made this Sunday was rather megalomaniacal for a day trip. We started in Cheb, one of the westernmost towns in the Czech Republic and a two hours’ drive from Prague. More German than Czech in its architecture, Cheb offers some rather unique sights, which include a colourful block of buildings with outer wooden beams nicknamed Špalíček (“the little chopping block”) or an almost entirely black castle tower.

Our next stop was Františkovy Lázně, a spa town favoured by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johann Strauss, and Franz Kafka. Its main attractions are the numerous ornate buildings – hotels and sanatoria – built atop the salutary springs, which are rich in sodium sulphate and carbon dioxide (I have no idea what either of these are good for, but they must be popular for a reason). The town continues to serve its original purpose to this day and was designated a UNESCO site shortly after our visit.

It was a good a time as any to make a stop in Aš, one of the Czech Republic’s westernmost towns. Aš has a nice church and chateau but would hardly be a tourist attraction if it were not for one geographic quirk: driving north, south, or west, one inevitably reaches the German border in a matter of minutes. On our way back east, we passed Seeberg Castle and explored the Soos nature reserve – a placid fen with oligotrophic lakes, mineral springs, and mofette (little fumaroles).

Our last destination was Mariánské lázně, another famous spa town, though we did not see much as the sun was already setting and we wanted to get home in time for a sensible dinner.  

Cheb's "Špalíček"
Another view of the Špalíček
The Špalíček with the Church of Saints Nicholas and Elizabeth in the background
A passage
Cheb's Roland Statue
The same
The town hall
The Franciscan Monastery
The Black Tower at Cheb Castle
The view across the river Ohře
The Mill Tower at Cheb Castle
The Black Tower again
The Church of Saints Nicholas and Elizabeth
David and Goliath on Market Square
A façade on Market Square 
More houses on Market Square
Market square
The "Hall of Glauberg's Springs" in Františkovy lázně
Franz's Spring
"Carbon and Gas Spa"
The Colonnade
The Social House
Statue of Franz
More of the same
More of the same
Sphinx in front of the New Colonnade
The Parish Church of the Ascension of the Cross
A pavilion in the City Orchards
An equestrian statue of Francis I
Orthodox Church of Saint Olga
A fancy house
Meteorological pillar
The same
Imperial Spa
Salt and Meadow Springs Colonnade 
Another fancy house
Aš Chateau
Church of Saint Nicholas
An oxeye 
Lupins
Seeberg Castle
A wooden structure (perhaps a silo?) at Soos
Birches and bogs
The dried up lakebed covered in salt
I could not decide which picture looks better
The wooden pathway that leads along the dried up lakebed
The same
A moffetta
The pathway again
More birches
A tiny lake
Ensana Hotel
The Colonnade of Caroline's and Rudolph's Spring
The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
The same
Saint Vladimir's Church

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ireland: Day 8 – County Louth

Image
My plans for my last day in Ireland came together in a very ad hoc fashion. Having seen everything I wanted to see, I searched for interesting sights close to the highway between Dublin and Belfast. These did not include – though I found it the most interesting sight of all – the modest highway sign saying “Welcome to Northern Ireland” painted over with several streaks of dark red paint.
Read more

Not All Turtles Are Alike

Image
On my second full day in Xiamen, Kelly, Yiding, and I visited the South Putuo Temple, originally built during the Tang Dynasty, destroyed during the Ming Dynasty, and rebuilt during the Qing Dynasty. Before plunging into the hordes of tourists, we took a little stroll around the pond in front to look at fish and turtles. To our consternation, we found a monstrous giant turtle in the midst of the pond’s other inhabitants – likely a rather ill-considered release by a rogue animal lover.
Read more

A Short Sojourn in Sayalonga

Image
For Christmas, I visited my mum at her new home in Sayalonga, a mountain village to the east of Málaga. Reaching this village is no easy task: it takes almost an hour’s drive from the airport, and the last stretch is composed almost exclusively of winding and steep roads. I spent the 23 rd and 24 th participating in the joint efforts to prepare for Christmas Eve by making sweets and hanging decorations. On the morning of the 25 th , I decided to explore the neighbourhood and take the 45-minute walk to the centre of Sayalonga.  
Read more