On The Charles Bridge

 

The Charles Bridge

I really don't want to skip any picture we took, but my schedule is way too slow, so I decided to jump to my favorite part of the whole trip, the Charles Bridge (Karl?v most). Believe it or not, I accidentally cut out a piece of article about Prague and a photo of the Charles Bridge few months before the trip, not because I knew about the upcoming trip but only because I thought the photo was so beautiful that I even made a painting of it.
Anyway, the view on the bridge was fantastic. The only flaw was the huge flow of tourist, filling every space on the bridge, making it very hard to take a nice picture of the whole bridge or even to stop for a minute to enjoy the view. Our solution was to cross the bridge several times and stroll with the crouds so as to make sure we won't miss any detail of the bridge. 

Colorful Hotels

These colorful buildings line the streets of Karlovy Vary. They were once belonged to the local rich, and now they'd been rebuilt as luxurious hotels. We didn't have a chance to take a look inside, but we did take a nice moring walk around the town, and just by that we already feel like living there. 

St. Vitus cathedral

Interior of St. Vitus cathedral.

 

Cups

The best souvenir that stands for Karlovy Vary is probably the special cup for drinking spring water. The cups can be painted with simple patters or very delicate ones, depending on the prices, but whatever types you get, we assumed, as most souvenirs end up, they become nothing more than dust collectors on the shelves at home. The best way of keeping the cups is saving them in free pictures. 

Hradcany- Prague Castle

The first castle we visited in Prague was Hradcany, which was founded during the reign of John of Luxembourg sometime after 1320. There we had a local guide, who had blond hair and green eyes but could speak perfect Chinese. She also had a Chinese name, si jia, which means missing home. The castle now houses the offices of Czech government, including president Vaclav Havel, so only the cathedral and a small part of the castle allows visitors.
Some inside parts of the castle are not allowed for photos, so I found a website that has a few beautiful pictures of the inside. Click the title above. 

The Mill Colonnade

The Mill Colonnade, called also Zítek's Colonnade, is the largest Carlsbad colonnade and one of the symbols of the town. It covers five springs - The Mill Spring, The Rock Spring, The Libuše's, The Count Wenceslas', and The Water Nymph's Springs (in Czech Mlýnský, Skalní, Libušin, Knížete Václava and Rusal?in).
Click the title "The Mill Colonnade" above for more information.

The Park Colonnade2

Unlike the spring we know in Asia, the spring in Karlovy Vary is not for bathing but drinking. There were stands and shops selling these special cups that you can fill them with the spring and drink from its pot-like mouth. It is said that the spring contain minerals that are healthy for our bodies, so it is usual to see people carring huge containers and fill them with the spring.

 

Hot Air Balloons

Due to the time differences (six hours earlier than Taiwan), we woke up pretty early the next morning in Savoy Westend Hotel. Lucky us, it had been a little shower in Czech for the first few days of our trip that caused the temperature to drop and became a little chilly, which meant that we didn't have to suffer in some hotels that weren't equipped with air conditioner.
While I was at the room balcony appreciating the beautiful hotel's gardens, I spotted three hot air balloons flying above our hotel. I'd never seen an air balloon with my own eyes, not to mention a flying one. The air balloons were so closed that I could see the flame above the baskets and hear the noice they made. What a great experience!

 

Savoy Westend Hotel

Savoy Westend, our hotel in Karlovy. It was pretty late and we were exhausted the night we arrived at the hotel, so we couldn't take a good look at the hotel until the next morning. The baroque style hotel was set in a beautiful landscape and consisted of five splendid villas. They also had great indoor swimming pool with massage waterfalls and other facilities for guests. It was a shame that we didn't have enough time to enjoy them. Click the title "Savoy Westend Hotel" above the photo to check out the link for more imformation.

 

German Sausages

We were warned already before the trip that food in Europe may be very salty for Asian, and that is also the reason European like to drink beer. The first meal we had in Europe was German sausages and pork. Yet it was okay to me, not as salty as I was told. We also tried their hard, tasteless bread. Not so appealing to me.

 

Waiter

Waiter in traditional costume.

 

Emperor Karl IV

As the hour hand struck twelve, we were hoping to see cute little men dancing and drum beating to the music. Instead, there were seven Counts spinning, not dancing, around the Emperor. No music, only rings from the church bell. To soothe our disappointment, our tourist guide reminded us that we should keep in mind it was built hundreds of years ago, a time which the church was quite a great achievement. 

Church Frauenkirche

Before luch, we stopped at the square in front of Church Frauenkirche (Our Lady's Church). It is particularly well known for the West facade, where at noon every day a figure of Emperor Karl IV parades with his seven Counts. The little gold figure in the middle is Emperor Karl IV, the one we stood under the sun for ten minutes waiting for. 

Band on Street

 

Sweet Fruits

There were a lot of fruit stands as we got closer to the square. Although Taiwan is the fruit kingdom, we still wanted to see if the fruit would taste different. It must be the the same, and I bet it was because of our location that somehow made the grapes seem sweeter. 

Enlarged Dollhouse

 

Coffee Shops

Nurmberg. Lots of great coffee shops along the sides of the streets. It would make the trip perfect if we could just slow down and order a cup of coffee and relax with the locals (or mainly the other tourists.) But you know how it was like to travel with the tourist group, always hurrying to one scenic spot to another. Anyway, we were not even at the scenic spot yet, still the local streets views were already stunning. Colorful buildings, flagged pavement and delicate-designed shop signs were so attracting to me, a country mouse in the city.

Experience in Nurmberg

We spotted a line of taxi right after we stepped outside the train station in Nurmberg. Benz! As the matter of fact, it was quite impossible to find a taxi that was not Benz.
Everyone knows never to expect the food on plane to be delicious, so we decided to grab ourselves some sandwiches on our way to the city. To be honest, the taste didn't balance the price, which was about 3 Euro.