Carlsbad Caverns of Alcohol

Karlovy Vary AKA Carlsbad AKA Becherovka land.

We spent Saturday in Karlovy Vary, a town about two hours away from Prague. The attraction was the Becherovka factory. For those of you who don't know, Becherovka is an extremely popular liqueur in Europe. Or... That's what I've heard. ;)

Karlovy Vary is actually a very beautiful town. Ty and I both agreed that it felt like home. It's nestled in a valley between two forested hills, and there's a river that slowly flows through the city.

 It's close to Germany, which to Ty would be absolute paradise. So I guess you would say we were in... *bursts into song* "Almost paradise! How could we ask for more?" (If you don't know this song, you are missing out and can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc40EasXz18)

We started off the day by visiting a shop that sold different kinds of rocks and crystals. There was so much variety it might as well have been a museum! It was so interesting, that Ty and I almost had to figure out how to ship a $75, twenty pound rock home... good thing we got out of there!

There were cute shops all over town with fresh fruit or bread. 

And one shop that truly tested my self control. The one with the giant ice cream cone. This is the before picture. The after picture was too scary to be posted on the Internet! (Can we please have a moment of silence for the unfortunate giant ice cream cone that is no longer with us?) But of course, I will always carry it with me; in my heart, and definitely in my thighs.

Because of that poor ice cream cone--may it rest in peace--we walked two miles to the Moser glass factory for a tour. I'm not exaggerating. Two miles. But it was a beautiful walk.

Moser is a famous name in glass production. His production survived through the communist era, and Moser is still training more students in the art of glass making.

If you don't believe glass can be art, Czech out (Ha! I'm at it again!) this sculpture in front of the work space. It's much more artistic than that scary lion thing we saw in Ceske Budeovice.

When we walked inside we realized glass making is serious work. People stand in front of furnaces of 1,300 degrees Celsius. For you Yankees that's 2,372 degrees Fahrenheit. (Ha, I say Yankee like I didn't have to look up that conversion on Google.) The furnaces were so hot that it could turn balls of glass several inches in diameter into dripping bright orange liquid.

There's actually two things I want to point out about this picture. First, the ball of molten sand. Ouch. Can you imagine the kind of injuries that could be inflicted? Second, do you see what that guy is drinking?! Beer! On the job. Around 2000 degree furnaces and what might as well be lava. Obviously this room is really hot. So hot it took about two minutes for me to break out in a sweat, so I can only imagine that working in there would be trying to say the least. On the tour they said workers are required to drink a large amount of water as well as four beers a day. Can you imagine? Dream job: stay in the heat and drink four beers a day! Unsurprising Czech thing to do. They work based on commission, so depending on how much they sell and how expensive everything was in the gift shop, working could be pretty fun!

Here's a vase they were making at one station. The glass was not colored orange, that's just how hot it was at that point. 

This is a fountain in front of the factory. More beautiful art. Could you imagine making something like this for everyone to see? The tour was really interesting, and I definitely have a new found appreciation for those not-plastic things I usually end up breaking.

...

Now, Czechs love their liqueur so much that they actually sell 200 liter bottles of Becherovka. Okay, that was a joke. This is just a life-size model, but I hear sometimes there's a "call to prayer" and thousands can be found kneeling in front of this sacred Czech symbol. (Also a joke.)

Still, how can one pass up a "selfie" in front of such a respected monument?!

And yes, I'll toast to that.

With time to spare between the tours and our bus departure we decided to explore the town some more. Again, it was absolutely beautiful. I wish we would have stayed a night just so we could walk around and take in some more of the city.

This statue must have heard my thoughts, and enjoyed  mocking me. 

These statues were much kinder.

You can't see in this picture, but ducks would flow down the river and ride down the spillway like it was a slide. They didn't even have to pay a bill to do it! (Duck humor! I just quack myself up!)

The city didn't really impose on it's surroundings. Nothing was leveled out; they simply built along with the hills and the river. It created a very beautiful scene.

Another great thing about Karlovy Vary was the cobble stones. In Prague, wearing a good walking shoes is paramount. The stones are uneven and sometimes missing. In Karlovy Vary, the stones were not just even, they were artful.

I'm sure the horses that drew the carriages appreciated it just as much as I did.

Even though I didn't get to ride across the city in a horse drawn carriage while fanning myself with a folding fan and shading myself with a fancy parasol, I had a lovely time. It was definitely a day I won't soon forget!

Thank you for reading!