Czechia

Karlovy Vary was previously known in German, as Carlsbad. There is natural, supposedly healing, spring water in this attractive Bohemian town. We got one of the traditional little porcelain jugs to taste the spring water and it was distinctive. There are numerous points around the town centre, where there are taps to try the spring water and after a few samples, we decided we didn't need to be healed that much.

I had previously been to Prague in the winter twenty four years earlier. Needless to say, the city appeared quite different on this later visit, not just warmer and sunnier. It was now heaving with tourists in the city centre and there was so much tourist junk for sale, it felt like a very different place. The part that was less busy and less changed was in the old synagogues and cemetaries.

We didn't spend long in Pilsen. We visited the main square which was nice and also saw a historic synagogue.

In Brno there was an exhibition in the park of large inflatable planets and celestial spheres by the planetarium.

Prague was the capital of the Czech Republic when I visited the first time. Since then, the country changed name to Czechia, though it seems many people have not noticed.

Anyway, Prague is a beautiful city with interesting architecture that has quite a foreboding appearance. The spires on buildings such as Tin Church (photo 1) and the Clocktower (photo 2) look like the sort of thing they would use to depict an evil castle in a Disney film.The city is a good party place and found the locals generally good fun. It is an interesting city historically and architecturally, even the bridges are quite fancy like Karlovy Most (Charles Bridge) (photo 3). The palace affords good views as well as also being an interesting site, complete with a grand cathedral (photo 4). Prague was home to a strong and important Jewish community up until the holocaust and for this reason there are numerous Jewish sites to visit, whether they be Synagogues, community centres, museums or graveyards. The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague (photo 5) has been around for several centuries and is the last resting place of some eminent Jewish scholars and rabbis.