Notes on trip to Karlovy Vary

I went on a day trip to Karlovy on Saturday. It was a tour but there were only four paying customers, consequentlz I got to sit in the front with the driver, good for photos...

We went firstly to Becherovka Muzeum to see old bottles, including the first, 200 years old asnd some barrels and then got to taste 3 products in their cellars.
1. Beherovka original
2. KV 14, more alcohol, a mixer, like Campari apparently
3. Cordial Medoc, sweet, honey and lime, my favourite

For the uninitiated, Becherovka is a herbal liquer. You are supposed to drink 20ml twice per day for optimal effect, more than that is just like booze.

Then we had lunch at the Charleston restaurant.

Then we went to the spa town proper. I tried the healing spa waters, hope it has some positive effects. And yes, some of them have a diuretic effect (was that too much info? some of the mineral waters you buy here in the supermarket have this effect too, especially Korunni which comes in a turquoise bottle).

Bought some ceramics there, cuter than Prague.

Then it was on to Marianske Lazne (Marianbad in German). The tour guide-driver promised it would be quieter and it was. Had half an hour there to explore on own. Went to Colonades, ate spa wafers there and drank more healing waters. Bought more ceramics that I hadn´t seen in Prague, including special Becherovka cups. Back to bus.

Back to Prague via Plzen. One of the others must have asked and then the driver asked me if I was in a hurry back to Prague. I said no and we did a drive through around Plzen. It was raining so good to be in bus. I didn´t set foot there but was there, so now I feel I´ve done it and doesn´t look like there´s much to do anyway except visit breweries and skoda factory... Dave don´t be too jealous.

Returned to Prague just before 7pm.