July 31, 2009
Written August 9
Friends and Families ,
On Saturday we were set to expand our horizon to another country, the Czech Republic. Our goal was Frantiskovych Lazni (Czech), or Franzensbad (German). Like most of the Czech towns of this region, it is still better recognized by its German name.
It was only about a 20 minute drive from Bad Elster, even though we followed only the smallest of the connecting roads. I was glad John was driving because passing oncoming traffic in the lane-and-a-half road seemed a bit intimidating.
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On the way up, we stopped by this fancy Shopping Center. All the vendors were Asian and all the goods were cheap. Most of the fifty or so kiosks sold cigarettes as their main product and a bit of something else. Cathy and Marianne checked out the fashions. |
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Once in Franzensbad, we made a quick stop for an ice cream before we walked into the old downtown. |
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Marianne and I were reminded of our old neighborhood in Kiev, although Franzensbad is a small fraction of the size of the Ukrainian capital, the buildings from around the turn of the 19th Century seemed very familiar as our own building had dated from 1906 or so. (The picture above on the right shows a stone monument with an engraved star. At the time, we thought only of the Red Army star monuments that were common in Ukraine but, after I looked closer, I noted that this start was in honor of the U.S. Army and the liberation of the Czech town from German occupation at the end of World War II. Histories are complicated.) |
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The other attraction in town is the INGO Casino and, within the Casino, an interesting feature is the dinning room's glass floor beneath which live carp slowly swim.
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 All the Casino facilities were still closed because it was early in the afternoon and this was clearly a place for night life. Not our style, I suppose, but romantic nontheless. Maybe that is why even Wolfgang von Goethe had lived here. |
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So, that was our quick visit to the Czech Republic.
John and Marianne