The Fountain of Youth

The Fountain of Youth

Friday the 21^st we all went to a great club called Lucerna that is known for playing all 80’s and 90’s music, however we hit the jackpot and it was all decades night! We danced all night to jazz, MC Hammer, Whitney Houston, *NYSYNC…you get the picture. And lucky for me and Mckenzie we got there in style by hopping on out very own private tram! We had some fun on the ride over! But at 3 AM in the morning we remembered we all had to wake up early for our day trip the next day!

           On February 22, CEA took a group of about 50 of us on a day trip to Karlovy Vary, which is about a 2 hour ride from the center of Prague. Our first stop was at Museum Moser, home of the blown glass! Moser is a luxury glass manufacturer based in Karlovy Vary, however it’s origins started in Karlsbad in Bohemia, Austria, hence Bohemian Glass. The company is know for producing stemware, decorative glassware,  small glass gifts, vases…the list goes on and on…and we got to hear all about from our tour guide. Although some dull moments, the most exciting was when they took us through the actual manufacturing room! It was so unbelievably hot to begin with, and I couldn’t imagine how people work 8 hour shifts in that heat! We got to see amazing glass blowers all in their mojo, although they’re mojo is very finely judged. Almost 80% of their work is not up to standards; talk about upholding standards! 

After we ventured over to the tourist area of Karlovy Vary where it’s very popular and exclusive hot springs are. It became the most visited spa city in the Czech Republic in the 19^th century and it is still known for its many international celebrities who vacation there for spa treatments.  It also looks almost like Main Street USA, in Disneyland! Sadly, we are not international celebrities, well at least not yet, so no spa treatment, but we did get to visit an outdoor gathering area with a number of fountains that were spouting out spring water. 

Each fountain had a different temperature and it is believed that the waters have healing powers…as well as laxative powers too! They sell these cups in different sizes with a handle that is also a built in straw so you can fill up you’re cup and start drinking from the fountain of youth. I thought I would never have the opportunity again, so I went for it. However we were warned not to drink too much because there was only one bathroom on the bus and no stopping on the way home. The water was piping hot…and tasted like pennies from all minerals! It was manageable to drink when it was hot, but if you wait to long and let it cool down, it was the most disgusting thing I had ever tasted. 

Our last stop was to the Becherovka Museum. Becherovka is an herbal alcohol that was first used for digestive aid, and although some people still use it today…it can give you more digestive problems than you bargained for. We watched a brief history video of it and as we were doing so they were passing out shots of their original, lemon flavored, and extra dark Becherovka’s! “I was a champ and took all three,” said none of us, because they were so strong, and we were all still recovering from the night before! We headed back on our bus and headed home! Some were greeted by their nice warm apartments and I was greeted by an apartment that still smelled like fumes from the fumigation! Stay tuned to hear who won: the bed bugs or the humans!