Sometimes, things simply don’t work out… No matter how much a certain town/village/museum or whatever is praised in books or on the Internet, you fail to see what is so charming/beautiful/cozy or whatever. For Lars and especially me, it’s Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic.
Maybe it’s because the first time we tried to visit it, we simply couldn’t… In 2011 or 2012, we drove there because it was so highly recommended in our travel guide. But after having driven around for half an hour, we couldn’t find a place to park our car and we had to leave. Sure, there seemed to be something grand about the town, but it looked very crowded as well.
And maybe – or should I say, probably – it’s because we visited Marianske Lazne last year and we fell immediately in love with it. Many consider this town to be a mini version of Karlovy Vary, by the way. And I guess since Marianske Lazne took complete possession of our hearts, there was probably no place left for Karlovy Vary, the spa town of the Czech Republic.
But Lars and I did try again in the beginning of January 2015. This time we found a place to get rid of the car, right next to the tourist information office. There they gave us a map and some instructions, and we were off. Looks like we were lucky this time!
Well… no. Our walk started in a shopping street – really not a place we like, in any country for that matter.
Let’s be honest: when we looked up and saw the pastel colors and the details, we liked it… But that was about it.
At the end of the shopping street, we saw a big boulevard:
We don’t think this is an ugly place, certainly not. But it didn’t overwhelm us. And looking back at these pictures, it still doesn’t. And I am not sure if we are ever going to return here, giving Karlovy Vary a second chance.
Well… we will always have Marianske Lazne (and our beer spa!).
