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of czechs & germans (a short history)
lovers of european history, i’m calling on you today! the town i live in may be called czechimpossibletosay české budějovice, but it used to just be known as budějovice or budweis for decades, especially in the 19th century when czechs and germans lived side-by-side and it didn’t really matter who was a czech and who was a german. people here at that time just considered themselves “budweisers”.* although rifts were there at the end of the 19th century, it wasn’t until after the first world war which brought about the end of the austrian-hungarian empire and the creation of the czechoslovak state that the division started rapidly deepening, although from the…
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july things
hello all! i’ve been a bit of a summer camp haze for a little while, but i got up today and realized that it is july twentieth and it weirded me out a lot. my favorite month full of all thing summer and fun is flying by! you know what i got up to at the very beginning of the month, in karlovy vary! i spent an uneventful independence day (because, let’s be honest, it’s usually not so much fun abroad unless you’re traveling or at some kind of expat party). although, one of my favorite fourth of julys so far was spent nine years ago in switzerland at a…
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the vary many ways that i love you
at some point, going to the karlovy vary international film festival year became more than just a one year thing. now, after four years, it has become basically mandatory for us and one of my most favorite summer getaways. since i’ve never been to karlovy vary while the festival hasn’t been on (except for the day before and after which are always a bit sad, really), i am honestly not sure if i’d like to visit during the rest of the year. i’m not sure i’d like one without the other. what is the festival without vary, and what is vary without the festival? i love the buzzing streets, how…
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in the heart of the spa triangle
on our way up to karlovy vary for this year’s festival (more to come on that later), we stopped by petite mariánské lázně (marienbad), only a handful of kilometers from the german border where we arrived by an excellent, fast pendolino train. in addition to karlovy vary which we know quite well by now, i consider mariánské lázně to be another town that makes up northwestern czech republic’s famed “spa triangle” (with františkovy lázně making up the third point). i had heard enough about this little town (called one of the most beautiful in the country) to want to make a little stop there… and i was fully dedicated to…
