Water? Czech
Immerse yourself at some of the oldest spas in the world
By Margaret Swaine
(Ottawa Citizen, December 2005)
It starts with the water. Health-enhancing, mineral-rich spring water anchors each day at Czech spa towns. Spa goers bath in it, drink it constantly and even watch it dance from the earth accompanied by music. Spas in the Czech Republic are serious about their water and its power to cure ailments. Yes, you can have a manicure and pedicure, but immerse yourself in the life-giving water first.
My grandmother, who lived to a very healthy 90, used to go annually to a European spa town for several weeks of rejuvenation. I’ve always wondered what transpired there to keep her in such good shape for so long. The experimental French film of the ’60s, Last Year at Marienbad, did nothing to enlighten me. The large echoing empty rooms that figured prominently in it gave off a foreboding sense of gloom. (I found out much later this tormentingly slow picture was actually shot at Nymphenburg palace in Munich.) Nonetheless when I walked into the large roman spa site within Nové Lázne hotel in Marienbad this year my echoing steps on the tiles recalled the film, but without the darkness.
The Czech Republic’s most famous spa towns are in western Bohemia bordering central Germany. The German influence is strong so that even today, well over a half a century since the German population was expelled, the towns are better known internationally by their old German names. Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary), Marienbad (Mariánské Lázne) and Franzenbad (Frantiskovy Lázne) make up what’s called the West Bohemian spa triangle: these three are all within a few dozen kilometres of each other. Since the Middle Ages,
these towns have had a tradition of balneology (the scientific study of the therapeutic use of mineral baths) based on the numerous curative springs in the area. Scores of extinct volcanoes in this hilly, forested region are the source for the hot springs, considered essential to a spa town in the Czech Republic.
Also an integral part of spas here are medically based treatments. Stanislava Maulenová, a beautiful blond with chiselled cheek bones, heads up the medical team for the Premium hotel chain. One glance at her and you’re ready to sign up for anything in the hope you can look half as good. Indeed many of the locals have a special glow that seems to spring from living in fresh clean air, drinking life-giving waters. The gorgeous and good doctor explained that a spa visit in the Czech Republic always starts with a medical examination. Then treatments, about three to five a day, are prescribed. But first and foremost is the drinking cure. The waters in the towns have different mineral contents and different temperatures. Each fountain has a list of specific ailments it’s best for and doctors will prescribe a series of drinks taken at specific fountains throughout the day. Dr. Maulenová smiled when she told me that for overweight people, the fountains she prescribes tend to be many kilometres apart. The daily walk from fountain to fountain prior to dinner is one of the rituals of spa towns.
North Americans don’t tend to have the four weeks or more that a traditional cure can take. So the Czech spas have adapted their programs to offer “wellness” treatments. A one week stay is considered energizing and preventative, but not curative. In two weeks you can do slimming or detoxifying programs. Three weeks is better for treatments that are meant to help cure an underlying health problem, for example high blood sugar. The average person who takes these programs is a surprisingly young – 35 to 40 years old – though any age, from child to octogenarian, can be a Czech spa customer.
Generally, the prescribed treatments are a pleasure rather than a pain. As an example, Dr. Maulenová showed me the daily treatment schedule for a patient with digestive issues. He was to have various types of massages, carbon dioxide baths, saunas, magnet-therapy and paraffin packs.
Shy Canadian that I am, the only thing I found unsettling was the nonchalant view of nakedness. “Cloths off!” I was ordered prior to one massage as I stood in a room with several strangers – fortunately all female.
In the famous spa triangle, Franzenbad is the most modest of the three with marshes surrounding it rather than the hills of its better known rivals. Laid out in a strict grid plan, it has less pizzazz and fewer foreign tourists. Karlsbad and Marienbad offer the best and most versatile introduction to the spa experience.
Karlsbad
Karlsbad is the most famous and largest of the spa towns. In its heyday in the 1800s it attracted the greatest political and cultural luminaries of the day including Beethoven, Goëthe and French novelist Francois Chateaubriand. Among Karlsbad’s 12 mineral springs used for drinking, a geyser that shoots up 15 metres is the largest and warmest. It’s housed in its own room and is often filled with people watching in silent reverence.
Architecturally beautiful and busy with tourists, the town is dramatically located within a narrow valley. While Karlsbad was founded in 1350, most of the spa buildings, hotels and mansions date from its boom years in the late 19th and 20th century. Pretty houses, many in the Czech version of art nouveau, line the steep lanes. The spa area is centered on two car-free streets on either side of a river with many bridges linking the two sides.
The 12 principal springs are housed within five colonnades along the river.
The main streets are lined with shops selling porcelain, tableware, clothing, amber, jewelry and crafts as well as the ubiquitous oplatky wafers (see Spa Town Etiquette). Locally made Moser glassware is famous for its lead-free crystal, gold-rimmed glasses and colourful handcut vases. The factory is elsewhere in Karlsbad, but there’s a retail outlet on the main drag that sells its exquisite, handcrafted tableware.The moneyed Russians love this town for good reason.
Even if you don’t stay there, it’s well worth going for a drink at the 18th-century Grandhotel Pupp so you can gaze at its lavish interiors. It’s not a spa hotel since it doesn’t have treatment rooms on the premises, but guests can sign up at a nearby private clinic for treatments.
I stayed at the Ambiente, which is part of the Premium Hotels group. Like many of the four-star spa hotels I saw in Bohemia, it’s clean, with attractive common rooms and neatly constructed treatment rooms, but the bedrooms are small and somewhat spartan by North American standards. Space and luxury are not part of the cure, unless you book a suite.
Marienbad
Marienbad, developed early in the 19th century, is the second largest spa town in the Czech Republic. While Karlsbad attracts 25- to 45-year-olds and has a bustle about it, Marienbad is more sedate and stately, attracting an older crowd. Germans seem partial to Marienbad, while Russians flock to Karlsbad.
Built in an isolated spot in the Bohemian forest by the abbot of a monastery, Marienbad boasts a wealth of historic monuments. Along with majestic buildings, it has a delightful ensemble of parks and pavilions grouped around 40 therapeutic springs.
It became fashionable early in its existence, attracting prominent visitors such as Nikolai Gogol, who wrote part of his novel Dead Souls while staying there. Wagner composed his opera Lohengrin at Marienbad in 1848. Strauss and Chopin were equally inspired by the place. King Edward VII of England and Emperor Franz Josef were frequent visitors.
Ornate and showy hotels and apartment buildings line the main street. The dominant feature of the town’s mainly neoclassical buildings is a magnificent colonnade dating from 1889. At the southern end of the colonnade is the “Singing Fountain”, with jets and spray co-ordinated with classical music.
In addition to gathering around the fountain and indulging in spa treatments and water cures, visitors hike the many marked walking trails throughout the surrounding woods. There’s also a casino and a 100-year-old golf course that’s open to the public.
The medicinal springs in Marienbad are all cold, acidic springs, each with its own purported therapeutic effect. For example, the Cross Spring is supposed to be good for digestive and metabolic disorders. Its high sulphates content produces a laxative effect. The Ambrose Spring, on the other hand, is high in iron and used to treat anemia; it also has a diuretic effect that’s used to treat certain urinary tract troubles. You don’t have to read between the lines to know that you should treat the water with respect – and always know where the nearest toilet is (public ones are clean and readily available).
The luxurious Nové Lázne Hotel, part of the Marienbad Kur and Spa Hotels group, has a grand spa area with Roman baths, steam rooms, foot baths, jacuzzis and private rooms for various treatments. It’s solemnly, peacefully, quiet with an older clientele. You can even book time in the baths in the Royal Cabin and the Imperial Cabin, once used by King Edward VII. Other properties in the Marienbad Spa Hotels group look almost as spectacular from the outside, but inside their guest rooms lean toward the monk-like: clean and functional, but spare.
As a first-timer and not sure what to expect, I signed up for massages and water treatments on a day-patient basis, rather than a multiple-week cure. The massages were some of the best I’ve had and the water treatments truly revitalizing. The taste of the water in the mineral springs took a little getting used to, but I soon got into the spirit and even took some in my water bottle when I left.
I figure that my grandmother was on to something: if we all went to these spas for several weeks a year, I think we might all live to 90.
Margaret Swaine is a Toronto-based writer who specializes in food, wine and spas.
Treatments (just a sampling of what you may encounter):
* Dry CO2 gas bath: A “bath” in plastic sacks pumped with naturally occurring volcanic gas containing 99.7 per cent carbon dioxide (called Mary’s gas). Said to aid circulation and stimulate sex hormones among other things.
* Inhalations: Mineral waters, with or without medicines and herbals, inhaled to improve the respiratory system.
* Peat Packs: Hot peat is packed around the body to loosen muscles, improve circulation.
* Lymphatic Hydro-massage: Massage by water jets to increase tissue metabolism and blood circulation.
* Parafango: A mixture of mud from volcanic lakes and paraffin, used to treat cellulite.
* Hydroxeur: Intensive underwater massage done in a special bath tub.
* Sigorol massage roller: A massage instrument used to strengthen and stretch muscles and tissues.
Spa town etiquette
* Use a porcelain mug with a spout for drinking from the mineral fountains. This keeps the water from staining your teeth by depositing it back on the tongue. Also, it’s a cool thing to do since you’ll be joining the locals in a time honoured tradition. Such mugs are sold at numerous nearby stalls, for $2 to $10.
* Munch on paper-thin oplatky wafers which come in such flavours as lemon, hazelnut, vanilla and chocolate, after sipping the water. These mask the heavy sulphates, chlorine, iron and other palate-torturing elements in mineral-rich water. These wafers also taste great and stave off hunger. They’re sold everywhere in the spa towns – from street kiosks to general stores – for just $1 to $2 a packet.
* No smoking in the colonnades or anywhere near the springs.
Consumables
* Becherovka: Created by Jan Becher at the end of the 18th century, Karlsbad’s herbal digestive tonic is strong on clove and cinnamon. Sample a small glass for free from a stall in the city to find out whether you love it or hate it. If the former, you can indulge by buying a mickey or litre on the spot.
* Food: Meals at the spa hotels are often buffet style at breakfast and lunch with set menus in the evening, matched to specific diet plans. They can be quite tasty, though not the prime reason to go to a spa hotel. Go to local restaurants for a pig-out at a deal of a price: appetizers for about $3 and main courses for $5 to $7. Portions of pig knuckle the size of your head, mounds of pork ribs, roast ducks, cabbage and dumplings are generously served up in these Czech eateries. One of the oldest and most famous is in the Hotel Embassy in the town centre.
*Beer: The most traditional bohemian beverage is the world’s original pilsner: the deliciously refreshing Pilsner Urquell Golden Lager, brewed in the nearby town of Pilsen and served all over the country. At $6 for a tour and tasting the brewery is well worth a visit ( see www.beerworld.com )
*Spirits: The local plum brandy, called Slivovice, is clear coloured and tasty but packs a punch if you over indulged. Green Absinthe is much rougher both on the palate and on the head. Local wine shops may offer free samples to entice you to buy.
* Wine: The Czech Republic has a wine industry and since the Velvet Revolution in 1989, when the communists were overruled, quality has improved considerably. The best hail from southern Moravia from such international grapes as pinot blanc, pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot gris as well native ones such as Frankovka. You can order Czech wines at restaurants and the spa hotels, or buy bottles at local wine shops.
IF YOU GO
Getting there
CSA Czech Airlines (www.czechairlines.com or 1-866-293-8702) offers seven direct flights a week to Prague from Toronto and Montreal and as many as 11 flights a week from New York City. Return cost starts at about $780 Cnd. The Bohemian spa towns are 120 to 160 kilometres from Prague. Prague to Karlsbad is about two hours by bus ($6), Prague to Marienbad three hours by train ($10). The train and bus stations are in downtown Prague. You’d best enjoy a night or two in wonderful, historic Prague since departures can be late evening (for schedules go to www.vlak.cz). Many of the spa hotels will arrange transport from the airport if requested at the time of booking. You could also rent a car: the drive is straightforward.
Where to stay:
Stay at spa hotels for ease of treatments if you want a spa cure. Here are some I recommend:
* Premium Hotels offers several attractive, well run spa hotels in Karlsbad including the four-star Ambiente where I stayed. Among their range of spa packages is a detoxification week (seven nights about $990), a slimming program ($1,400 to $1,600 for 14 nights) and various golf and wellness programs. Prices accommodation, breakfast and dinner daily, medical consultations, several spa procedures a day, use of spa facilities such as saunas and whirlpools.
* The three star Bohemia Lázne in Karlsbad and its sister hotels offer treatment programs starting at $120 a day for accommodation, all meals and treatments. See www.hotel.cz/bohemia-lazne
* Marienbad Kur & Spa Hotels offer the full gamut of spa treatment procedures at their various hotels in Marienbad, each specializing in different ailments. The fanciest and best is the five star Nove Lázne in the centre of the towns spa quarter. A classical spa stay starts at $1,200 a week and includes accommodation, all meals, three to four spa procedures a day and medical examinations. See www.danubiushotels.com (an English site)
* Other general hotel sites: www.travelguide.cz or www.czechhotels.cz
Packages:
A do it yourself week-long wellness package in a four-star hotel can cost as little as $850 per person for accommodations, all meals, treatments and medical examinations but not including airfare. Agencies include esprit health & wellness holidays (www.espritspas.com or 1-866-851-8882) and Spa and Wellness holidays (www.spa-and-wellness-holidays.com 1-866-631-7727) both of these agencies are based in Toronto but serve customers from all over Canada.
More: www.spas.cz