The nave of this church was built with the bones of over 40,000 people who had died of the plague. It was built as a rememberance of the dead. Pretty Amazing!

I got in to Prague today and after a few inconveniences (broken ATMs and misunderstoodhostel directions) I made it to the hostel here.  Its a very nice place with a big garden area and a number of small buildings off of the garden.  Prague is pretty big, so I have to ride the subway to get into town but the system they have here is really easy to follow shouldnt be an issue.

After I got in to town I was going to take a walking tour that one of the employees at the hostel in Krakow recommended, but they dont offer it on Thursday so I flipped my itinerary to go to Kutna Hora today and then spend tomorrow and Saturday morning in Prague.  Kutna Hora is a medieval town not too far from Prague that features a number of old churches and some cool winding streets.  I visited two churches there, the first was St Barbaras Catherdral which is your typical cathedral with amazing stained glass and organ and the second was the Kostnice Ossuary, or bone church.  Basically, during the plague about 30,000 people were buried at this church, then a few hundred years later they needed to do some expansion and construction on the building since it was built in the 1200s and excavated a number of the grave sites.  They were left with a huge pile of bones and then in the 1800s they decided to use them to decorate the church.  Theres a chandelier made of skulls and a large coat of arms made of bones as well.  It was a bit odd, but pretty cool as well.    

The tour tomorrow covers a lot of the major sites in Prague, but I think Ill end up revisiting a few of the more interesting ones.  It also has a lunch break at a Czech restaurant which the guy in Poland told me has incredibly good food and is far enough off the main road that it isnt just another touristy restaurant.

The computer here has USB ports that I can get to, so depending on what time I get back and computer availability I might have a chance to post some pictures.  But if not Ill at least get them by the time I meet up with Tai in Italy since he has a laptop.

  Yesterday, we had a free day, so we just roamed around the city. I went through the main square, and up to the castle, and down through the gardens, trying to avoid the crowds.

Took lots of photo's and then decided to walk along the waterfront, found a nice park, which was good because my feet were starting to hurt, the cobblestones here are uneaven and kill my feet. An added bonus i found as I massaged my feet was, the scores of woman sunbathing in the park. it was a sight to behold.

so after my rest, i went and found a brewry/pub that did some experimental beers, had a small lunch there, it was great.

Today, we took a day trip to Kutna Hora, with the bone church, and silver mines. it was alright, small little town. but the train trip back was far too long.

This day started out as just a day trip to see what appeared to be an interesting city.  I didn't realize how cool it would be.  The tour didn't officially include the ossuary at first, but all of us on the tour got to vote and we all chose to go see it, and it was an amazing sight!

My mom got here last night. I swear she told me she was flying from Zurich.... so I was waiting for he flight in terminal 1 at the airport for like 10 minutes! Then I said to myself, "Self, this can't be right." So, I looked at Munich and there her flight number was! So, I quickly walked to terminal 2 and picked her up. We just chilled last night... you know, to rest of for the greatness of today. We got up at 7:00, ate breakfast, bought my mom a month long pass, (probably be about the same as buying a one time ticket over and over again for a week) and headed to Hlavni Nadrazi to purchase a ticket to Kutna Hora. The one hour trip there was quite quick! I liked that. We made our walk to the main square and on the way stopped to see the Ossuary. This place is pretty neat, but kind of freaky. Here is some information on it from my Lonely Planet Guide:


When the Schwarzenberg family purchased Sedlec monastery in 1870 they allowed a local woodcarver to get creative with the bones that had been piled in the crypt for centuries. But this was no piddling little heap of bones; it was the remains of no fewer than 40,000 people. The result was spectacular: garlands of skulls and femurs are strung from the vaulted ceiling like Adam's Family Christmas decorations, while in the center dangles a vast chandelier containing at least one of each bone in the human body. Four giant pyramids of stacked bones squat in each of the corner chapels, and crosses, chalices and monstrances of bone adorn the altar. There's even a Schwarzenberg coat- of- arms made from bones.



Now, this was neat. For some reason I was expecting it to be HUGE... maybe something to do with the BONES OF 40,000 PEOPLE!!! But, it was actually quite small. It is definitely a must see. After seeing this, my mom and I continued on our journey to the main square.... 20 minutes later we were there. I was sad, because my digital camera died on that journey and for some reason I did not bring any back up film for my REAL camera (he he). I got some good shots, but others were sadly lost and I must only reach deep inside my memory in the future! We had lunch at Pizza Novona. It was nice and the food was not that bad. Kutna Hora is a nice town. It was very quiet today and it seemed as if no one truly lived there! I suggest going when people are out an about. The stone fountain in cool, but St. Barbora church is amazing! I wish I could have captured this gem! Plus, the grounds are well kept and there is a spectacular view from behind the church. I hope that some of you can make your way here. It was very enjoyable... calm, but enjoyable!

Did a pub crawl in Kutna hora. Stayed at Centrum Pension and the receptionist asked me "how much do you want to pay" when i said that i was looking for accommodation. I got a double room for 300kc a night which wasnt all that bad , but it was without heating! In WINTERTIME! But the blanket was warm so i managed. I cant really be mad at those people since the gave me a free coffee and free use of the internet.

But.. I arrived around 8 o clock , took a shower and felt ready to conquer the town. I was just dying to met the locals in this small picturesque town. I asked around at the Pension I was staying at and got some tips about places to go and i was recommended a Irish pub. The surroundings was neat and advertisements for Guinness on draft and many pictures of Ireland. As true as a Irishman told me , you cant find any Irish pubs in Ireland. It just makes total sense when youre here. Three pints down , not so much interaction with locals.. Rating 2 out of 5

Next pub. This pub was named "No Name Bar" which sounded similar to "The bar with no name" from Bratislava. I went inside and ordered a pint. The Bartender har problems understanding me , but just saying "Pils" always does the trick.. Nothing special

Next place. I was getting down because the lack of people out and went into Golem Herna & Bar. I bought a beer and sat down , realizing that the most the entertainment here was the bartender playing Halo 3 at his Xbox. I asked him for any good bars nearby and he said "Tuesdays is not the day to go out, but there are a good nightclub called Parma" 15mins by cab away. I decided to try another bar before i went to the nightclub.. Rating 2 out of 5

Next Pub. Dacicky pivnice. Well , I can say that this pub would have been great if it would have been packed. The tables where close together and it seemed like a classic beer garden. There where a couple of students here, but they where just leaving after I sat down so I had an entire beer and the entire pub was empty. The bartenders even started to clean so i finished my beer pretty fast and went on. 4/5 if it would have been packed , 1/5 when i was alone and the bartenders started cleaning.

Next place. Finally! People! The last pub was the "Barborska 35 Coktail Pub". I sat down at the bar and after 20secs the guy sitting next to me asked me where i was from and we talked for 20mins until he left. He was the Official Kutna Hora Audi Salesman. He also bought me a beer before he left. Sitting alone at the bar i went further in the pub and found the same group of students and got three 3beers at the bar and smacked them down into the table and said "na zdraví", which means Cheers in Czech. Or it really means "To your health" , but you can also use it as cheers. I got the permit to sit down and ended the night after two beers here when the students left.



You really should do a daytrip to Kutna Hora when you are in prague , but try to get up as early as you can as the tourists dont arrive before noon. So before thast youll have most of the city for yourself. Anyway.. Kutna hora is a great town. With narrow streets and great architecture.

After yet another fantastically crazy bus ride back to Prague (they over sell seats and folks were packed in the aisles standing for two hours!), we made our way to Kutna Hora, the town famous for its bone church, or Ossuary.  About 40,000 folks decorate that place.  I couldn't stop taking pictures!  Bizarre.  I can't decide if cremation is better or lending yourself to art, but it's not something I wanted to ponder too long.

Kutna Hora itself is a pretty town but very quiet.  Lots of churchs to be sure.  We stuck around just two nights to check out the bone church and chill, but we long for Cesky Krumlov yet.

We just arrived back in Prague today for another five nights before Rob takes off and I am solo again.  Time to find an Eastern Europe guidebook I think!

In Kutna Hora, an old silver mining town that once rivalled Prague, I got a tour of the mines where I had to dress as a miner and descend hundreds of stairs underground.  Some of the passageways were so narrow that I had to turn sideways to get through, and some of the ceilings were so low I was almost crawling.  Did I mention it had almost no lighting, so that flashlight wasn't just for show.  Good thing nobody fat came in, they'd have never made it through.

Probably the most stunning view in the city is that of the gothic Cathedral of St. Barbara. It's a popular spot for weddings, and we had to wait to go inside of it because of this. And no trip to Kutna Hora is complete without a stop at the cemetary chapel. The bones of 40,000 people were used to decorate this chapel, creating an eerie atmosphere.

I first heard of Prague some years ago watching some Halloween magic show on TV where the magician went to Prague and played a bunch of tricks on unsuspecting tourists and such. During the show he also went to the Ossuary in Kutna Hora, from that moment i knew someday I wanted to go to Prague, and I wanted to see this 'Bone Church'.
Getting onto the bus in Prague bound for Kutna Hora, I spotted a Coopers sparkling ale badge on a bag, and knew that I was in the presence of someone from home. So on the bumpy bus ride through withering sunflower fields and small rural towns we got to know Chris and his Japanese girl, who in turn told us about www.hospitalityclub.org thankyou so much Kurisu :)
The family who owned this particular Church in Kutna Hora, decided to have it decorated with all the surplus bones that the Black Plague had provided, and signed up a humble carpenter for the job. The chandelier in the center of the four large piles of skulls, is said to contain one of every bone from the human body... upon hearing this, I wondered at how the three tiny bones inside your ear could be incorporated into such a chandelier.
The little bubby angels holding skulls is a particularly nice touch in my opinion!