Kutna Hora
Hello all
Weather hot as ever here, had a small thunderstorm last night (which is apparently quite common in the evenings in summertime) which cleared the air slightly but it's still muggy and close.
We're getting the hang of the tram system now - had to pay 280Kc each (about 7 pounds) for a 7 day pass for the metro/tram/bus system, which is very good value. The hostel is quite far from town so we get the number 3 of a morning and trundle into the 'centrum' like a local..
Caught the train to a small town called Kutna Hora, which is about 70km from Prague. It has a small chapel, called the Ossuary Chapel, which houses about 40,000 human skeletons, all arranged to form the interior decorations. Skulls are laid on top of each other, to form columns from the ground to the roof, a chandelier provides the main decoration, made from all the bones within the human body... There is a coat of arms, made from various hip-bones and limbs, the size of a human being. Also thousands of bones piled on top of one another to form pyramids in four separate alcoves around the church. It's an amazing, weird sight, and takes your breath away as soon as you step inside. So many people, so many lives, the remains of which provide the most macabre sense of interior design!
After the church was built, it was sprinkled with soil taken from the Holy Land and people then wished to be buried on the consecrated ground - when the cemetary filled, the only place left was within the church itself and the ossuary chapel was born...
Saw a man on a park bench on our way back from the train station - wizened, thin, so old that his skin was like dark brown leather, he seemed to live on the bench and had nothing to his name. It's so sad that people have to live this way. There are lots of 'homeless' on the streets, living in parks, sleeping on benches. They ask people for cigarettes, and surprisingly, unlike British society, every single person gives a cigarette. There seems to be a sense of acceptance and is regarded as the 'norm'.
A little bit of info for you - 'Skoda' means 'damage' in Czech - how ironic!!
Anyway, we're having an early night tonight, have another busy day planned in Prague town centre tomorrow (going to put photos on a CD so will hopefully upload some in the next few days).
Hope you're all doing well, glad you're still enjoying the blog!
Lots of love
from Us xxx
Weather hot as ever here, had a small thunderstorm last night (which is apparently quite common in the evenings in summertime) which cleared the air slightly but it's still muggy and close.
We're getting the hang of the tram system now - had to pay 280Kc each (about 7 pounds) for a 7 day pass for the metro/tram/bus system, which is very good value. The hostel is quite far from town so we get the number 3 of a morning and trundle into the 'centrum' like a local..
Caught the train to a small town called Kutna Hora, which is about 70km from Prague. It has a small chapel, called the Ossuary Chapel, which houses about 40,000 human skeletons, all arranged to form the interior decorations. Skulls are laid on top of each other, to form columns from the ground to the roof, a chandelier provides the main decoration, made from all the bones within the human body... There is a coat of arms, made from various hip-bones and limbs, the size of a human being. Also thousands of bones piled on top of one another to form pyramids in four separate alcoves around the church. It's an amazing, weird sight, and takes your breath away as soon as you step inside. So many people, so many lives, the remains of which provide the most macabre sense of interior design!
After the church was built, it was sprinkled with soil taken from the Holy Land and people then wished to be buried on the consecrated ground - when the cemetary filled, the only place left was within the church itself and the ossuary chapel was born...
Saw a man on a park bench on our way back from the train station - wizened, thin, so old that his skin was like dark brown leather, he seemed to live on the bench and had nothing to his name. It's so sad that people have to live this way. There are lots of 'homeless' on the streets, living in parks, sleeping on benches. They ask people for cigarettes, and surprisingly, unlike British society, every single person gives a cigarette. There seems to be a sense of acceptance and is regarded as the 'norm'.
A little bit of info for you - 'Skoda' means 'damage' in Czech - how ironic!!
Anyway, we're having an early night tonight, have another busy day planned in Prague town centre tomorrow (going to put photos on a CD so will hopefully upload some in the next few days).
Hope you're all doing well, glad you're still enjoying the blog!
Lots of love
from Us xxx
posted by the travellers at 9:05 pm
3 Comments:
Once again, Wow!
You've had a very intense week... Thanks again for sharing. I hope in some ways writing about it defuses the intensity. For us (your family) it's a bit like reading a good book, cant wait to turn the page.
Now for some mundane questions:-
Are any of your fellow travellers/hostel dwellers on a similar itinerary? Are they still mainly Americans? Are there many staying in the hostels at any one time? Are you getting a good nights sleep? How are your feet holding up? What's the food like? (other than breakfast) Did you visit a 'milk bar' ? Did you try some genuine Polish dumplings? Did you like them? Are you drinking plenty? .... I could go on ... so to avoid any similar outbreaks of motherly concern in the future, maybe you could fill me in occasionally, on your general well-being... nothing 'in depth'... between the lines will do... just to placate me. Yes, I know you're all grown up and intrepid, but all the same...
Huge love, Mxxxy X
Hello both
Didn't put Hello! is that OK? This internet, bloggie thing is a bit confusing.
The Ossary Chapel sounds amazing. Don't forget the people chose to be displayed there for all to see. Have been doing a lesson on names of bones - perhaps I could take my yp there?!
This all feels so gothic - preparing you for Dracula/dragon country.
You've certainly picked the hottest time of year to travel - OK when you don't have to carry anything - not so much fun with a huge backpack. It was up in the 30's here last week but pretty chilly in recent days.
Sorry you're having to stay indoors after dark - female curfew much like any town in England.
Tilly's turned up again. She's down to 1/2 pill every 3 days so I've marked it all down on the callendar for when you pop home to look after her on 21st July when we go away!!
Went to the Downs school fete yesterday - about 10 people there - very poor show. Thought Theo might put in an appearance, but clearly he had better things to do. Understand you have an international audience on your website, so for the uninitiated, Theo Walcott (17) who SHOULD have played for England but didn't, went to the same school as Helen.
Bought a BEAUTIFUL hand made quilt on bric-a-brac stall for 15 quid - bargain. Must have taken the lady months to make.
Printed your blog for G so she could see what you've been up to. Explained she had to read it back to front which caused HUGE amounts of confusion. Just left her to it, so wait for all the lengthy questions.
Some vital info for you re: money
Hungarian forint = 100 filler. Forint = fiorino (Italian) (florin)
Romanian leu = 100 bani. Leu = Romanian for 'lion'.
Bulgarian lev = 100 stotinki. Lev = Bulgarian for 'lion'.
Serbian dinar = 100 para. Dinar = dinarius (Latin).
Croatian kuna - no information available, although Bela Kun was a Hungarian Communist leader if that's any help.
Italy, France = euro. Derivation - don't know and don't care (boring).
English pound = 100 pence (20 shillings, 240 old pennies (dinari/dinarii?)(see Serbia above although denarius comes from Greek - I'm getting a bit confused!). 'Pound' Latin: pondo a weight of 12 ounces. Old English: pund. Pound also: to beat to a powder or pulp, pulverise, crush - which is what the Tax Office does if you have too many of them - ha ha ha!!!
Sorry getting a bit carried away!
Thames Water seem to have stemmed the Amazonian flow on the Chieveley road. Took me 3/4 hour to get out of the village on Thursday. Almost all our West Berkshire roads are marked by temp traffic lights due to TW's determination to substantially raise the water table. And I STILL can't use a hosepipe!!
On a far more serious note - listened to Jeremy Vine on Friday and the whole show was given over to the anniversary of the London bombings. In common with most of his listeners I was in tears for most of the 2 hours. Every story was of individuals and yet the day before I had been listening to Michael's revelations of Auschwitz as if reading a fiction. It must be something to do with one death is a tragedy, a thousand deaths a statistic. I don't think our emotions are equipped to deal with mass brutality, it is TRULY incomprehensible. You're story of the red shoes struck home far more than the hundreds.
More news from home - Johnny 2 jags has put his foot in it again. Been playing cowboys in the US with some entrepreneur who wants to turn the Millenium Dome into a casino! SURELY his days are numbered?
Well enough waffle from me.
Have you got over the travel 'hump' yet? The first few days are so exciting and you can't take everything in. Then you go through a real downer when it all seems so alien and you miss home like mad (the hump). Then you even out, get into the swing of things and wonder why you never did it before and wish you could travel for ever and ever.
Hope your're both having a fab time. It's something you will never forget or regret! Experience and enjoy!
All our love M,A,G,T,T & fishes.
blimey you two! You are going to come back so wise...! Not that you weren't already obviously.So much information you have absorbed, Its good to write it all down, as you will forget these things otherwise. Well done for the dedication you have shown so far to writing it.
Italy have just won the world cup so Forza Italia!
Wasnt the most exciting game ive ever seen, as im sure you thought if you watched it. I even managed to paint my nails in the extra time,and didnt miss a thing.
Shoreditch has gone crazy, you'd think i was in Rome with all the hoohaa that is going on outside!
Will look forward to the next episode. Please dont get bored of writing!
Lots of love Lydia xxxxx
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