A Cold Weekend in Prague

For President's Day weekend, we decided to drive to Prague in the Czech Republic (or Praha as it is known in Czech) with our friends Joel and Shea. There were also about 8 other friends from our area that were heading to Prague the same weekend.  It's only about 4(ish) hours away and it's almost a straight shot from our house, so why not?  We set out around 4:00 pm in Joel and Shea's car and we were armed with the 3 M's - munchies, magazines, and music.  After sitting in a small Stau (the German name for a traffic jam), some crazy weather (it was literally snowing snowballs at one point!), and some fun detours due to the GPS, we made it to Prague around 10:00 pm on Friday night.  As soon as you cross the border into the Czech Republic, you immediately notice that all of the road signs are different, the words are certainly not written in German anymore, and they contain many more consonants than vowels (much to our amusement).  They also have strange little accent marks on many letters that I don't think I'll ever know what to do with.  It's hard to explain, but it always amazes me that you can tell a difference the minute you cross the border from Germany into any other country.  Obviously, the geography is very similar at the borders, but somehow it immediately feels different sometimes even before you notice the signs.  (I hope you all have a chance to experience what I'm talking about for yourselves one day).

We easily found our hotel, checked-in, and headed out to explore the city in the 20 degree weather-brrrr.  We walked for what seemed like miles around the old town in search of a restaurant that was inviting and that was also still serving food at that late hour.  We stumbled upon a restaurant (or 'restaurace' in Czech) called U Vejvodu which met our criteria.  The Plzeňský Prazdroj or Pilsner Urquell (one of the delicious Czech beers) was cold and plentiful and the menu had something for everyone, ranging from traditional Czech food to chicken wings and chili con carne nachos. We were happy to be out of the car and happy to be exploring yet another new country.  The conversation between the four of us is always lively and comes easy, so it was a wonderful evening eating, drinking, and laughing with good friends.


Czech beer and pretzels

 The next morning we had our free hotel breakfast and headed out to explore the Golden City.  Our friend Adam joined us for the day of sightseeing.  We all walked across the Charles Bridge (Karluv Most in Czech) that leads up to the Prague Castle and the Saint Vitus Cathedral on top of the hill.  The Charles Bridge is the oldest bridge in the city.  The foundation stone for the bridge was laid on the 9th of July 1357 at 5:31 am.  Why do I tell you this?  Because they planned it that way - it's a palindrome: 135797531.  I thought that little tidbit of information was very interesting and I also find it amazing that it's still standing today.


View of Prague Castle from the Charles Bridge

 By this time we were completely frozen and it was very gloomy-not the best day for picture taking.  We made it up what felt like a million steps to the castle grounds and walked around taking in the sights.  We opted not to go in to Prague castle or the cathedral (I'm still not sure why), but it was enjoyable anyway.  We headed back down the massive stairway and found some yummy pastry treats along the way.  They were called 'Trdelnik' and they were pastry dough that was wrapped around a tube and then baked.  (I made up my own word and called them 'turtlenecks' since the Czech language seems to be lacking in it's vowel usage.  You won't find that in any guide book though, just the one according to Shari).  They remove the tube once it's finished cooking so you end up with a hollow tube of dough that they roll in a flavor or flavors of your choosing.  We chose cinnamon and almonds and it was a much needed warm, delicious treat on our cold walk.  The next stop was a medieval pub before we crossed the bridge which boasted that it was the 'oldest medieval pub' on their sign.  I couldn't help but think there was a pub out there somewhere boasting to be the 'newest medieval pub' which made me laugh.  It was warm and inviting and we enjoyed a beer there before continuing on with our sightseeing.


St Vitus Cathedral





St Vitus Cathedral



Joel, Rick, Adam, Shea, and I making sure the castle guard doesn't smile



Looking down the long stairway from the castle



Rick and his Trdelnik snack

Rick and I with Adam, Shea, and Joel enjoying the warmth inside the "Oldest Medieval Pub'



View of Prague from the Charles Bridge

 We toured the Museum of Communism which was a bit dry in presentation, but very interesting and informative.  It displayed the utter turmoil of every day life in Czechoslovakia and how cut off they were from the rest of the world.  I still can't fathom that the beautiful city we were touring was under Communist rule until 1989.  It puts it into perspective for me to think that I was a sophomore in high school, enjoying all of the freedoms that America had to offer, before that country was finally freed from it's oppression.  Wow, I was apparently extremely oblivious to the world back then! Touring that museum made me incredibly thankful (even more than I already was) to have been born an American.



The Astronomical Clock

We continued our sightseeing in the Old Town Square (Staroměstské Náměstí in Czech)  which houses the Astronomical Clock.  For some reason, I could not remember the name of it so I continued to call it the anatomical, astronomical, or any other kind of 'omical' name that would pop into my head. The clock keeps different versions of time, one being Bohemian time.  We learned that this region of the Czech Republic is known as Bohemia.  I think that I've been on some sort of Bohemian time for most of my life (I'm sure my family agrees), so this clock seemed to be made just for me.  It was beautiful with gold discs, colorful celestial symbols, and long sweeping hands.  We enjoyed the rest of our afternoon and night having dinner and then relaxing in a few pubs.







Delicious avocado shrimp soup with a fun presentation

 

Pretending that we're rich with all of our Czech Koruna (equal to about $114 in this picture)

The next morning (Sunday) we drove about an hour outside of Prague to the small town of Kutná Hora .  It is the sight of the Sedlec Ossuary or the "Bone Church".   I had to look up the definition of an ossuary - it's a 'depository for bones of the dead'.  This particular building was a monastery founded during the 12th century.  The ossuary was in the basement and it housed bones from victims of a plague in 1318 and then others throughout the years.  Due to the large number of bones, a monk in the 1500's started stacking them in towering piles.  In 1784 after the monastery was abolished, the church and surrounding cemetery were purchased by the Schwarzenberg family.  In 1870, they commissioned a wood carver named Frantisek Rint to make some sort of order out of the multitudes of bones. Instead of just piling them neatly, he started making decorations.  He created a large chandelier made from every bone in the human body that hangs ominously in the middle of the room.  There are skulls and bones lining the walls in beautiful designs and he made a Schwarzenberg family crest.  He created a large chalice that is on one wall and he signed his name in bones along with the date (1870) on the opposite wall as his last project.  It is estimated that the remains of 40,000 people were used to decorate this small space.  It was simultaneously one of the most haunting and one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed.  It was exceptionally cold outside and the door to the ossuary was open, so it was freezing inside as well.  As I stood there and quietly took it all in, I couldn't help but think that you would still feel an intense chill inside this place even on a stifling hot August day.  You are surrounded by the bones of all of those lost souls and there is something profoundly eerie and serene all at the same time.  I am so glad that we made the trip to see this once in a lifetime display.

The church and part of the surrounding graveyard



The chandelier made with every bone in the human body



The Schwarzenberg Family Crest in front of a pyramid of bones



Bones and skulls up to the wall to the ceiling



Looking up to the ceiling



Large chalice



The artist's signature

So, what to do after looking at all of those bones?  Eat, of course!  We found a Bohemian tavern/restaurant in Kutná Hora called Dačický  and it didn't disappoint.  The atmosphere was wonderful as we tucked into a cozy corner booth.  We ordered our beer and a giant platter of pork, potatoes, and sauerkraut and discussed the events of the day.  

Pork knuckle, ham, sausage, sauerkraut, potato pancakes, and pickles all for us!

We had a wonderful time in Prague and it is yet another city that we can't wait to explore when the temperatures are above freezing.  I don't think that's asking too much, do you?  We didn't even hit the tip of the iceberg (no pun intended) of the beauty and history that Prague has to offer, so we will be going back!