One of our day trips while we were in the Czech Republic was to an old mining town, Kutna Hora. Originally, the plan was to visit another town Karlovo Vary, a spa city that sounded more interesting but the bus tickets were sold out and Kutna Hora was easier to get to.
We boarded a train from Prague's Hlavní Nádraží station. Unwittingly, we sat in the first class carriage for about 30 min and was chased out by the conductor into the 2nd class carriages which were all packed. Ended up standing all the way to our destination, which thank goodness was only for another 30 min!
The sign at the train station tells you how ancient this mining town is...
We visited St. Barbara's church, purportedly one of the most famous Gothic church in central Europe and a UNESCO world heritage site. This site reminded us of our friend - Ms Barbara To.
The interior of the church was just as impressive as its facade. As P and I are both not catholics, we could only marvel at the beauty of the stained glass windows, ornate engravings and elaborate altars. Fascinating frescoes depicting the secular life of the medieval mining town and religious themes are depicted on the walls of the church.
A bird's eye view of the small mining town from St. Barbara's church.
While in Kutna Hora, we also visited the Sedlec Ossuary, also known as the Bone church. The visit was rather chilling as the interior of the church was decorated with skeletons from about 40,000 people. There is an impressive chandelier in the middle of the church constructed entirely of bones from different parts of the body. P and I were so spooked that we did not take any pictures here!Our last dinner in Prague was at Andel's restaurant, possibly one of the best we tried. Another favourite is Cafe Slavia, but Andel's more traditional and local. What can I say...P loved his sausages!
Cesky Krumlov
Cesky Krumlov is a very pretty town in the Czech Republic, very different from dusty Kutna Hora. We stayed at Pension Na Ostrove, a small establishment with only 5 rooms I believe. Our room was simple but comfortable, and what I liked best about it was the sound of running water that can be heard from our room as the pension is located right beside the river! It certainly reminded me of home...
Cesky castle is just across the river from our pension!
Bird's eye view of Cesky Krumlov from the castle. Ain't it pretty!
Someone trying to pluck a red tulip from the royal gardens.
Ahhhhh....me love this place!
Here's a picture of us together at Cesky castle. I think the photographer did a good job!
Another one of us (there aren't too many).
This marks the end of our Czech adventure. The next day, we took a private shuttle transfer to Linz, and were on our way by train to Salzburg, Austria!
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