Last Czech stop - Olomouc

I returned to the Czech Republic for one last stop before heading onto Slovakia and Hungary. Stopped in Olomouc, sometimes called "Little Prague", but attractive in its own right. It does have lots of beautiful old buildings as was capital of Morovia for many years. It has a huge main square with a town hall that has an astronomical clock that has been "communised" - communist workers rather than the apostles parade. Also in the main square is the Holy Trinity Column, which all towns seem to have (but not sure why). What made this one different was that there was a small chapel in the base.

There is also a very good Archdioscean Museum only opened a year which puts together the artworks, ivory sculptures, religious sculptures etc. collected by the Archbishops over time in addition to the archeological remains that have found in excavations there , which show there is actually a castle underneath the present buildings. One of the best is a small piece of tibia bone from an ox there was an engraved warrior drawn on it with eastern features about 1000 years old. Plus a local weaver had done a copy of the Baileau Tapestry and it was on display. Very worthwhile and free on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Then there was a great little cafe that had the most wonderful chocolate pie and white chocolate pie. Still wonderful even though major tram line renovations were going on out the front producing lots of noise and dust. (I forgot to photograph it though it seems!)

Photographs

I have now put some photographs back on some of the previous posts if you want to go back and have a look. Here's a few more.

Other Czech Attractions

I have spent a few days in the last week visiting some other places outside Prague, and got to see some of the Czech countryside - lots of farm areas with crops, few signs of animals, attractive country villages and small towns and some nice mountain areas. Nice to travel through but would also be nice for hiking.

First stop was Karlovy Vary, the Czech version of a "glam, resort town". It is based around natural springs which are believed to have medicinal uses so people walk around with special cups from which they continually sip the spring water. It actually tasted just like bore water to me but fortunately didn't have the strong sulfur smell. The setting was lovely though with a stream running through the centre of town, forested mountains on either side and pretty houses (and hotels) in the valley floor and starting to climb up the sides of the mountains. Had a nice walk through the forest. There was also lots of shops to cater for the wealthy Russians, Austrians, Germans and Czech who visit - jewellery, clothes, cafes and restaurants, often with menus in Russian, and crystal shops. The jewellery shops were full of gold, silver, pearls, diamonds and one even had some Moroccan fossils. To cater for the well-heeled it also has lots of hotels, not just ordinary hotels, but "wellness and spa" hotels. It was a pleasant relaxing place though.

Karlovy Vary buildings (above and below)

In the forest walking down from the lookout tower

Next stop was to the south, near the Austrian border (KV was to the west close to the German border) . Cesky Krumlov is a very old town situated on an almost 360 degree river bend, which surrounds the old town with 600-700 year old buildings, cobbled streets with a castle perched on the other side. The castle is the second largest in the Czech Republic and has some stunning decoration - frescoes, carvings, paintings . . . I also happened to run into the tail end of the five-petalled rose festival when I arrived. This flower symbolises both the town and the castle and is found everywhere. The festival celebrates to town's medieval heritage and includes traditional activities such as musket firing and jousting. I also got to see a procession of people in traditional dress. So that was an added bonus. The days after this were much quieter. Again it is a nice quiet relaxing place that is fun to wander around, sit and eat or have a drink in a riverside cafe.

Cesky Krumlov and the river that encircles it

A Cesky Krumlov window

Dressed up for the Five-Petaled Rose Festival

WOW - Black Light Theatre

Last night I went to a Czech speciality - Black Light Theatre. This type of theatre involves the use of dance, mime, music and lots of special lighting effects to tell a story. WOW was the name of the production and was recommended to me as one of the best in Prague. It was the story of finding the child in your inner self and was great although quite short for the price, only one hour. They use lots of black costumes and a black backdrop plus UV light and normal light so only certain parts can be seen. It looks really bizarre when a person is half in black and half in white, either right side - left side, or back - front. Then to top it all off there is some audience involvement like hitting around giant beach balls and big (human) spiders coming crawling through the audience and making all the teenage girls scream (just can't escape the school groups!). Anyway it was great entertainment and well worth seeing. I'm glad I went as I debated about the cost. Last day in Prague today, tomorrow off to Wroclaw, Poland.

Kutna Hora

Well yesterday went to Kutna Hora, 73 kilometres east of Prague. Although it was the bone church that attracted me to visit, there was much, much more. When I first walked into the Ossuary Chapel (Bone Church), I was blown away. It was not what I expected as it was so different to the one I had seen previously in Evora, Portugal. In Kutna Hora, the bones were used solely for decoration, not as part of the structure such as in the walls. There was a huge chandelier containing every bone of the human body. It was an amazing sight at about 2 metres across and1.5 metres high. In the traditional alcove at the entracnce where normally a vase of flowers is kept, instead there was the bone version of that. Mind you the pyramid piles of bones in the four corners did nothing for me! It is actually a chapel in the cemetery which still surrounds it today with the church, with which it is associated, being across the road. Well worth a visit I must say.

Inside the chapel at Kutna Hora

As for what else is there -Kutna Hora is avery pretty town with a central square surrounded by colourful, old buildings. Further into the old town is a cathedral with very attractive stained glass windows, painted not mosaics of glass though, huge wooden altars with religious paintings and some slowly decaying frescoes. It is presently under renovation with a new roof already having been put on.

What I didn't realise was that for 400 years, Kutna Hora was a major source of European silver, obtained from vertical shafts up to 600 metres deep. Today there is a silver museum plus you can go on a mine tour to learn all about it and go along some of the underground passages. Of course, I had to tag along with a schoolgroup and the guide was in Czech but at least I got some written pages to read which covered most of the details. It was interesting all the same. The only problem is that I would have enjoyed longet there but had to catch the bus back toPrague and the rain had started, later to become like a tropical downpour, except it is not the tropics.!

Kutna Hora street