First impression: BeerS!
It is sometimes difficult to get rid of a first impression!
And for me, 'beers' and Czech are married together thanks to my first encounter with a Czech friend, Hanzz Von F (this is his real facebook name!) whom I met in the ferry while on the way to the diving island of Koh Tao, Thailand sometimes in 2017. I remember he mentioned how cheap the beers are in his hometown, and somehow Czech and Slovakia understands each other when they speak as I introduced him to my Slovakian friend, Luci. Both of them are of course super nice to be friends with, and that is what making me itching to visit both countries too!
When I finally did visited Czech in May 2018, their capital city of Prague is indeed overflowing with beers. Every customers at restaurants - staggeringly are mostly male tourists - are chugging down the cold one and according to the Deutsche Bank statistics on cost of beer per pint (USD) 2017, Prague is the cheapest on the chart with USD1.30. So how can you not talk about beer and Prague? This is their pride! :)
Prague: A city of a Thousand Spires.
Dave and I stayed at the Wenceslas Square area and the city is not too big but not too small either that it is fairly sufficient to explore by foot. We walked for about 18 km all afternoon, towards the river Elbe, onto the Charles Bridge, up the hill to the Prague Castle and back. The city is truly beautiful - there is plenty of arts, sculptures, murals, old architectural designs, classic cars and old tram (still running and well-polished), activities to do like visiting museums, casino, food and drink, souvenir markets, shopping, have your portrait drawn by the local artist, taking LOTS of selfies, boat tour and water activities.
I was surprised to see a huge number of Chinese tourists, and the staggering numbers of hens and stags. So Prague is becoming a favourite European Summer destination for asian tourists... hey, myself included! Unfortunately the hostel that we booked had hens and stags so best to avoid accommodation that allow that as they will be crazy noisy because there is normally 10 people in a group - constantly drinking and losing their minds, in a weird costumes, pushing carts selling candies and performing on the street.
We were in Prague on the weekend, with a pleasant summer weather and it was really crowded with people. At other times, as per Dave's account, weren't as packed so do plan your visit accordingly. Somehow, the street performers and street sellers in Prague reminded me of the time when I went to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. They are in all corners especially on Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle and they are determined (but not as bad as when I was in Cambodia - they would've followed you until you say something back to them).
One of the street seller was holding a beautiful pink pigeon, with its permanently tail flared out (doubt that it is natural) and charges a fee for a photo with the bird. A pink pigeon?? There is a rare native species to Mauritius but other than that, they probably dyed the bird. He tried to showed it right to my face and I was like, "Wow that is a beautiful one!" in which he said "yes, you can touch it" but of course I am not interested to exploit the poor bird so we just walked on (that was my first time seeing a pink pigeon).
Sedlec Ossuary Bone Chapel: Unique and must see
When I was searching for things to do prior to arriving in Prague, I came across the Bone Chapel that is in Kutna Hora - about 1 hour train away from the main train station in the city (hlavní nádraží or simply Prague h.n.). Once we arrived in Kutna Hora, there is a local shuttle train that will take you to Kutan Mestro (city) 2 stops, short ride about 7 minutes but remember to come down at the FIRST stop which says 'Ossuary'. We went down at the second stop instead and it's alright, just need to walk 20 mins to reach the ossuary... follow your google map because the map outside the train station is not the best and easiest to follow. On the way to the ossuary, the area is residential and pretty quiet. We were pretty much the only 'lost tourists' navigating our way to the Bone Chapel.
The train ride is comfortable but very loud because of the train is rather old. It is designed to have cabins where per door can fit about 6 people, facing each other. The scenic countryside view is peaceful, and vast acres of maize farmland can be observed most of the way.
The Bone Chapel is something unique to visit, and while the city is great to spend time in, it is relatively similar to other old European cities too. From the outside, the structure seems small but once you are inside you will be amazed and got a chance to go to the second floor where a small, operational chapel exist. There was a queue to get in but in about 10 mins we were able to get in. If you wish to cut the queue you may want to get early tickets or something like a big ticket to tour the town that is inclusive of all attractions. Most people would spend the whole day exploring other attractions in Kutna Hora, but because we had to drive back to Germany on the same day we only wanted to see just the Bone Chapel.
So here is a short story of how the Bone Chapel become what it is:
"The history of Sedlec Ossuary is quite unusual as you may have expected. It all started when Henry, the Cistercian abbot (head of monks) was sent to the Holy Land, in Palestina. He brought back a jar of earth from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the place where Jesus was crucified at Golgotha. When he arrived back, he put the earth over the cemetery. The rumor about his act soon spread out all over the place, and thus Sedlec became a desired place to be buried.
"Some people even brought their dead relatives to be buried
in the Holy Soil of Sedlec."
Soon, in Europe the plague caused the death of many people, and many people went to Sedlec before their death. In a little amount of time a lot of people were buried in Sedlec, and thus came the idea of creating an ossuary. The task of creating the ossuary was given to a half blind monk who arranged the bones. But only more than 300 years later, the bones were arranged artistically as they are today.
In 1870, a local woodcarver, Frantisek Rindt was given the task to decorate the chapel with the bones. And the amazing result speak for itself. 40,000 human bodies are now arranged and the place is now popularly known as the Church of Bones."
Source from http://sedlecossuary.com/sedlec-ossuary-history/
