Prague and Kutná Hora

The Czech Republic is probably most famous for two things: the city of Prague, reputedly one of the best preserved and most beautiful cities in Europe; and excellent Czech beers such as the original Budweiser, Pilsner Urquell, Staropramen and Kozel. And indeed Prague is well preserved, consisting almost entirely of beautiful old buildings, more so than any other European city I had visited. The different neighbourhoods and quarters were all distinct in style and many of buildings featured intricate and brightly-coloured facades. The city is also home to at least one obscure oddity — a statue of a man riding an upside down horse, which hangs from the ceiling of a small arcade. This was an accidental discovery on my part, as myself and several other Australians were searching for a recommended bar, and it was amusing enough that we returned the following day to take photos in the daylight and to show it to several other travellers.

Less unusual attractions in Prague include: the Prague Castle, which stands out across the river Vltava and looks down over the old town; buildings adjacent to the castle were especially stunning, and the high-roofed church inside the complex was a test of my nerves; the adjacent hill was covered in wooded parkland that also gave excellent views across the town and provided snow covered slopes perfect for toboggans. The old town was home to several magnificent squares and churches, a wonderful astronomical clock reminiscent of the one I saw in Lyon, and the ancient Charles Bridge that crosses Vltava and is under heavy renovation. Strolling along the bridge I observed many people selling paintings and sketches of Prague, and at least one of the statues on the bridge evidently receives lots of attention from passing tourists: two spots on the brass statue have been hand-worn down to a brilliant lustre.

Prague trivia #1: Prague Castle is one of the biggest castles in the world, about 570 meters in length and an average of about 130 meters wide. Dating back to 870 AD, the Guinness Book of Records lists it as the largest ancient castle in the world.

Czech beer has an excellent reputation and most of the travellers in my hostel were of a same mind to try every different brew. Happily, the majority (if not the entirety) of bars in Prague are “nonstop”, in the sense that they close at 24:00 but open at 0:00. The beers were indeed excellent in addition to being ridiculously cheap — a half-litre glass cost just over AU$1 at a bar, or as low as AU$0.50 at a supermarket. I think I just may cry when I return to Australia and buy my first beer.

A third reason to travel to the Czech Republic is to join in their craze for ice hockey, and my final night in Prague was naturally spent at the home rink of Sparta Praha (one of the two clubs local to Prague) in the company of one Canadian and 15 Irish travellers who had never seen ice hockey before. As luck would have it, the game turned out be an ideal introduction to the sport, with many penalties and goals, lots of exciting plays and a real party atmosphere in the stands. As we left the rink it was clear that everybody had thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Prague trivia #2: the “Defenestrations of Prague” refer to two incidents in the history of Bohemia: the first involved the killing of seven members of the city council in 1419; the second was central to the start of the Thirty Years’ War in 1618. Several other defenestrations have occurred in Prague’s history — even as recently as 1997 — but they are not usually referred to by this label.

The city, the beer and the hockey were all highly enjoyable, so it is a shame to report that the dining experience in Prague left something to be desired. Traditional Czech food was very satisfying, if somewhat heavy at times, relying as it does on large quantities of pork, cabbage and potato. There was absolutely no problem with the Czech food (nor, as should be clear by now, with the accompanying Czech beer). No, the drawback of traditional Czech food is that it generally involved dealing with traditional Czech service, a curious affair where you actually feel as though you’ve somehow insulted the staff by sitting down at a table with the expectation that they will not only take your order, but bring your food and drinks to the table. In fact, it was generally a very real struggle to catch their attention, let alone order anything.

The most galling experience in this quest for Czech food was when several of us arrived at a local restaurant at 6:30pm on a Thursday night. An elderly couple were emerging from the restaurant, and they encouraged us by telling us that the food inside was excellent. However, when we entered the restaurant and enquired about a table for dinner, the woman behind the bar retorted with a curt, emphatic “no!” and pointed to the door. Baffled by this rudeness, let alone the lack of interest in receiving our business, we were left in the street with the unexpected task of finding a restaurant that would allow us inside.

This night ended, after finally dining successfully at another Czech restaurant, with a long walk back to the hostel in the snow, in the company of several Australians and a Brazilian. Snow being such a rare sight in our home countries, our destination was forgotten and a vigorous snowball fight ensued. Beginning at Wenceslas Square, one of the main squares in Prague, we slowly progressed past the train station, several tram stops and many bemused onlookers. Even a passing police car, slowing to a crawl as the policemen glared at us, failed to dampen our enthusiasm. Several false endings to the snowball hurling were proclaimed during the trek, but the tension was not defused until we arrived back at the hostel.

Apart from the attractions in Prague itself, there are also interesting sights in neighbouring towns. Less than two hours by bus from Prague, Kutná Hora is a medieval village that dates back to 1142 and, including the surrounding district, is a single World Heritage Site. The village centre is very attractive, consisting of old buildings decorated in soft pastel shades, entangled between a small number of winding streets. The village is also home to a huge building that was once a Jesuit college, and several large, ancient churches, but the most famous attraction is a small church (almost a mere chapel) at a small distance from the village centre, colloquially known as the “bone church”.

Prague trivia #3: the regional buses are run by Connex, the same company that does its best to ensure that the metropolitan trains in Melbourne only ever run late, if at all. Somehow they are less successful with the Czech buses, which conspired to adhere to the scheduled timetable.

The tale of this church, Sedlec Ossuary, dates back to 1260 when German miners began to mine for silver in the region, bringing great wealth to the village. Some of this fortune was spent on sending the abbot to the holy land in 1278, and he returned with some soil from Golgotha (the hill upon which Jesus was crucified). This soil was spread over the cemetery adjacent to the small church and the cemetery became a highly desirable burial site, with many people seeing redemption or reverence in the holy soil. As the cemetery was only very small and the demand for graves was very high, bodies were exhumed on a regular basis. In 1870, a local wood carver by the name of František Rint was given the task of taking the bones from an estimated 40,000 to 70,000 skeletons and fashioning them into decorations for the church. The result was truly amazing, the arrangements much more creative than I had expected and the atmosphere not nearly as spooky as one might imagine.

Having spent enough time in Prague to satisfy my curiosity, I made a spur of the moment decision to visit the small medieval town of Cesky Krumlov before leaving the Czech Republic behind. As was the case in several other European countries, the bus was both a cheaper and faster option than the train; a turn of events that no longer surprises me. I arose early one morning and boarded a bus to this small town of which I knew nothing more than its name.