church – Page 3 – Growing With Leala

One of the things I really wanted to do upon my trip to Czech Republic is take a trip out to the town of Kutna Hora and see their creepy bone decorated church. I did research on the logistics of getting there and decided to opt for a pre-planned coach tour instead. Sometimes taking group trips is more simple and gives me an opportunity to be around other travelers.

For the most part the tour is a good idea; I have nice conversations with people on the tour but I do feel rushed at times and something about the sound system on the van has me missing much of the guide’s commentary anyway even though I am sitting close to him.

We stop first at the bone church or the Sedlec Ossuary. The actual church is called All Saints. The story behind the bone decor is that it was quite common to move old graves to make room for church expansions. In this case nearby bones are literally thrown in the basement to make room for whatever development comes next. At some point a sculptor is hired by the ruling family, Schwarzenberg, to do something with all the bones. The end result is what is seen today: Bone chandeliers, bone buildings, and ornamental bone decor. No pictures are allowed inside but I do snap some from the church above at one angle only. The photos here are the ones I purchased from postcards in the gift store. I don’t send many postcards but I have a feeling these might be useful.

After the bone church we head into the town of Kutna Hora to look at another gothic church, St. Barbara’s Cathedral. One thing to note is that the area was rich in silver and very prosperous. This grand church reflects that since St Barbara was the patron saint of miners.

Our guide takes us further into town and then gives us some free time to wander around or eat. It is late in the afternoon and I dont want to eat a full meal this close to dinner so I decide on an ice cream instead. I try the sea buckthorn flavor, an orange flavor I’ve never seen before. It’s a type of berry and its sour. Funky just enough for me.

We return back to Prague and I decide to try the highly recommended ham in old town. You buy by weight at an outdoor stand. In advance I have read the warnings about asking for a smaller portion but I am still upsold on the ham. I also try the potato dumpling pork sauerkraut dish called Vepřo knedlo zelo(also recommended). Both my orders are very disappointing to me. All the food is too salty and I cannot eat it. The ham is also very fatty and tough. It sits here half eaten before a homeless person asks me for my leftovers. I am glad that someone else will at least enjoy it. I am starting to think Czech food is not my thing. I thought since it is close to German food I’d be into it but it sits too heavy on my stomach.

I am in the old town square just in time to see the Astrological clock. The clock dings and apostles rotate around.

I am touring the Prague Castle tomorrow….

Scheduling a concert the night before a long travel day isn’t the best planning but at least the concert was very good.

Sleep deprived, I head to the train station in the morning to travel to Berlin – about a 7 hour journey. I am departing from Copenhagen and things are already off to a shaky start because my train is delayed and I have a 30 minute connection in Hamburg. As I wait the train gets delayed even more and then we are made to change tracks. Eventually other guests and I start to notice that the screen above starts crossing off the Hamburg Hbf (Hamburg main station) portion of the itinerary, a place most of us need to go to get our connections. Confusing as it is I start looking into alternative travel plans. I think I can go on to the final station in the itinerary (in Denmark) and try to find other trains to eventually get me to where I need to go. A few minute before the train arrives the itinerary switches back to going to Hamburg Hbf. Us passengers aren’t all convinced this is happening but we remain hopeful. At best most of us are missing our connections though. Some of my train companions have further to go like Switzerland; luckily there are trains available every hour to Berlin. We do make it to Hamburg and I wait until I can take the next available train to Berlin. I have napped a bit so I am not as cranky anymore.

I arrive in Berlin and easily figure out how to take the tram to my hotel. I am staying in a chain. Sometimes it is nice to know what to expect with the chain hotels having mostly consistent service and often breakfast. It costs more money and lacks charm but sometimes it is nice to just have modern comforts like air conditioning again. It’s been a long travel day so I call it an early night.

The next morning I have reservations at the Reichstag dome. The Reichstag is the government building where parliament meets. It has lots of history but for tourists there is the dome at top which was opened in 1999, almost ten years after the reunification of Germany. Reservations for the dome are compulsory and should be done at least a month in advance. Luckily I had the heads up from a friend who tried to visit before me. The audio guide is free and very necessary since it tells you about the skyline of Berlin as you climb the dome. There is a good lesson of history here but it is condensed. Another museum might be better to get a more thorough history of Germany. The appeal here is marveling at the artwork of the dome and appreciating the view of the skyline.

I am really liking the design of the different metro stations especially the one nearby.

I get a good introduction to the city here so I start formulating a plan of things I want to see. My next stop is the Brandenburg Gate, a 18th century gate to the city. You can’t see it here but I see in another museum later that part of the Berlin Wall went right through this area and it looked vastly different for many years.

Next stop is at a Jewish memorial, some unassuming rows of rectangles of various sizes.

I walk over to where I see my first sight of the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 to separate the sides of Germany from the conflicting governments at the time: East and West. East Berlin is GDR (German democratic republic) aka Soviet occupied zone and West Berlin is Federal Republic of Germany – the allied occupation side of Germany (USA, UK, and France). All of this is a result of WWII. The time of the wall was a very divided time in history, separating friends and families almost overnight. The wall destruction finally begins in 1989 after calls for reunification are successful. So Berlin as we know it is a fairly young city.

Next to this piece of the wall is a very thorough museum on the history of Germany and its affect on other parts of the world (Topography of Terror). It filled the holes I had on my education and made me worry based what is happening in my own country looking at Germany’s history in the early 20th century. Funny how history still wants to keep repeating itself.

The museum is very emotionally draining but I walk by the famous checkpoint Charlie location afterwards on the way to a scheduled visit to the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral).

At the Berlin Cathedral I make the exhausting climb to the top to get another great view from the dome at top.

I climb back down and I am very exhausted at this point so I sit at a cafe and just stare at the water from the bottom side of the cathedral. I see two people with a fun looking cake and decide I need a piece. I watch boats and eat my cake.

Being tired it is a good time to do a river cruise. I order a beer and listen to the commentary as we float. I am regretting my decision of wearing a dark colored shirt because the sun is baking me at this point. I cheer on all the clouds.

Where my boat exits is the next museum I visit, DDR, a interactive museum about life in East Germany during soviet occupied times. It is educational and kitschy. I have fun here for a little while.

My energy is almost down to zero so I walk back toward my hotel. I stop in a tourist beer garden for dinner. I try to eat healthy by ordering the asparagus special but they are out of it. Being sick of eating salads lately I decide on a very unhealthy chicken schnitzel and lots of wine….I know I *should* be drinking beer in a beer garden but can’t handle multiple beers much anymore.