Showing posts with label Czech Republic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Czech Republic. Show all posts

Day five - 06 August 2009 Church of Bones, then on to Vienna



On the way to Vienna we stop at the ‘Church of Bones’ (www.Kostnice.cz), which dates from the 15th century but whose cemetery has bodies only from the last 100 years. This is because there are the remains of 40,000 inside the church arranged into elaborate pyramids and sculptures.

Apparently the pyramids of bones are delicately balanced on top of each other to create a cavity in the middle where people throw coins….I try to start a game of jenga, but the alarm goes off…

In the morning we are told sternly that breakfast is @ 7a.m. when we need to start out the next day, and definitely not 7:30. Not something I feel that inclined to pay much attention to.

Day four - 05 August 2009 Prague


I go for a walk with one group but lose them on the 13th century Charles Bridge. I find another, 4 young(ish) ladies from the truck (Lousie, Mary, Caroline and Tracy).
Prague has become something of a tourist trap (hence the separation on the bridge) and it easy to feel you are getting ripped off. Firstly, I somehow paid £5 for a punnet of berries at the first market. Secondly, after losing the others, I decided to go up one of the towers at either end of the bridge. On the way there is an entrance to something saying ‘see Prague like you can‘t see it anywhere else‘. I paid the 75 Kr (3 Eur) and found myself watching a barely visible film of the local sites being projected against a wall. I sat there for a few minutes and decided to walk out. It was only then I discovered that I could actually walk all the way to the top of the tower without charge. Finding such heights unattractive, especially when outdoors, I skipped around taking a few photos looking over the river and the town and quickly went down again.

Prague does have many architectural highlights, some of which you can see in the pictures. You can also hire a classic car to take you around the city, or ride around on an 6-seater circular bicycle, although I think this is mainly used for tours around bars.

Meeting up with the girls, we took a wonder around the random sites, stopping at the palace and catching the marching soldiers & band and a twitching guard….not a patch on the beefeaters, and they don’t even wear bearskins.

A highlight of the day was watching scenes being filmed for a Bollywood film on the street (see video).
Oh I forgot to mention that we stopped for lunch and several times for a quick refreshment, including at a café with a walled garden, the outside of which has been turned into a homage to John Lennon. At the end of the night a count was done, and I had apparently consumed 14 glasses / bottles of Czech beer...

Day three - 04 Aug 2009 to Prague


To Prague: Lost in the city as the roads are being rebuilt and the maps are out of date. Also the campsite can’t really be said to be in Prague. A taxi driver earns a sizable fare by leading us to the campsite.