Part 76: I Bought a Prom Dress… again. May 29, 2013

In Bulgaria, prom is a party paid for and organized by the senior class AFTER they graduate.  They invite their teachers as a way of showing their appreciation.  I taught seniors; therefore I needed a prom dress.  Never thought I’d be saying that again. 

My Bulgarian tutor, LT, is well connected to the shopping world of Sofia, so she took me and my friend, MD (who was in search of a bridesmaid’s dress), out to find dresses one sunny Saturday.  After finding LT just outside the metro, we proceeded to a secret shop.  LT rung the bell and spoke to the person inside which got us buzzed in.  I’m not kidding.  You have to be in the know to get in that place and I suspect it will be the only time I’m included in such circles for the duration of my life. 

We began pulling dresses and trying them on.  I tried black ones and yellow ones (I was trying to stay away from blue), but none of them were really for me.  Eventually, we decided to move on to the next store where I found a short blue (I know, I know.  I just can’t help it.  I love blue.) very mod, very shiny, mini-dress by Prada, which I could actually afford.  I really liked it, so I got it. 

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I’m getting arm cramps from braiding and curling my hair as I prepare to go to prom as a 27 year old adult person.  Prom was an interesting experience.  The fact that the seniors are graduated combined with the legal drinking age of 18 made the interactions that took place really unusual for me.  In the US, teachers are at prom to make sure things don’t get out of hand.  At this prom, we were there to have fun.  So kids you taught come up to you in various states of drunkenness wanting to toast your or just get a picture with you.  I also ended up judging a very scaring dance contest that ended with shirts being ripped off and a lot of gyrating.  AD and I were feeling very uncomfortable. 

At the end of the night, AD and I went to Sin City with IM for the after party.  I only went because IM said I needed to experience this club once before I left Bulgaria and the clock was ticking.  I generally remembered why I don’t like clubs.  The music was loud, it smelled like smoke (the smoking ban was not enforced), and, although interesting, the strobing, light up, moving ceiling was a little bit headache inducing.  Yeah, I didn’t stay long.  I will say that IM was right about it being an experience.  I’m just a little old lady on the inside and not nearly cool enough for things like that. 

I went home and spent the next day at school looking (and feeling) much better than my students who had also chosen to go out and party with the senior class the night before. 

Part 75: Churches of Bones May 5, 2013

On the next gloomy morning (Prague seems to specialize in these) I was off to Kutna Hora to make up for missing out on all of the closed crypts and catacombs Europe had thrown in my face over the past 2 years.   My main objective was to visit the Sedlec Bone Church, but once I got there, I was pleased to discover that the town is old, charming, and an awesome place to spend a day. 

The Kutna Hora train station seems a bit sketchy upon arrival.  It is a small building on a dead end road surrounded by trees.  There is a bus that comes once an hour, but the bone church has great signage and is close enough to walk to.  So I set off prepared to see a church decorated with the bones of 40,000 people (apparently 14^th century plagues followed by 15^th century wars caused lots of death). 

If you’re visiting the Kutna Hora sites, stop in the visitors center, conveniently located on your way to the church) to buy your tickets for the Bone Church and St. Barbar’s Cahtedral before you get there.  You get a small discount and you don’t have to stand in line later on. 

As I approached the bone church, I was surprised to see how small it is.  I was used to huge cathedrals so this was quite a change.  It was decorated by monks about 400 years ago with the intent of reminding people that the church is a community of living and dead and a countless multitude will stand before God.  As time went on, the designers got more creative with their bone décor and created a raven eating the eye out of a skull and a chandelier containing every bone in the human body.  I however am suspect of this claim since I highly doubt the malleus, incus, and stapes are actually present. 

The bone stacks are found in the bottom of the church while the top floor is an ultra modern chapel with modern art depicting the ministry of Jesus.  It was a weird contrast to the old church building and piles of bones in the basement. 

I walked about two blocks away to visit the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist.  I was a little confused when I arrived as to which church it was.  I thought it was the other church you have to see in Kutna Hora, but that is actually St. Barbar’s.  This church is still beautiful, old (circa 1300), and comes with some impressively dressed relics, but it isn’t that exciting overall.  I did like that they let you go upstairs and walk through to see how the wings of the building were constructed. 

From there, I attempted to take the bus to the old town center as recommended to me by the tourist office lady.  However, it is a little confusing and I would recommend just walking if you have the legs for it.  I did find what I was looking for eventually when I came across the Stone Fountain.  When I saw it, it was not what I was expecting.  No water was trickling over cherubs and Roman gods.  Kutna Hora was a silver mining town up until the mines were exhausted around 1700.  All the mining made getting water difficult so it was brought in by pipes and stored in large tanks.   The Stone Fountain is one of those tanks that happened to get a fancy gothic covering during the 15^th century. 

From there, I took in the Stone House.  I didn’t visit the Silver Museum that is housed inside, but I did stop to admire the amazing details outside.  There are vines, animals, and branches carved into the stone and it is apparently one of few such gothic structures in the world. 

I wandered along a creative path that generally led toward St. Barbar’s Cathedral.  I think I might have ended up in an area that was actually closed since the gate I walked through was apparently the only open one and ended up coming alongside the cathedral from a very unique perspective (unique since I was the only one there.  This is another reason I’m pretty sure the area wasn’t open).  After a couple of pictures, I tried to walk towards it but I couldn’t get out of the garden I’d somehow gotten into and had to back track all the way back around.  I finally found an open route toward the cathedral and began  my approach. 

St. Barbar’s Cathedral was founded in 1338 by miners.  Miners were wealthy.  St. Barbar’s conveys this fact very effectively.  The coats of arms of the prominent mining families are painted on the impressive ceiling and mining and minting are depicted in the frescoes on the walls.   The church took nearly 600 years to finish, so the age of the artwork in the church ranges from 1380 (a statue of Mary) to stained glass windows from the early 1900’s.  Several paintings from the 1400’s are of special interest due to both their age and their excellent condition.  The church is beautiful. 

After visiting the cathedral, I wandered through Kutna Hora taking in the medieval sites.  Unfortunately, it was Sunday so most of them were closed, but the outsides were still unique.  I walked by a particularly old looking church that I cannot seem to find any information about, but I remember reading a sign on the outside that dated it to over 500 years old (I wish I’d taken a picture of the sign so I’d have more information).   I also popped my head into the Itialian Court.  The is a palace that is the location of the first Czech mint and a main residence of the Czech kings in the 1400’s.  It has a lovely courtyard. 

Across the street I took a picture for a cute family eating ice cream in front of Karel Havlicek’s (1821-1856) statue.  He was the founder of Czech political journalism and was critical of the Hapsburg rulers.  He came up with the line, “you can try to bribe me with favors, you can threaten me, you can torture me, yet I will never turn a traitor.”  This became a popular motto later on when the Czech people were protesting communist rule.  (source:  Rick Steve’s Prague)

I wandered back through the town’s winding streets toward the train station.  Things became less picturesque as I exited the old town, but I made it back in time to catch the train back to Prague, pick up my stuff from the train station locker, and get to the bus station to catch my bus back to Vienna, along with AB, as it turns out.  I then hopped on the subway to the Vienna Airport and went through security.  I had a very early flight that would have made getting a room pointless (why pay for 4 hours?) so I just stayed in the airport rather than getting a room for the night.  Luckily, the Vienna airport is sort of awesome.  It has excellent benches for sleeping and free wifi.  The next morning, I was on board a plane headed for Sofia. 

Part 74: Castle Hill May 4, 2013

The next morning, I set off in the rain to visit Prague’s Castle.  After getting off of Tram, I began to climb a lot of stairs up the hill.  The castle complex is huge and consists of several royal palaces, a cathedral, a church, and towers.  I started out walking along the Golden Lane. 
 

The Golden Lane extends along a wall of the fortress and consists of tiny houses that were originally built for the castle guards in the 16^th century.  It was named the Golden Lane after goldsmiths moved in during the 17^th century.  People lived in the houses up until just after WWII when the houses were declared unfit for habitation.  They have since been restored and house a lot of gift shops, but some show how life was for the people that lived there over the years, including Franz Kafka.  Just up the stairs over the houses there is also an extensive display of armor. 

From there I wandered through the Daliborka Tower with its cages and dungeons before heading back inside the main part of the castle complex.  I went into a very Hapsburg-y building that had been the Institute for Noble Women.  It showed their living conditions and explained that the purpose was to educate noblewomen that were less fortunate than the truly wealthy.  The most interesting part was a mousetrap from 200 years ago.

After that, I went to St. George's Basilica and Convent.   This convent was the first established in Bohemia and now houses a collection of paintings, which are worth a walk through.  The church dates from the 12^th century and houses the grave of St. Ludmila, King Wenceslaus’s mother. 

After St. George’s I took in the mosaics and gold leaf on St. Vitus Cathedral.  The cathedral was started in 1344 and was finished in 1929.  The guidebook I had pointed out that you can see carvings of the decidedly 20^th century architects carved above the doorways.  The inside has great stained glass, some impressive tombs, and a closed (sigh), crypt.  Most famous, is the Chapel of St. Wenceslas, where "good King Wencelas" eternally "looks out."  I also climbed the 287 steps up the tower to take in the view of Prague. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I wandered out the main gate and through the nice buildings and palaces and monasteries on top of the hill over to Petrin Hill with its replica of Eifel Tower from 1891.  The tower is shorter than the one in France, unless you count the hill, which they do, of course. 

Castle Hill is full of history, buildings, tombs, and towers.  There are little exhibits and shops that pop up around every corner.  It is not a castle in the traditional sense, but a complex fortress that spans 1,000 years.  My little blog post hardly does it justice, but I hope it gives you a general idea. 

Part 73: Prague on Foot May 3, 2013

The next morning after breakfast a Russian couple and I were picked up at the hostel for the free Prague walking tour.   The tour started in front of the Powder Tower.   One of many gothic towers in Prague, this one was built in 1475 as one of Prague’s original city gates.  In the 17^th it was used for gun powder storage, thus earning its name. 

It is right next to the  Municipal House.  The site was originally the location of the Royal Court and palace, but that was demolished in 1903.  The Municipal House was finished in 1911 in the art nouveau style.  It has a large mosaic over the entrance called the “Homage to Prague.”  I don’t remember the details, but I know it has something to do with the original people that inhabited the area. 

From there we poked our heads into the Church of St. James.  This church comes with a couple of great stories.  First, there is a mummified forearm hanging up at the back.  A thief tried to steal the Madonna Pietis statue from the alter.  However, when he touched it, his arm was frozen to the statue and the monks had to cut it off to get it free.  Moral of the story:  don’t rob churches. 

The other interesting tidbit is that Count Vratislav of Mitrovice’s tomb is inside the church and he was accidentally buried alive inside it.  After he “died” people started to hear sounds coming from the tomb and they assumed his spirit was having trouble finding peace.  Years later the tomb was opened and it was found to be damaged on the inside from where the count was trying to get out.  Moral of the story:  I don’t know, but it’s pretty horrible.

 From there we entered the Ungelt Courtyard, a very old marketplace.  “Ungelt” is the name of the customs agents that monitored the courtyard.  You have to enter the courtyard through one of two entrances.  The number of entrances was limited to prevent thieves from easily getting in and out.  There is also an obligatory star-crossed lovers story.  A young Turkish merchant fell in love with a local innkeeper’s daughter.  Of course, it was not approved of and he ended up killing her in a fit of jealousy.  Now he roams the courtyard as a ghost, wrought with guilt. 

We walked past the Tyn Church into Old Town Square.  There is a large memorial in the middle of the square to Jan Hus.  Jan Hus was martyred for Czech religious freedom in 1415.  He was burned at the stake for heresy by the Catholic Church.  He preceded the Protestant reformation by over 200 years and his religious followers became known as the Hussites and over 90% of Czechs followed his teachings within the next century. 

 The Hussite church of St. Nicholas  is also on the square.  I only peaked in the door since it was closed for a concert, but It is a super fancy example of Baroque style.  The main attraction in the square is the Old Town Hall.   The older part of the hall was built in 1338.  Unfortunately, it looks a little odd now because half of it was destroyed by the Nazis during the last part of WWII.  In front of the hall are 27 crosses in the cobbles.  This is where 27 Protestants were beheaded in 1621 by the Hapsburgs, who were Catholic.  This even lead to the end of Czech independence for the next 300 years. 

Particularly interesting to me were two events that occurred in 1419 and 1618, the former of which took place at Old Town Hall, that led to the origin of my favorite word, “defenestrate:  to throw someone or something out of a window.”  In 1419, several town officials were thrown out of the hall’s window just prior to the Hussite Wars.  Then again in 1618 a couple of imperial governors were tossed out of Prague Castle, leading to the Thirty Years War, again a Protestant-Catholic conflict.  And thus, my favorite word was born.

We took a brief interlude from the tour to get some food from the vendors on the square and I found what is ultimately a potato chip on a stick.  The potato is spiral cut, skewered, and fried into awesomeness.  Being from Iowa and a huge fan of the State Fair, I love fried things on a stick. 

We wandered over to the Astronomical Clock on the side of the Town Hall’s tower.  The clock was made by the clock maker Hunus in 1490 and there is a legend saying he may have been blinded to prevent him from making another clock better than that one.   The clock has several dials and keeps track of several different times.  It keeps bohemian time (the gothic numbers that count from sunset), modern time (the Roman numerals from 1-24), and it shows the times of sunrise and sunset.  At the hour, it chimes and shows the 12 apostles, 4 figures representing deadly sins (a Turk with a mandolin for hedonism, a Jewish moneylender for greed, one with a mirror for vanity, and a skeleton with an hourglass for death).  At the end of the chime, a rooster crows and a trumpet player (an actual person) plays a fanfair from the top of the tower. 

We saw author Franz Kafaka’s birthplace, passed briefly through the Jewish quarter, and wandered past the Monument to Antonin Dvorak.   Dvorak wrote the New World Symphony, one of my favorites, which Neil Armstrong took a recording of to the moon during the Apollo 11 mission.  We also saw a memorial to Jan Palack, a university student that lit himself on fire in Wenceslas Square during the Prague Spring to protest Communist Party control over the country.  

Our walking tour ended at Charles Bridge.  After learning that all sites in the Jewish quarter are closed on Saturday, which makes sense, AB (who I met on the tour) and I decided to visit them that afternoon.  First we visited the Pinkas Synagogue.  It is 400 years old and has the names of 77,297 Czech Jews that were killed in the Holocaust written on its walls.  There is also an exhibit of art made by children interred at Terezin concentration camp during WWII that is hard to look at. 

We also went through the Maisel Synagogue.  This synagogue originally was built for a family’s private use in the 16^th century.  Hitler chose it to be the site of his planned “Museum of the Extinct Jewish Race” and used it as a warehouse for much of his stolen Jewish treasures.  Now, it is a museum showing the history of Jews in Bohemia. 

Next up was the Old Jewish Cemetery.  There are over 12,000 stones in the cemetery accumulated between 1429 and 1787.  This was the only place allowed for Jewish burials so they piled people on top of each other and the cemetery gradually rose upward. 

Just off the Jewish Cemetery is Klausen Synagogue which has a permanent exhibition on Jewish traditions which was continued in the Ceremonial Hall.  On our way out, we past the New Synagogue, which is a mere 700 years old, the oldest in central Europe. 

After a long day of education about Prague’s past, we went to a restaurant called Maitrea.  Our tour guide mentioned that it was his favorite restaurant.  It is a vegetarian restaurant the served me the best “chicken” quesadilla that I’d had outside of the US.  It was fake chicken, but it was delicious. 

After dinner, we saw that the Museum of Communism was still open, so we decided to stop by.  Located in a building with a McDonald’s and a casino and marked by a sign with a Russian nesting doll with fangs, the museum leaves no mystery about how the Czech’s felt about their time behind the Iron Curtain.  The museum had many artifacts showing daily life under communism as well as propaganda and art. 

After that, AB and I took in some Prague sites at night before going our separate ways.

All these facts and figures are remembered from my excellent tour guide, interpretive signs that I obsessively photograph, and Rick Steve's "Prague" guidebook.