Prague & Kutná Hora

We've been exploring more of Prague.  One of the things I truly appreciate about spending a longer period of time in a city is that we don't have to be on the go all day every day.  We are able to time each day doing one or two things and then the rest of the time we are able to just hang out and experience daily life or chill out and binge watch something on Netflix.

The Charles Bridge is one of the spots on our list of places to visit...along with every other person that visits Prague which means it is generally wall to wall people.  We got up early one morning and were down at the bridge by 8:00AM which was perfect as there were maybe 10 other folks on the bridge with us.  The bridge connects Old Town (Staré Město) and Lesser Town (Malá Strana) and one of the many bridges that crosses the Vltava River. The bridge is lined with various statues of saints and one is the statue of St. John Nepomuk.  The oldest statue and only one made of bronze is popular as rubbing it so your wishes come true. Of course our old friend St. Anthony de Padua was there but under restoration.

We headed back over to the Jewish Quarter one evening for a concert at the Spanish Synagogue.  It is by far the fanciest of the synagogues we visited.  It was built in 1868 and is famous for its Moorish design.  The music ranged the gamut from classical to pop to rock by a very talented quintet and singer with an amazing voice.

Franz Kafka Statue
Apparently he had a contentious relationship with his father
and this statue potentially represents the struggle of their relationship.

We have a few churches by our place (shocking I know!) so we did a little exploring on one of our taking it easy days (every now and then you just need to take it easy).  The closest one to us is Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral which is part of the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church.  In comparison to many of the other churches we've visited, it is quite simple but still very beautiful.

In the cathedral's crypt is the Heydrich Terror Memorial.  On June 4, 1942, two Czechoslovakian paratroopers assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, Deputy Protector of Bohemia and Moravia for the Nazi Party.  The paratroopers and five of their brothers in arms took shelter in the crypt until they were discovered.  Two of the paratroopers were killed and the other took their own lives rather than being tortured.

Just up the hill is the Church of St. Ignatius that was built in the mid 1600's.  It was originally part of a Jesuit complex...supposedly the third largest in Europe. 

Of course our old friend, St. Anthony de Padua was here

Across from our apartment is the Dancing House.
It was designed to look like Fred and Ginger dancing.

We took a walking tour of the history of Communism in Czechoslovakia and a nuclear bunker.  It was fascinating to hear from our guide who lived under communism, was exhiled (lived in the States for a few years) and then returned home to Prague.  The building to the right was the office of the Secret Police during communist rule and ironically it is still a police station today.

Picture of the start of the Velvet Revolution at the spot where it began.
You can't tell from this picture but in person you can see this very archway.

On November 17, 1989, Czech students gathered on Narodni Street for a non-violent protest against communist rule. The unarmed protesters were met by police with grenades and automatic weapons.  They chose this day as it was the 50 year anniversary when students at University of Prague were killed during protest against Nazi occupation.  

Bunker Entrance
All bunkers were on a first come first serve basis.
There were enough bunkers to house 1/3 of the Prague population.

Our guide told us stories of how when he was in middle school he would be taught how to fire
guns like this and the other training kids underwent during communist rule.

Our guide said at the beginning of each school year the teacher would measure their faces and then tell them to remember the size so they knew the correct size of gas mask they would need.

Some of the different proganda from communist era

Some of the songs our guide said kids were forced to learn

Milada Horáková was a member of the underground movement in Prague during World War II.  She was born in 1901 and as early as primary school was participating in anti-war demonstrations.  In 1926, she graduated from law school and began her social justice career.  On June 27, 1950, she was executed by the Communist Party for allegedly conspiring against the government and committing treason. Her conviction was posthumously voided in 1968.

The Communist Party built this tower telling the people it would improve their television reception but in reality it blocked the signals from Radio Free Europe so they would not be explosed to western thoughts.

Seeing the Infant Jesus of Prague was on our list.  Since it is located in the Church of Our Lady Victorious, we saved it for Sunday so we could attend mass.  The exact date of the statue is unknown but it was presumably modeled by a monk in the late 16th century after the Baby Jesus appeared to him in Spain.

As luck would have it, it was also a day when four girls were receiving their First Communion.  Apparently in the Czech Republic, First Communion is quite the production as the little girls looked like they had a hair and make-up session before mass and professional photographers (yes, plural...3 in total) were hired.  Don't get me wrong, as a Catholic, I know what an important day it is but I will say it was a bit much.  The photographers took pics all throughout mass...you could definitely tell the priest was not happy.  I was sitting directly in the line of the flash tripod from one of the photogs and thought I was going to have a stroke from all the flashing lights!

Our Lady of Aparecida

We took a day trip to Kutná Hora...a town in central Bohemia that is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Kutná Hora is about an hour by train from Prague which makes it a great day trip...definitely suggest going with a tour (we booked through Get Your Guide) if you are just going for a day to see the Bone Chapel and Church of St. Barbara as making the train back can be a little tricky if you try to do on your own. At one point in history, 1/3 of all the silver in Europe came from this little town.

Church of St. John the Baptist

One of the main sites to see in Kutná Hora is the Bone Church. Unfortunately no photos are allowed due to inappropriate and disrespectful behavoir of visitors.  If you visit the link, you can see photos on the official site.  It is definitely the most unusual church we've seen.  The remains of over 40,000 people line the walls and ceiling of the church.

Entrance into one of the old silver mines

St. Barbara is the patron saint of miners so it is only fitting the largest church in town is dedicated to her. Like many churches in Europe, it took many centuries to complete the church (construction began in late 1300's and wasn't completed until 1905). 

St. Barbara

Miner of Kutná Hora

When we arrived back in Prague, our guide stopped us in front of this memorial in the main train station.  It is dedicated to Nicholas Winton, a British stockbroker and humanitarian.  During World War II, he saved 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia and found them homes in England.  Before arriving in Prague, we watched his story, One Life, on Netflix and I highly recommend it.

Hard to believe we've only been here for a week as it seems like we have seen and done so much in our short time.  Prague is a very walkable city and also easy to get around on public transportation.  We have been averaging 11,000 steps a day this summer...can't imagine how many more it would be if we weren't taking advantage of the great public transportation in the two cities!