I chose to stay in Europe over Christmas for several reasons. Firstly, I felt that if I came back before Christmas it would be too close to the end of the school year that I would feel that I hadn't taken full advantage of my leave. Secondly, airports and flights before Christmas are a nightmare. Lastly, I had had one European Christmas with my daughters and loved it, so it seemed a perfect opportunity to repeat that, and follow up with New Year's Eve in Vienna.
Travelling alone hasn't been an issue. I've had constant Internet contact, I've met various friends along the way, and I've had lots to keep me occupied, including the blog. But when I arrived in Prague I realised it was going to be harder than I expected. There was an added reason - Mum's birthday is Christmas Eve, so that day was going to bring the grief up to the surface. Missing out on the family activities was also hard.
To help me through, I organised to go on a tour on Christmas Day which would fill in the afternoon.
To my surprise, Christmas Eve was harder. Many of the shops were closed, all of the museums and other tourist places were closed. Even the Christmas Market had shut up shop. I retreated to the hotel, the tv, and the laptop. I had dinner organised and the concert afterwards, so the evening was fine.
Christmas Day was odd. It had basically already happened in Australia before I awoke, but it was nice to catch up with family in the morning. After breakfast I headed off to the Museum of Communism to fill in a couple of hours before the tour. It was actually fascinating. Of course the Communists are the 'baddies' so it was biased, but still interesting to see the whole process from before WWII through to the Velvet Revolution.
Then I joined a tour out to Kutna Hora. It was a very important town because of its Silver Mines, but lost influence when the gold started coming thorough from the New World. The standard tour focuses on three sites: a church where the ossuary is decorated with bones, the Church of St Barbara, and the museum related to the silver mining and coin production. Our group was again English speaking (me, a guy from the US and a family from Italy) and a group of Russians (one of whom spoke very good English). The guide has been doing this tour for 20 years, she says, but she was useless!! So frustrating. Ironically, the Russian guy, who had obviously done some research, gave me more useful information than she did. He also gave me a shot of a very warming apricot brandy at one stage :)
The 'Bone Church' was fascinating for many reasons.
For its history see http://www.outsideprague.com/kutna_hora/bone_church.html
The guide warned us several times that we would be seeing human bones. Did she think we hadn't read the details of the tour? Going in, it wasn't creepy, I didn't find it macabre. Weird, yes. It's not like the Cambodian Killing fields though. There were other groups in there and I heard one guide suggest that because the bones are arranged 'artistically' they lose their sense of connection with dead bodies, and become like animal skeletons. After all, people don't worry too much about skulls decorating hunting halls. The pyramids of skulls have quite a few coins in them, behind the wire. The overheard guide said, it might remind you of paying the ferryman etc but the reality is that people play a game of 'can I get a coin in the eye of a skull'. He didn't encourage it. The family crest was the most interesting. These were the people who owned the church, who paid for the guy to create these extraordinary things. So, of course they needed their crest.
Saint Barbara's has some amazing double flying buttresses and a few lovely old frescoes, but the guide didn't inspire me to be impressed.
The silver museum was in the old municipal buildings where the silversmiths and coin makers had originally worked. The information about the coins was brief, but the complex was also a royal palace, and the chapel was beautiful. The walls were repainted in the early 1900s in Art Nouveau style and were beautiful. In the hall where the king met with the various dignitaries there was a brilliant bench with a revolving back. Apparently if the ones who sat there (can't remember who) disagreed with a decision they flipped the back over and sat with their back to the king and others.
The hall is mainly used for weddings now. Can you see the disgruntled parents flipping the back??
To my surprise, Christmas Night finished on an upbeat note. I started chatting to the American guy towards the end of the tour and we sat across from each other on the way back and chatted for the hour. When we got back, he suggested we have dinner, which we did. We talked politics, religion, education: all the banned topics. He has basically no family so chooses to travel over Christmas, and has travelled Europe extensively. We talked for hours, and both enjoyed filling in the evening so much that we met the following evening for dinner as well. We then went our separate ways, leaving no contact details, but with a pleasant memory of chance-met company.
Travelling alone hasn't been an issue. I've had constant Internet contact, I've met various friends along the way, and I've had lots to keep me occupied, including the blog. But when I arrived in Prague I realised it was going to be harder than I expected. There was an added reason - Mum's birthday is Christmas Eve, so that day was going to bring the grief up to the surface. Missing out on the family activities was also hard.
To help me through, I organised to go on a tour on Christmas Day which would fill in the afternoon.
To my surprise, Christmas Eve was harder. Many of the shops were closed, all of the museums and other tourist places were closed. Even the Christmas Market had shut up shop. I retreated to the hotel, the tv, and the laptop. I had dinner organised and the concert afterwards, so the evening was fine.
Christmas Day was odd. It had basically already happened in Australia before I awoke, but it was nice to catch up with family in the morning. After breakfast I headed off to the Museum of Communism to fill in a couple of hours before the tour. It was actually fascinating. Of course the Communists are the 'baddies' so it was biased, but still interesting to see the whole process from before WWII through to the Velvet Revolution.
Then I joined a tour out to Kutna Hora. It was a very important town because of its Silver Mines, but lost influence when the gold started coming thorough from the New World. The standard tour focuses on three sites: a church where the ossuary is decorated with bones, the Church of St Barbara, and the museum related to the silver mining and coin production. Our group was again English speaking (me, a guy from the US and a family from Italy) and a group of Russians (one of whom spoke very good English). The guide has been doing this tour for 20 years, she says, but she was useless!! So frustrating. Ironically, the Russian guy, who had obviously done some research, gave me more useful information than she did. He also gave me a shot of a very warming apricot brandy at one stage :)
The 'Bone Church' was fascinating for many reasons.
For its history see http://www.outsideprague.com/kutna_hora/bone_church.html
The guide warned us several times that we would be seeing human bones. Did she think we hadn't read the details of the tour? Going in, it wasn't creepy, I didn't find it macabre. Weird, yes. It's not like the Cambodian Killing fields though. There were other groups in there and I heard one guide suggest that because the bones are arranged 'artistically' they lose their sense of connection with dead bodies, and become like animal skeletons. After all, people don't worry too much about skulls decorating hunting halls. The pyramids of skulls have quite a few coins in them, behind the wire. The overheard guide said, it might remind you of paying the ferryman etc but the reality is that people play a game of 'can I get a coin in the eye of a skull'. He didn't encourage it. The family crest was the most interesting. These were the people who owned the church, who paid for the guy to create these extraordinary things. So, of course they needed their crest.
Saint Barbara's has some amazing double flying buttresses and a few lovely old frescoes, but the guide didn't inspire me to be impressed.
The silver museum was in the old municipal buildings where the silversmiths and coin makers had originally worked. The information about the coins was brief, but the complex was also a royal palace, and the chapel was beautiful. The walls were repainted in the early 1900s in Art Nouveau style and were beautiful. In the hall where the king met with the various dignitaries there was a brilliant bench with a revolving back. Apparently if the ones who sat there (can't remember who) disagreed with a decision they flipped the back over and sat with their back to the king and others.
The hall is mainly used for weddings now. Can you see the disgruntled parents flipping the back??
To my surprise, Christmas Night finished on an upbeat note. I started chatting to the American guy towards the end of the tour and we sat across from each other on the way back and chatted for the hour. When we got back, he suggested we have dinner, which we did. We talked politics, religion, education: all the banned topics. He has basically no family so chooses to travel over Christmas, and has travelled Europe extensively. We talked for hours, and both enjoyed filling in the evening so much that we met the following evening for dinner as well. We then went our separate ways, leaving no contact details, but with a pleasant memory of chance-met company.
No comments:
Post a Comment