Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Hradek

This is the Czech museum of silver. We stopped at  this place on the way to the Church of St Barbara





Walking to the Church of St Barbara

We walked towards the Church of St Barbara.





The Church of St Barbara


Church of St Jacob

This Romanesque church was established since 1105 as the town's parish church in honour of the miners' patron saint, Jacob the Bigger






We were unable to enter the church as it was closed.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Lunch in Kutna Hora

We were able to get a ride from the Ossuary to the town centre for 30 Czech Koruna per person. The van  then met us  at the Italian Court at 4.45 pm and sent us  to the train station just in in time to catch the 5.00 pm train back to Prague. We stopped for lunch at this restaurant before continuing our walk.









Memorial to St John Nepomuk

Situated in front of the Ossuary.





Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec

This cathedral is part of the World Heritage site in Kutna Hora. It was first built in Gothic style in the 13th century but later restoration followed the baroque style. We were unable to enter the cathedral as it was closed.





Places we have been an update

The following are the places that we have been together since 2001

2001
June      Beijing, Chengde and Tianjin

2002
May     Shanghai

2003
Sept      France

2004
June     Italy
July      Perth
Dec       Kunming

2005
May     Yangon
Oct       Greece
Nov      Bangkok

2006
March       Siem Reap
May         Tioman Island
June         Japan
August     Club Med, Bintan Island
Sept          Melaka
Oct            Russia

2007
May      Turkey
Oct        Kuala Lumpur
Nov       Egypt

2008
May      Desaru
June      Sentosa Island
Nov       Prague & Budapest
Dec       Hong Kong

2009
April     Sedili
Sept       Xian
Nov       South Korea
Dec       Taiwan

2010
Sept       Kunming, Dali, Lijiang & Shangrila
Nov       Gold Coast & Sydney


2011
August    Solo & Jogjakarta
Sept         Penang
Dec          Hanoi

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Cemetery Church of All Saints

Above the Ossuary is the Cemetery Church of All Saints.



Kostnice Ossuary (The Bone Church)

Many people visiting Prague will make a day trip to this town. As we were leaving the station, we noticed that there were many people like us, coming here for the first time, holding a map and a travel guide.




We walked to the Ossuary which is about 1 km away. It all started when the Abbot of Sedlec brought home some earth from the Holy Land and sprinkled them here. Since then, people in Bohemia and as far as Central Europe were dying to be buried here.




This Ossuary is said to contain the skeletons of at least 40,000 people. The present arrangement of the bones dates from 1870 and is the work of a Czech woodcarver, Frantisek Rint.















A chandelier made of bones





A chalice





The Coat of Arms of the Schwarzenburg





The name of F. Rint written in bones.

Kutna Hora

This town originated as a small mining community in the 13th century. When rich deposits of silver were found, it became the second most important town in the Bohemia. When silver began to run out in the 16th century, the town began to lose its importance and the mint finally closed in 1727.




The historical town centre in Kutna Hora was granted a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995 together with the Church of St Barbara and the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec.


Hlavni Nadrazi

On  the 5th day, we took the 10.00 am train from Hlavni Nadrazi station to Kutna Hora. The 73 km journey took almost 2 hours. Slow train.





This is the biggest and busiest train station in Prague





On the train to Kutna Hora



Kutna Hora Station



Our train ticket

Saturday, February 25, 2012

End of day 4

We reached Prague about 7.00 pm and took the Metro back to the hotel. We have dinner at a restaurant near the hotel. 



Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Walking back to the castle complex

Our tour of Cesky Krumlov has finally come to an end as we slowly made our way back to the castle complex













Below the Cloak bridge

We made our way along the Vltava River to the bottom of the Cloak Bridge.



View of the castle complex





The Cloak bridge



The pillars supporting the Cloak Bridge resembling a Roman aqueduct.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Lunch in Latran Street

We had our lunch in this restaurant along the Latran Street





Having lunch with our guide


Church of St Vitus

A 14th century church dedicated to Virgin Mary.







The Resurrection Chapel





The main altar