After spending most of our time exploring the city of Prague and all her secrets, it was time to leave the city again and explore more of the outside cities that the country was trying to promote for tourism. These spa towns were rich in small museums, beautiful churches, excellent shopping districts and wonderful restaurants (where a lot of the staff spoke perfect English). The views were breathtaking and the historical sites amazing.
We were up again today at 8:00am (groan) and had to be at the train station early to catch our train to Kunta Hora, another small city outside of Prague. I did not have time to research the city so I was not sure what to expect. It was another interesting city with a lot to do.
Passing unusual artwork on the way to the train station
We had to make the train to Kutna Hora at a certain time early in the morning so that we could get there to start our tours of the churches and historical sites. There was no time for breakfast until we got to the station. When we arrived, we were given our instructions, ticket information and then were given about forty-five minutes to get something to eat and then board the train. I started to look around.
Our neighborhood had such interesting buildings
Before we broke for breakfast, I came across a Lego display of the train station and I thought this was very clever. Talk about details. Who ever put this together did a wonderful job because it really did look like the station and the traffic around it.
Lego set at the Train Station
Lego Display at the Train Station
The details on the display were very much real to the way the station appeared. It was something I am not too sure many people noticed as they dashed to their trains and destinations.
I did not want to get too far from where our meeting place was so I looked on the same floor. Most of the places just sold coffee and Danishes but I wanted more. I was starved and breakfast is an important meal to me. That’s when I found Paul, a French bakery similar to the ones I ate at in Paris. The concept was the same and they did have formula meals.
Paul at the Train Station
Breakfast at Paul at Plzenska 344/1 at the Train Station
https://www.paul-bakeries.com/
My review on TripAdvisor:
The inside of Paul at the Train Station
The amazing breakfast that morning
The breakfast was excellent. I could not believe the quality of the food that was at a train station. I am used to the watered down version of bakery items that we see in the United States when I have eaten at Penn Station or Port Authority with the airy croissant or the tasteless muffins and dealing with it because those were the only options. The baked goods at Paul rivaled anything at the Paris bakeries.
The taste of the breakfast really surprised me as it tasted like the Boulangeries’ that we ate at the week before in Paris and I thought I would not see that again. The Quiche Lorraine was full of pieces of fresh ham along with the creamy eggs and the crust was so flaky and the apricot tart was one of the best pastries on the trip (see review on TripAdvisor). I later wrote on of the most glowing reviews on TripAdvisor and got the nicest response from the manager who was thrilled by the review. I guess you can make a small difference in the world.
The train was particularly packed that morning and we were all over the place regardless of the fact that we had reserved tickets. It would be the same way when we returned. The Czech’s keep it very organized in that when you buy a ticket on the train, you get to book your seat like you would on a plane. It made it so much easier for us.
After being packed in for over an hour, we got to Kutna Hora and took the bus to our first destination in a series of churches we would be visiting that day. Our first stop was the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption and St. John the Baptist in Sedlec. The original church had been built between 1290 and 1320 and then burned to the ground in 1421. It lay in ruins until the early 18th century when it was reconstructed in the High Baroque style by architect Jan Blazej Santini-Aichel (Sedlec pamphlet).
The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Kunta Hora
The Roman Catholic Cemetery Church of All Saints with Ossuary is together with the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption and St. John the Baptist, part of the former Cistercian abbey established in 1142 (Sedlec pamphlet).
From the early 1300’s to the late 1400’s almost 40,000 were buried in the cemetery due to famines and disease. When the cemetery was being reduced in the early 1500’s, the bones were deposited to the bottom of the chapel. In the beginning of the 1700’s when Santini-Aichel was making renovations on the church, he created bone decorations and other decorations for the church (Sedlec pamphlet).
The statuary outside the church
When the church was purchased by the Schwarzenberg’s in 1870, they renovated the bone decorations and hired carver Frantisek Rint to complement the décor. He cleaned the decorations and added new ones to the church including the chandelier and the Schwartzberg’s Coat of Arms (Sedlec pamphlet). Since we could not take pictures inside, I took this picture of the bone decorations from their website (Church website).
The bone decorations of the Roman Catholic Cemetery Church of All Saints with Ossuary
The inside of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption was very impressive with its statuary and paintings. We were able to take our time and really explore the church with our tour guide. It did not look like many services were still held in the church and it was more for touring.
The inside of the Church complex where the congregation seems to meet only in the front part of the church.
The tours of the main chapel
While the front part of the church looks like it is still used for services, the back part of the museum looks like it is being used as a museum for pieces of the inside of the church on display. A museum within a church. Exquisite pieces are on display that stand on their own.
One of the church’s altars
The other altar
The wooden carved confession booth
Church statuary
The magnificence ceiling
When we climbed the stairs to the second floor of the church and walked through the upper part of the floor, the church was sponsoring an art exhibition of a contemporary artist. I thought the was an interesting use of the ceiling area of the church. Still being used for services, the church is being repurposed for other events as well.
After visiting both churches and the bone decorations creating quite a discussion amongst our group, we went to visit the third church on our list , the other UNESCO site, St. Barbara’s Cathedral. I have never seen a more beautiful church and I have been to ones all over the world.
St. Barbara’s Cathedral as we approached the church
St. Barbara’s Cathedral from the front
Walking on the side of St. Barbara’s Cathedral
A unique work of peak and late Gothic architecture. It’s construction was started in 1388 by Petr Parler and his workgroup. Construction was interrupted several times and the monumental cathedral was finally completed after more than 500 years of building (Kunta Hora Tourist Information Center).
St. Barbara’s School across the street from the church
The Shrine of St. Barbara’s Cathedral
The church altar
The holy water at the church
The inside of St. Barbara’s pews
In 1905, in some chapels late gothic murals with mining themes are preserved, the most prized can be found in Smisek Chapel (Kutna Hora Tourist Information Center).
The stained glass windows
The beautiful stained glass windows
Paintings on the walls
The detailed paintings of St. Barbara’s Cathedral
Just walking around the church for the afternoon was a treat. I have never seen such beautiful detail on a church before with all the colorful stained glass windows and elegant paintings on the walls. The churches in this town had so many interesting aspects of carvings and painting to them. This is what the silver mining money of this town bought.
The outside of the church was just as beautiful with all the plantings and gardens. The pathways around the church were so nicely landscaped and there was even a small vineyard on the pathway out of the church.
The views from the church is breathtaking
The vineyard by the side of St. Barbara’s
The saints line the walkway by the vineyard
The views from the church’s walkway
The views looking into downtown Kutna Hora were just amazing. The church was the showpiece of the town and it looked like a postcard.
Me at St. Barbara’s second floor of the church. I wanted to remember this beautiful church.
After we left St. Barbara’s, we had the afternoon to ourselves for lunch and touring. This was my escape time and I wanted to explore the town on my own. There were a couple of suggestions of places to eat as we were walking into town but I wanted to explore Downtown Kunta Hora first and see what it had to offer. It is such a great downtown with lovely shops and some great restaurants.
The Kutna Hora Town Square
While some of my classmates toured the city together, I walked to the middle of the downtown where we were meeting to catch the bus home and walked all the side streets of the town. It was such a cute little town. It reminded me of the towns in the Hudson River Valley with their unique architecture and wonderful restaurants. I just wanted to find something different.
The quaint downtown of Kutna Hora
These planters were blooming all over the square
As I explored the side streets and looked at the menus, I did not want to eat pizzas and hamburgers. I wanted a nice meal but something light because we were having our going away dinner this evening in Prague and I did not need a big meal inside me.
I had passed this open doorway on the side street and peeked inside to find an restaurant that had both an inside dining room and an outdoor café. The weather was so beautiful the entire time we were in the Czech Republic, warm and sunny and in the high 70’s it would be fun to eat outside. Plus they had an interesting lunch menu that was reasonable. This is when I found Restaurant Ctyri Sestry at Havlickova Namesti 512.
Restaurace Ctyri Sestry at Havlickova Namesti 512
My review on TripAdvisor:
The outdoor seating in the walled garden
What a beautiful restaurant with excellent food and service with views of the gardens and the valley as well. I even had a little cat join me for lunch (I think he was a feral cat as he walked away while I was eating my main course). I was seated in the corner table in the garden area and talk about views. I had the most wonderful of the walled garden that surrounded me and of the valley below with its slopes and small villages.
The outdoor dining
The walled gardens
The walled garden
The beauty of the walled garden where I was sitting
4-
The menu of daily specials in which everything looked good.
The menu specials were very creative and were not the ordinary schnitzels and potato dishes I had seen in other restaurants. It was almost a fusion of Italian and French with a little Czech thrown in. I wanted something on the lighter side but still filling because it was still going to be several hours before we had dinner. So I chose the Cream of Broccoli Soup and the Pork Patties with fresh noodles. Everything was not only excellent but so well presented.
My first course was the Cream of Broccoli Soup
The Cream of Broccoli Soup
The Pork Patties with Fresh Noodles in a Soy Sauce
I had this cat sitting right by me in the garden and I was not sure if it was the owner’s cat or just a feral cat hanging around. I was friendly to it but did not encourage it with food. You can never be sure with a cat. The cat looked more like a kitten was looking at me as I was looking at him.
My lunch companion who never left the dining area
When I was done with my lunch, my little dining companion climbed the wall and walked away through the roof and the gardens. He then just disappeared.
After the wonderful lunch was over, I went back down to the downtown area and visited the pastry shop that was around the corner from the restaurant. I had passed it earlier when I was looking for a restaurant to eat at and I wanted to stop back. The pastries in their cases looked delicious. This is where I found the delicious pastries of Cukrarna U Kraba bakery.
The pastry shop Cukrarna U Kraba at Tylova 505
My review on TripAdvisor:
Peeking in the window is what attracted me to the bakery
The amazing pastry case
Picking out the pastries I wanted to try
I was not sure what I wanted to try as everything looked so good but I decided on the one on the top right that was a Vanilla Cream filled Glazed Doughnut and the Red Velvet doughnut with a heavy glaze on the bottom right.
More selection to choose from
Indulging in the delicious pastries of the bakery. A Chocolate covered Red Velvet Cake and a Vanilla Cream filled French Cruller. Yum!
Other wonderful items line the shelves
After a wonderful meal and a phenomenal dessert, it was time to visit the merchants that I saw as I was walking around looking for places to eat. there are some wonderful shops in the town with a lot of handmade merchandise.
Visiting the shops
The beautiful handmade porcelains (was cash only)
An excellent gift shop (with hand made cards)
There was even a Justy’s Café Restaurant which I thought was a good sign
It was back to the town square after the relaxing afternoon of lunch and shopping in the town. The town square was just so beautiful to sit in and relax. It was so nice to just sit back and relax and enjoy the beautiful day.
The elegant statue in Town Square
Relaxing under the trees before the trip home
Admiring the town architecture
Admiring the town architecture
Even the stone walls are attractive here
We took the bus back to the train and the train back to Prague and then we walked back to campus when we returned to Prague. The professor gave us two hours to just relax before we left for our farewell dinner which we would be having at a wonderful restaurant in the Old Town section of the city, Manes Restaurant.
Manes Café
My review on TripAdvisor:
We had a Prix Fixe menu and I had settled on the Goat Cheese appetizer and for dinner I had the Asparagus Risotto. For dessert, we had a refreshing Lemon Sorbet. Everything was so elegantly served and the service at the restaurant was flawless. Everyone was so nice to us and we had the back room all to ourselves. Jana joined us on our last night in the city so it made it special for our class as she became part of our group. The menus were very reasonable.
The Appetizer Menu
Tomato and Mozzarella Salad
The Entrée Menu
Asparagus Risotto
The Dessert Menu
Lemon Sorbet with Fresh Fruit
Our Farewell group shot on our last day of class in Prague. I left the next morning for Palermo in Italy for my brother’s wedding.
Our group shot at our farewell dinner our last night in our Prague class
After the wonderful dinner as over, we took one last trip over the Charles Bridge to see the views of the skyline of Prague and one more tour of the Old Town section of the city. Talk about an excellent view of the city at night.
The Charles Bridge at night with the City of Prague behind it.
Charles Bridge at night
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bridge
My review on TripAdvisor:
The statue of King Charles at night
Our Charles Bridge Group shot before it got dark
After our walk on the bridge, we got the other side and everyone went their own ways. I had to head back to the campus to pack and get ready for a long airplane ride to Palermo (with three stopovers and a ten hour layover. Groan!) We all said our goodbyes and went one our ways. What a wonderful night and what a great class. I learned so much from the experience and from the City of Prague. There is so much potential here and I can see a big influx of American tourism in the future.
I could not put a price tag on what I experienced between my Paris and Prague classes. It was a valuable experience that I will remember for the rest of the rest of my life. Now I just have to finish the homework for the class in Italy (I got an “A” in both classes).
Off to Palermo!
mywalkinmanhattan 