Our last class trip took us to a variety of smaller villages within the Czech Republic. Our first stop was in Litomysl? which we only spend a few hours of our time. It was a short trip, but here we saw another church which was set on very beautiful gardens. After the church we were free for lunch, which we decided on a local pub that was very medieval looking. Finally we returned with the group for a tour of the theater and the palace.
After this quick trip, we drove a few more hours and headed toward town where we would spend the next few nights. On our way, we stopped briefly at what once was the village of Lidice. We learned of this village in the very beginning of the trip around our Prague field trip. Lidice was the village of about 800 occupants that was brutally murdered by the Nazi's following the murder of Reinhard Heydrich. Hitler was so angered about Reinhard's death, that he sent orders to murder the entire village as revenge. Only two survived, a couple of small children that were then sent to Germany to grow up as Germans. Today, a monument marks the tragedy.
It was pouring rain so we quickly went back onto the bus. Finally we arrived at Kutna Hora and had the rest of the day to spend as we pleased. We decided to try out this Czech restaurant that looked pretty dang authentic. Walking in, it was like we took a step into the past. It was very medieval looking, even the waitresses were dressed up in long skirts and corset-style tops. This restaurant was very cool because it was set up lunchroom style, with long tables where many people sat together. It was a good place to sit and chat with friends. We then got settled in and ready for the following day, as we had a full itinerary.
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In the morning we all met downstairs for breakfast and headed off to our first of two churches, which were very different. The first one was very airy and bright, similar to the other ones we have toured. This one was called "The Church of Our Lady". The second one was the exact opposite. This was called "The Church of Bones" and it was exactly that! This one was a little more dilapidated as they said since the bones were so difficult to remove, it was hard to do restorations on the church. It was estimated that around 600 people were laid to rest in this church, many of them used for decorations.
This was one of the most unique churches that we were able to visit by far, and one of the most memorable, for good reason! After the tours of the churches, our next stop was the silver mines! Kutna Hora was well known for their silver mines back in the day, and we had the opportunity to visit one! Much smaller than the Salt Mine we visited in Poland, this one was a tight squeeze to say the least. It was dripping with water, and many times we had to duck or turn to the side in order to fit! However, we got to wear these fancy white lab coats and a helmet with a light, so we were all pretty happy.
This pretty much concluded our time in Kutna Hora....now we are off to Cesky Krumlov!
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Another small medieval town, but one with a lot more character in my opinion, was Cesky Krumlov! Situated directly on a river, this was one of the cutest little Czech towns. The main attraction in this town was the Cesky Krumlov Castle! This was interesting because, as a tradition, they still had a grizzly bear in the moat of the castle. The castle was more like a palace and was quite large for such a small town! However, the palace was very interesting and the most interesting part was that they take the bears that have passed away and use their fur as rugs. This palace was also said to be haunted by a member of the family that used to live there, however, I saw zero ghosts which I was disappointed about. Attached to the castle was a very intricate theatre that the royal family used. This theatre was incredible and a lot of thought was put into it during the design. We got to learn a few of the steps used during play production and go underneath the stage to see how it worked from the inside!
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Undoubtedly the best part of the trip, and our last class activity together was rafting on the river. We were quite worried we would have to miss out on this because previously the weather was not cooperating. However, it eventually warmed up and we got the go ahead! Truly one of the best experiences of the whole trip and a great bonding time with my group!
Thanks for reading!!