Kutna Hora, Czech

July 2, 2022

Today we made a day trip out of the city to explore more of the Czech Republic. We went to a small historical town - Kutna Hora, about an hour by train from Prague. It was a silver mining town and was very rich during the medieval. But the life of miners was full of uncertainty and danger, so many churches were built there to ask for God's blessing. The Historical Town Center with the Church of St. Barbara, the Cathedral of Assumption of Our Lady and St. John the Baptist at Sedlec, the Sedlec Abbey and its Ossuary (Church of the Bone) was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We first visited the Cathedral of Assumption of Our Lady and St. John the Baptist and then went to the more popular and touristy Church of the Bone. It sounded scary, a church with nothing but bones. At first, we hesitated to go. But curiosity overcame the fear, and we went inside. The ossuary church was extraordinary. Here does the story go. The abbey cemetery was a desirable burial site throughout Central Europe before the mid-14th century, with many thousands being buried. Around 1400, a Gothic church was built in the center of the cemetery, and a chapel was used as an ossuary for the mass graves unearthed during construction or simply making room for new burials. After 1511, a half-blind monk was tasked with exhuming skeletons and stacking their bones in the chapel. Later in the 19th century, a woodcarver put bone heaps into the art form of church decoration. It was an entirely different way to deal with the overcrowded burial site than Jewish did. Taking pictures inside was not allowed; if interested, you can check them on the Internet.

After seeing the Ossuary, we took the bus to St. Barbara's Cathedral. Before heading inside the cathedral, we needed to find a place for lunch since all of us were hungry. We picked a restaurant in the town nearby the cathedral and sat outside with a nice view. Here came a little story about our lunch at the restaurant. Everyone placed orders inside, and the server would find you and bring the food to the table. We ordered sausages, Falafel, and pickle cheese, a famous Czech snack. As we sat at a table in the courtyard waiting for our food, two young guys found a table next to us. As we waited and waited, a waiter brought three dishes just like ours to their table. We thought those might be our food since those two guys came to the restaurant later than us, so we asked the waiter if he might deliver the order to the wrong table. He was agitated a little and asked us to wait. In the meantime, two guys took pictures of the food and enjoyed it. We wondered what the chance was of two guys ordering the same three dishes as ours. After another 15 minutes, our food still didn't show up. We went inside and inquired about our order. A manager-like lady checked our order receipt, then asked the cooker in the kitchen and the waiter who delivered the food to the table. They then realized a mistake had been made and expedited our order. All three dishes were excellent. Interestingly, as we were enjoying our delicious food, the same waiter brought two more dishes to the next table, totally different from the first three dishes. Our guess was those were actually what the guys ordered in the first place. The two guys looked confused. The guys and the waiter did not speak much English, so some effort was needed to explain the situation. In the end, these two guys happily enjoyed all five dishes.

The gothic style Cathedral of St. Barbara was stunning and magnificent from the outside. It was gorgeous, with many frescoes and sculptures inside, which were from the medieval.

After seeing the church, we visited a few minor tourist attractions in the town, and we loved this place. Before taking the train back to Prague, we found a lovely cafe for a break, having a cup of coffee, beer, and lemon tea, freshly roasted almond and fried potato chips were particularly delicious. Today's outing was very relaxing and enjoyable.

We learned from our tour guide the other day that two percent of the general population in the Czech Republic was Vietnamese, the third largest ethnic minority. We decided to try Vietnamese food tonight after we returned to Prague. We found a top-rated restaurant on Google Maps, which offered excellent food but didn't seem like the traditional Vietnamese food we were used to.

After dinner, we slowly walked back to the flat. On the streets and buildings of Prague, it was common to see sculptures hanging in the air and on the walls. But if you were in a hurry and did not look up, it was easy to miss them. We saw quite a few of them. On our way back, we were attracted by a shop specializing in Czech desserts, just like our glutinous rice balls, which can be filled with various fillings, salty or sweet. We had one salty and one sweet. Both were delicious, and what a perfect ending to our Czech tour.

欧洲游第四十三天：今天去了捷克的一个小镇-Kutna Hora，从布拉格过去大约一个多小时的火车。这小镇中世纪时是白银矿，很有钱，但矿工的人生充满不确定的危险，所以在那里造了不少教堂以求神的保佑。其中圣芭芭拉大教堂，圣母和圣约翰洗者大教堂和人骨教堂是入选世界遗产名录的。先去了圣母和圣约翰洗者大教堂和人骨教堂，人骨教堂很特殊，教堂里装饰全是用人骨做成的，听上去很可怕，真去了也没什么。不让照相，感兴趣可以上网查一下。

看完人骨教堂后就坐公交车去圣芭芭拉大教堂，先在大教堂所在的镇上找了个餐厅吃午饭，我们点了香肠，泡菜奶酪和中东素菜球。哥德式的圣芭芭拉大教堂是非常美丽壮观，里面的壁画和雕塑都是中世纪的。看完教堂后，又去镇上几个小景点扫了一遍，很喜欢这个小镇。离回去的火车还有一个多小时，找了个地方休息休息喝上一杯咖啡啤酒柠檬茶，他们现炸的土豆片特别好吃。今天的郊外游很轻松很开心。

昨天听说在捷克有百分之二的越南人，是第三大少数民族，今天决定去尝试一下这里越南美食，找一家网上排名前列的店，味道不错但好像不是我们想象中的传统的越南菜。饭后又慢慢地走回住所，在路上被一家专卖捷克甜点的店给吸引住了，就像我们的糯米团一样，里面可放有各种各样的馅，说是甜点，但也有咸味的，甜咸各要了一个，真好吃，算是给捷克游画上了一个完整的句号。

Jewish Old City 犹太人旧城

July 1, 2022

We went to the city square in the morning before the most tourists showed up. The square was tranquil and beautiful. One or two cafes on the square opened for breakfast and coffee. We had a cup of cappuccino costing 8 euros, including the currency exchange and tip. It was the most expensive coffee on this trip. But enjoying a peaceful time in the square was worth the money.

The 48-hour Prague tourist card we purchased would expire at noon today. Before it was over, we stopped by the Powder Tower, one of the 13 city gates in Prague, used to store gunpowder in the 17th century. It was difficult climbing up since the staircases were very narrow and steep. The view from the top was fantastic, and there were metal plaques in the tower to help recognize all the city's significant buildings.

Then we visited the Jewish Quarter, one of the unique places in Prague. The Jewish Museum was composed of several synagogues and an old Jewish cemetery. Jewish had settled in Prague as early as the 10th century. Jews' life in the Czech had been terrible, discriminated against, and persecuted greatly throughout history, except for just a few years after World War I and after the decomposition of the Soviet Union. The names of 80,000 Prague Jews who died during World War II are inscribed on the walls of one of the synagogues. The old Jewish cemetery, one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in Europe, from the first half of the 15th century until 1786, was the most remarkable of its kind. During the more than three hundred years in which it was in active use, the old cemetery struggled with the lack of space but was not allowed to expand beyond the existing plot. Jewish tradition didn't allow to abolish the old graves, so many soil layers were added to the ancient tombs for burial. The grave surface was raised several meters higher than the surrounding streets. Several old synagogues presented their experiences, Judaism, and culture. This was our first time visiting the Jewish community, and it was a great way to see the city of Prague and learn the history of the Jewish people in Prague and Czech. On the way to the Jewish Quarter, we spotted an old Coffee maker in the store window, which was the largest one we had ever seen.

Lunch was Chinese food and tasted average, but it was the first time in 40 days that we had stir-fried bok choy, the authentic Chinese veggie. We did not even take pictures before it was all gone. Every time we visit a new country, we like to try Chinese food if it's available. Sometimes the food would be surprisingly good, but not this one.

Seeing the Infant Jesus of Prague, highly recommended online, was our afternoon activity. A little disappointed as the Infant Jesus was just a tiny wooden/wax statue in a small church. But at least the church was beautiful. On the way back to the flat, we were surprised to see a large crowd in front of the old town hall, a clear contrast comparing to the morning.

After we returned to the flat to rest, wind/percussion music was on the street, and a group of people marched through the street, shouting and singing. We didn't know what religion it was, but they looked happy.

We had tomato, mushroom, and egg soup again. We planned to go out after dinner, but the rain kept us in the flat for the night.

欧洲游第四十二天：买的48小时观光卡今天中午要过期。赶在作废之前又去爬了另外二个城楼，然后就来到犹太人旧城参观。在捷克的犹太人很不容易, 几百年来，除了第一次世界大战后短短几年和苏联分解后，他们一直受到歧视和迫害，几个旧犹太教堂都介绍他们的经历，犹太教和他们的文化。二次大战期间死去的犹太人的名字都刻在其中一个犹太教堂的墙面上。第一次参观犹太人社区，了解了不少。午餐是中餐，味道一般，不过算是四十天来第一次吃上炒青菜。反正每次去一个新的国家总是要尝试一下那里的中餐。下午去看网上推荐的婴儿耶稣，没什么意思，不值得特地跑去一次。回到旅馆休息一下，楼下传来吹打声，没搞清楚是什么教。晚上本想要出去转悠，结果因为下雨就只能乖乖地呆在旅馆了。

Tram Tour 观光有轨电车

June 30, 2022

Unlike yesterday afternoon's pouring rain, it was a little drizzling outside this morning. We made bacon/eggs breakfast and coffee at the flat, then went to the Jewish Old City early. But after buying tickets and knowing the tickets were valid for seven days, we decided to see some other outdoor attractions first since the sky opened up and the clouds were gone. We would return to the Jewish Quarter tomorrow.

Prague has a special sightseeing tram, Line 42, that circles the city center, running from Thursday to Sunday, and the ticket is valid for 24 hours, with unlimited hop-on and hop-off. The trams in use are all old antiques. The first one we boarded was more than 90 years old, and the driver stood up to drive and had to honk his horn with his foot. A young girl conductor, dressed in the 1930s, shouted the names of the following stops and punched a hole in the tickets. It was like a travel back in time as we rode past Prague's most iconic sites.

After circling in a half loop around the city, we got off at Petrin Hill Station. Located at the base of Petrin Hill was this disturbing series of statues we passed by, dedicated to the political prisoners from 1948-1989. We took the funicular up to the top of the hill. Petrin Hill is one of the largest urban green areas in the center of Prague, a favorite spot for local families with children and young couples. The Rose Garden, or rosarium, at the top of Petrin Hill, Nebozízek Garden, and the Seminary Garden were particularly magical. We took the elevator to the Petrin Lookout Tower, a popular tourist attraction for its incredible city views. We also went to the mirror maze and had fun, reminding us of "haha" mirrors at the famous entertainment place called "Big World" in Shanghai when we were young.

We had a quick lunch with the Turkish pita bought from the small cafe near the bus station while waiting for the bus and got onto the sightseeing tram again. This time it was a different car, which was more modern with colorful seats. The historic tram took us to the Dlabacov station on the outskirt of the city. There was not much to see in that area, and we had to wait for 30 minutes to get back on the tram. Before we boarded the tram, we found a lovely coffee shop nearby and had our coffee break. After completing a loop, we arrived at the boat terminal and boarded the river sightseeing boat. Before the tour started, coffee or beer and chocolate-coated ice cream were served. Some trivia facts about the Vltava River in Prague were described during the one-hour tour. The river sightseeing tour was informative and scenic. But the day was not done yet. We had another guided tour at six o'clock in the evening.

We returned to the residence for a quick early dinner, our favorite tomato, mushroom, and egg soup. When we arrived at the tourist office where our tour would start, because only just three of us signed up for the tour, it became a private guided tour. After knowing that we had participated in a large group of old city hall guided tour yesterday, the tour guide lady slightly changed the focus to the things we didn't know from the last tour. She first explained to us some of the histories of the old city government hall that we didn't learn yesterday, and then took us to the streets to some famous places in the ancient city. Having a private guide accompany you to see the place was much better than just self-guided walking. She also explained that the old town center was the city on the top of the ancient city, and under the current road surface, there was the ancient Roman city. It took about 70-80 years to add Gothic architecture to Roman architecture slowly. Most of the Gothic buildings, built after the Middle Ages, we saw today were built on the top of the ancient Roman city. There was often an old Roman church buried underneath the beautiful Gothic church. We learned a lot today.

欧洲游第四十一天：没像昨天下午那样倾盆大雨，今天早上起来外面有点濛濛细雨，在住所吃完培根鸡蛋后早早出门，来到犹太人旧城，但买了票后知道参观票七天内有效，加上那时雨过天晴，我们决定先去一些其它室外景点，明天再回到犹太区参观。

布拉格有专门的观光有轨电车围绕市中心转，从周四到周日，车票是24小时有效，可以无限上下，而且电车都是老古董。我们坐的第一辆车像是有九十多年的老车了，司机按喇叭必须用脚踩。坐着车转了半圈后在Petrin小山站下然后坐索道缆车到山顶再坐电梯上了Petrin 塔，在塔顶上将布拉格全城美景尽收眼底。山顶上有个镜子迷宫，匆匆进去走一圈，有点像小时候去大世界看里面的哈哈镜。午餐是在车站附近买了个土尔其烤肉皮塔饼，这种烤肉摊城里到处都是，既便宜又好吃😋，从来吃不厌。吃完又坐上了旅游观光车，这次是不同的车，比较现代化。转了一大圈后来到游船码头，坐上了观光船。一小时游程中，又送咖啡啤酒还给紫雪糕，还讲解一些有关布拉格这条伏尔塔瓦河的琐事。傍晚六点有个导游讲解游，先回住所吃了个很简单的早晚饭，还是老规矩-番茄蘑菇鸡蛋汤，洗洗昨晚上大块肉的油脂😀。没想到预约的导游讲解游，因为只有我们三位报名了，就变成了私人导游游👍。知道我们昨天有参加过大组的老城市政厅讲解游后，导游先是给我们讲解了一些昨天没学到的有关老城市政厅的历史，然后带我们上街去了旧城里一些有典故的地方。有私人导游陪着讲解要比自己随便看好许多，了解不少事。其实老城中心是城上城，在现在路面下面，有着古老罗马城。后来大约花了70-80年的时间慢慢地在罗马建筑上加哥德式的建筑，在现在所看到的中世纪后所建的哥德式大楼大多数都建在罗马古城上，漂亮的教堂下常常有一个罗马旧教堂埋在底下。

Prague Castle 布拉格城堡

June 29, 2022

It had been forty days since we came to Europe, and we didn't seem to want to go home yet. The weather in Prague was much more comfortable than in Budapest by now. We didn't want to rush today, so we went out for breakfast and wandered around the farmers market nearby. Those fresh fruits in the market looked very good.

We purchased a 48-hour Prague tourist card for each of us from the tourist office and started our sightseeing near noon. Our first tour was the free guided tour to the old city hall, covered with admission to the hall. The tour guide took us around the old city hall and told us how the city hall and the town had evolved over time. The entire old town has been raised by more than five meters over the years. The street floor from seven or eight hundred years ago has now become underground basements or cellars. There was an underground city under the present town. He took us to the basement and showed us various rooms under the hall. The underground structures were only open to the guided tour. But the highlight of the city hall visit was to see the astronomical clock tower and twelve Jesus apostles from the building inside, just behind the clock. After the guided tour, we went to the city hall tower to have a panoramic view of the square.

For lunch, we bought smoke sausages at a stall in the square to make our stomachs happy and then took the bus to Prague Castle on the other side of the river, not far from the Old Town. The castle is home to the most famous and largest Catholic church in the Czech Republic, St. Vitus Cathedral. The Prague Royal Palace in the castle was not as impressive as Schonbrunn in Vienna. Still, some of the other buildings in the castle have some unique characters, including the Golden Lane, where the former bars and the houses of the lower classes were, not too far from the castle.

The private Lobkowicz Palace of the Prince Lobkowicz family is inside Prague Castle. The visit to Lobkowicz Museum was rewarding. The family lost the palace and the valuable collections twice, the first during World War II and the second under Communist rule. The family fled the Czech Republic and went to the United States during the communist period, and of course, all the real estate and collections were "raided." After the fall of the Communist Party, they moved back to the Czech Republic and began to rebuild and restore the former palace. The country even passed a new law allowing their family and others to get the raided treasures back. The collection in the museum was unique and worth the visit.

After a whole afternoon of sightseeing, we eyed a big Czech dinner, a large crispy pork knuckle, a traditional Czech dish at Pork’s. The knuckle was tender inside and crispy outside, very, very tasty. It was ten times better than the last time we had in a German town outside Seattle. We also had pork schnitzel, one of the best schnitzels on this trip. This restaurant knew how to cook the meat. The food was amazing and service was excellent. With the local beer, fried knuckle, and pork schnitzel, the fatigue of walking and sightseeing in the afternoon quickly went away. In addition, we also learned a few things about beer ordering in Prague, Snyt, or Mliko. Snyt beer has 50% foam and Mliko 90% foam. We had one Pilsner beer with 90% foam and a black beer. The Prague beer tasted delicious. Of course, we couldn't finish a big pork knuckle and brought half of it back to our apartment. After we paid the bill, the waiter gave each of us a shot of honey whiskey. Although it was sweet and tasted very good, all we could take was just one sip due to the very high alcohol concentration. While we liked our knuckle, schnitzel, and beer, our daughter enjoyed her Vegan dish too.

After dinner, the sky got dark, and suddenly the rain poured down when we walked across the Charles bridge. We got all wet but found the Old Town Bridge Tower was still open, so we climbed up the tower and got a panoramic view of Prague's old town.

欧洲游第四十天：来欧洲已有四十天了，好像还没有想回家的念头😜。布拉格的气候比布达佩斯舒服多了，今天不用赶路，安安心心地出去吃了个早餐，近中午时才开始外出观光。第一件事是每人买张48小时旅游卡，开始我们布拉格游。先去了老城市政厅，跟着导游转了一圈，包括上到天文钟楼，近距离看到那整点报时出来的十二个使徒。了解了不少事，整个老城区提高了五米多，七，八百年前的底层现在变成了地窖。午餐就在小摊上买了根香肠充饥，然后就去了河对岸离老城不远的布拉格城堡。城堡里有着捷克最著名，最大的天主教堂-圣维特大教堂（St. Vitus Cathedral) 。城堡里的布拉格王室宫殿比起奥地利的要差一些，但城堡里其他一些建筑有些特色，其中金色小街是以前的酒吧和下层人居住的地方。最后参观了洛布科维奇宫，是私人宫殿，属于以前亲王贵族家的。先后失去了二次，第一次是二战期间，第二次是在共产党统治下，全家逃离捷克去了美国，当然所有的房地产和收藏品都被＂抄家＂。共产党下台后，他们搬回捷克开始重建修复以前的宫殿。看了整整一下午的景点后，晚餐是捷克餐。一大个脆皮猪肘子里嫩外脆，非常非常合胃口，比上次在西雅图市外的德国小镇上的好吃多了，再配上啤酒，把一下午走路看景的劳累全带走了😜。另外学了新的东西，啤酒可以要大杯但沫多酒少的那种，他们的黑啤很好喝。当然一个大猪肘子一个人是吃不完的还带了一半回去。

Prague, Czech Republic 布拉格,捷克

June 28, 2022

We were very exciting going to another new country - the Czech Republic. But it was a long travel day, and the train ride from Budapest to Prague, the Czech Republic, took more than seven hours. Since it was raining in the morning, the taxi took a while to show up. Fortunately, the train station is not very far, and it didn't delay that much. We had booked a direct train from Budapest to Prague, but a section of the railway in the middle was washed away by a mudslide a few days ago, and the bus transferred the passengers to bypass the damaged railway section. As we got off the bus, a policeman shouted "passport, passport" to the crowd. We didn't have the passports in hand. When we tried to get our passports, the police officers just waved to let us go without checking the passports. We saw two passengers get arrested because they didn't have the documents. It was the first time we had witnessed such an event in the past 40 days in Europe, and we had crossed the border multiple times. It seemed that the border inspection was profile targeting.

We arrived at Prague's central train station after five in the afternoon and called Uber to get us to our hotel apartment in the old town center. Part of the old town area was pedestrian-only, and no cars were allowed. After getting off the Uber, we had to drag our suitcase through the cobblestone street, which was not easy. Besides the bedroom, the apartment had a large living room, small kitchen, and washer machine, but we later discovered it didn't have AC, and they gave us two fans to cool the rooms down. The apartment was next to a busy alley and was noisy during the day. However, the location was perfect.

After settling in, we walked to the old town square nearby, just in time for the Prague Astronomical Clock to announce the hour. The clock was a medieval astronomical clock attached to the Old Town Hall and was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest clock still in operation. There were hundreds of people anxiously waiting for the twelve Jesus apostles to appear one by one out of two small doors on the clock. The whole sequence lasted about a few minutes.

After another vegan dinner, we went to the famous Charles Bridge, which was overcrowded. We were uncomfortable with the large crowd, so we left the bridge and returned to the square. There were several food booths, and when we saw big ham being grilled on the stall, our appetite was up again. The ham was sold by weight, starting with 100 grams. We couldn't hold it back and asked for some, which tasted good. Our first impression of Prague was good.

Charles Bridge

欧洲游第三十九天：今天又要去一个新的国家-捷克🇨🇿。从布达佩斯坐火车到捷克的布拉格(Prague)要七个多小时，早上起来下雨了，下雨天叫出租车有些难，还好没耽搁太久，且火车站也不是很远。我们订的是直达的火车，但中间有一段铁路前些天被泥石流冲毁了，只能用汽车来代替。铁路公司安排了大巴🚌将我们从一辆火车送到另一辆。有点吃惊的是刚下大巴就有二名乘客因为没有护照而被抓，来欧洲近四十天还是第一次碰到，但并没有查我们，看来边境检查是有针对性的。下午五点多到了布拉格，叫Uber 来到老城中心的小旅馆，也带厨房的。在安顿好了之后就走去旁边的老城广场，正好赶上天文钟整点报时，精彩点是十二位耶稣使徒们一个个在两个小门里出现。饭后又去了著名的查理大桥，桥上人满为患，匆匆走了一遍。回到布拉格广场看到小摊上正烤着火腿时，食欲又来了，实在是憋不住，要了一百克火腿，味道还真好。对布拉格第一印象不错。