Tuesday, 15 April 2014

Kutna Hora

There was an early start to Monday as we had booked a bus trip to Kutna Hora. On the way to our meeting place we managed to see the astronomical clock striking 9  o'clock though due to  summer time it only struck 8 . It was very interesting seeing the countryside which was mostly flat with large fields of oil seed rape or grain of some kind. There were also plenty of trees in full blossom, many of them fruit trees we gathered.

The first stop was the Bone Church Ossuary. Luckily we had read about it in advance or it might have been a shock. The crypt of the church had been filled with decorations made with human bones. As the guide book said it was like the Christmas decorations of the Adams Family with bones strung across the ceiling, a bone chandelier and even the family crest of the folk who commissioned it in the mid 1800's. It was very bizarre.

Kutna Hora was a very rich place in the Middle Ages due to the wealth of its silver mines. This also led to the development of a mint  so many people earned a good wage though possibly had a short life especially the miners who worked up to 500 metres underground. It was a charming town though we had to dodge the showers to take photos. Our guide told us all children learn English, many from nursery and then choose another language. She was from a younger generation than the last guide and had enjoyed complete freedom in her education. We had noticed how proficient all the young people were in cafés and shops.

We visited the Black Light Theatre at night, a combination of mime dance and puppets set against a lack background. We had chosen "Yellow Submarine", a show based loosely on Beatles music. It was one of several small theatres showing black light performances. The theatre needed a revamp and the show could have been a bit shorter but we did enjoy the music!

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