This is the third day in Prague, and of my Trafalgar tour. I arrived on Friday morning after a VERY early start at London airport. After the Paris trip I didn't expect to be in another departure lounge at 5.30 am but there I was at LHR waiting for my 7.30am flight to Prague. The flight was uneventful, but cramped, British Airways is as bad as any other airline when cramming the seats in.
My room wasn't ready so I went for a walk and saw the Old Town Square, with its Astronomical Clock, and the Charles Bridge
.
Back at the hotel my room was ready and so was I for a short nap! Met the tour guide and the other tour members and then we all went for a Welcome dinner at a local restaurant. And very good it was, too.
Saturday morning, 9.00 am, not too early(!) we set out on the guided walk of the historical parts of the city. This actually involved taking the coach up to Prague Castle. We spent nearly 2 hours there, hearing about the castle and Czech history, most of which I've forgotten! We visited St. Vitus Cathedral which is in the Castle grounds. The castle and cathedral and government offices are all tied in together, it seems. Also there were hordes of tourists, as well as us. This is true of wherever you go in Prague.
Then it was back on the coach to the Old Town, where we walked through to the Square, and the Astronomical Clock. The guide deliberately got us there after noon, as at noon, and at any hour when the clock performs, there are thousands of people. However, this meant we did not see it perform, which I think we should have done as part of the tour.
The guide took us into an extremely ornate church but unfortunately we were not able to stay as they were about to close for a service. This was the case with other churches I would have liked to have seen.
One thing to be said - Prague may be a UNESCO world heritage site, but a bit of steam cleaning of its buildings would be a good idea.
The Metronome is at the top of a very steep incline and as far as I could tell you get there by walking up about a 1000 steps, or taking a tram
. I wasn't up for the steps and never got time to do the tram. Apparently that spot originally had a statue of Stalin but when the communists left the Czechs toppled Stalin (like Lenin in Red Square I imagine) and replaced him with the Metronome.
Sunday we set off at 8.30 am (actually 8.45 am as there is a group of young women who are apparently incapable of being on time anywhere!) on an optional tour to Kutna Hora, a small town only about 75 mins drive from Prague, which is a UNESCO world heritage site in itself. It is a town built on silver mining, right from the earliest times, and subsequently iron ore!
We saw the Cathedral of St. Barbara who is the patron saint of miners, at least of the silver miners. We went into the Mining Museum and saw how they mined the silver, and the mechanisms for getting the ore to the surface (a man-driven windlass and a horse driven wheel), and how far down they had to descend, on a very rickety wooden ladder. They could spend as much as four hours a day going down and back up, and they didn't get paid for that time
.
Kutna Hora also was having a festival/fete of some kind, with locals dressed in period costume and stalls selling food and souvenirs, and jousting displays. Also, of course, hordes of tourists, though they did not impinge as much as you might think. We had free time to get lunch and investigate the stalls and shops, then into the Cathedral for a quick view.
Then on to another place I didn’t get the name of, which used to have a monastery (now, believe it or not, a tobacco museum run by Phillip Morris, the cigarette makers; when the guide first mentioned this I thought he was joking!) Here we saw an Ossuary – it has to be seen to be believed! When farmers were ploughing their fields in the 19th century, they kept digging up bones and skeletons from as far back as the 15th century of men who had been killed in the many wars and buried where they fell. The bones and skeletons (of some thousands of bodies) were all moved to a chapel and rather than reburying them, they decorated the chapel in a very ornate manner with the skulls, bones and skeletons. Interesting concept but not suitable if you believe in an after life that includes the body.
After communism
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Prague, Czech Republic
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Comments

2025-05-23
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Sue
2015-06-22
Loved Prague. It's a beautiful city. Lots of musical offerings if I remember correctly. Enjoy.
diannevdp
2015-06-22
Looks beautiful, Liz. I love the churches!
Judy
2015-06-22
It looks amazing; it is on my wish list and your descriptions really bring it alive. My day at the library doesn't compare! Take care
Margaret McLoughlin
2015-06-26
I also loved Prague. A beautiful city but with such a sad, chequered history. We have seen similar "ossuaries" on our travels - Robert thinks in China and southern France.
Julie
2015-07-12
Glad you saw the ossuary. We came upon it by accident, knowing nothing about it. I can STILL remember our jaws dropping as we walked in and saw the skulls and bones festooned like Christmas decorations around the church! Truly amazing! And gruesome!