Blogs from Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic, Europe - page 2

We boarded the plane in Auckland full of exhuberance and good cheer. The excitement was palpable as team mates from the Ice Fernz rallied together in the International Airport Terminal amidst hugs and chatter to snap photos of eachother in front of signs that read International Departures. By the time we disembarked in Dubai to switch planes, we were walking like zombies and decidedly less cheerful. Our team seating arrangement onboard the 14 hour flight had been thickly peppered by crying babies. I sat directly behind two women from the United Arab Emirates with their two young children who didn't have to decency to genuinely cry, but insisted on doing the fake-fussy cry nearly the entire journey--a piercing cry that managed to shatter even my sleeping-pill induced wonderland of dreams. By the end of that flight, ... read more

On the way to Kuta Hora I delighted in field upon field of canola, brilliant yellow and in fill bloom. I had previously thought this to be mustard. My guide was a wonderful older woman who had a lovely way about her and was always able to convey her feelings, attitudes, opinions and values throughout her commentary. She was charming and the day was glorious, bright and sunny just after an early morning rain, the sky was clear and the vista vast. Kutna Hora The town began in 1142 when established as a settlement as a Cistercian Monastary, the first in Bohemia. By 1260 German miners began to mine for silver in the mountain region, which they named Kuttenberg, and which was part of the monastery property. Under Abbot Heinrich Heidenreich the territory greatly advanced due ... read more

After doing most of the prescribed tourist sights of the Czech Republic - Kutna Hora, Plzen, Česky Krumlov, Karlstejn - during my first year here it's time to start looking away from the beaten track and finding more obscure places to visit. In this respect, the students that I teach are a goldmine. They can tell me if somewhere I find on google is an area of outstanding natural beauty or actually an industrial complex with low levels of gamma radiation and a cleverly-worded website. The last two weeks has seen two pretty warm weekends and two Bank Holidays so there's been plenty of time to get out and about. The first weekend, from a tip-off, we decided on the horrendously-named Telč (Telch - a place that sounds like you've just stood in something). Telč (I ... read more

The ossuary at Kutna Hora has official approval from the Vatican ... It started when some bones had to be moved from an old cemetery, and the "art work" just kept growing ... it was mostly the work of one person ...... read more

June 25th, our last Saturday in Prague After almost eleven months in Prague, working at the IBTS seminary, we were fast approaching our return home date. Bill had been interested in the events surrounding the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the Butcher of Prague. The village of Lidice came into history in a tragic way during the Nazi reprisals following his death. A Czech produced movie, named Lidice was released just in time for us to see it with our friend Marjon and this sparked a desire in all three of us to see the Lidice village memorial. This was out last chance to do so. Leaving from Dejvicka it is about a forty minute ride by public bus from Prague to Lidice. The route must be the same as that taken by the SS on what ... read more