Kutna Hora

Today I had a NYU day trip to Kutna Hora. The town is famous for its silver mines, a cathedral built to rival that of St. Vitus in Prague (near the Castle), and the bone church. We boarded the bus bright and early at 8:15 am, and were on our way. Around 2 hours later, we arrived at St. Barbara's Cathedral, which is a late Gothic Cathedral considered to be one of the most beautiful churches in the country.

 St. Barbara's Cathedral

Next up, we went to the Italian Court (Vlassky dvur) with its Royal Mint where the famous Prague grosches were minted. We had another tour of the area and even saw a demo of how they make the silver coins.

The Italian Court

After that, we were on our own for lunch. A group of us had lunch at a Czech / Mexican place called Harmonia. I had a burrito there (tortillas, striploin, cheese, beans, eggs, and jalapenos with sides of salsa mexicana and refried beans). Then we made our way back to go on the silver mines tour. We toured the Hradek fortress, and explored the underground mines. It was around 40 m underground and very dark. We suited up in white, long jackets and helmets, and with our heavy duty flashlights climbed down the stairs leading into the mines. The mines were dark, damp, and narrow. There are areas that the miners had to crawl on their hands and knees to get through. We only went through the regular tunnel-like paths, and although at some points I had to walk sideways, there were very few places I had to bend downwards (although I'm sure many others did have to often!).

Walking down the path in the mines...

When we got back up ground, we went on our way, at last, to the "bone church". Named the Chapel of All Saints (also known as the Ossuary Chapel), it was rebuilt in baroque style by J. B. Santini at the end of the 14th century. It was decorated entirely with human bones which were arranged into decorations and pyramids by a half-blind monk in 1511.

 The "bone church"

Like the bone chandelier?

Orientation Day 4, 9/2/10

On Thursday I had Czech from 10 to 12:30. We learned some more basics – food vocab and grocery lingo. Then I went to lunch with Kim and Brianna to Govinda, a vegetarian Indian place. You ordered your food up front and they served you and then you seated yourself. The owners were Indian and wore the traditional clothes. I had some cauliflower/potato and a mixed vegetable pakora.

Afterwards, I had a couple of meetings to go to: upcoming trips at 2 and internships at 3. NYU sponsors several overnight and day trips throughout the next couple of months. We sign up on a first come, first served basis, and are allowed to sign up for one overnight and one day trip. Then we can put our names on as many waitlists as we want. We give a 500 crown deposit for the 2 trips we’re going to, and are returned the money when we get on the bus. I narrowed down my choices to Český Krumlov during September 10-11 and Kutná Hora during October 15.

The CK description is: “a small, beautifully preserved historic town located in the foothills of the Šumava Mountains in Southern Bohemia, CK is often described as the ‘pearl of Central Europe.’ The town played an important role in medieval and Renaissance Bohemia, but was more or less forgotten – and development halted – since that time. The town has experienced a revival since the Velvet Revolution, becoming one of the most popular tourist destinations in the CR.”

The KH description is: “was once famous for its silver mines and was one of the richest towns in the Czech lands. When the mines were emptied, the town was forgotten and the beautiful medieval and Renaissance architecture preserved. The town is on the UNESCO list of heritage sites, and also famous for its macabre bone church – a gothic church which was decorated by a creative priest in the 19th century with sculptures made from human bones.”

The internship meeting had several representatives speak. The different fields were: arts/film, journalism/media, business/law, development/international relations in the NGO sector, teaching/working with kids, and community service. I’ll apply to as many as I have time to write cover letters, since there’s no harm in sending out a resume/letter.

Later in the evening, we met outside Machova to go bowling with the rest of the kids in the program. We bowled until 11 and played a couple of games. It was fun… although I may need to rethink my bowling technique since my score barely made it into the double digits! The alley was pretty big and had about 13 aisles and was located in a huge mall. It was a bit far away, and we had to take a transfer, but it’s a big possibility that before the semester ends I’ll make my way over there again to check out what else the mall has to offer.

That was Thursday. Pretty busy, and an early morning the next day!