08/06/07
At yesterday's breakfast table, I was eavesdropping a conversation between an American guy and a British woman.
They were talking about a small town called Kutna Hora.
He was saying that this is a world heritage registered site.
An enthusiastic way of his talk seemed to have had some gradual effect on me,
as I found myself net surfing lastnight, trying to find my way to get there.
It looked like it was about two hours away from Prague, which is within my definition of a 'day trip'.
So I decided to give it a go.
Leaving the hostel early in the morning, I got on a train, bound for Budapest, from Prague Holsovice station.
The name 'Budapest' somehow had a negative impression on me,
and I was hit by a fear that if I fall asleep, my life could end in Budapest.
Thus, during this short journely, I focused on my novel, trying to stay awake.
I changed train at Kolin, and arrived in Kutna Hora before lunch time.
In the station, there was a map that showed my current location with a large red pointing arrow.
And quite away from this red arrow was the town of Kutna Hora; it seemed more than 3km away...
3km is usually a walkable distance, but not when you're new to the place and cannot speak the language in use.
I thought, how in the world am I to get there?
I asked a lady in the ticket office.
She wrote on a piece of paper the time and the platform number and gave a gesture towards a platform.
Apparently, she was trying to tell me that there is a train to the town.
The train was like a bus converted, quite badly, into a train.
The journey was a bumpy one.
But it was a short 15 minutes.
As I arrived, I found myself starved.
So I went into the first pub that I came across.
The sky was beautiful with the clouds which I've missed seeing so much warmed my feeling.
It was the sky I remember seeing when I was a child.
I found a seat outside in the back garden.
I ordered a dish that contained some spicy chiken and beef.
I also orded a beer, a dark beer, locally brewed.
The dish was delicious and I thought oh what a joy to be able to eat.
I thanked God that I was alive.
I visited the cathedral.
This cathedral, as I remember from my review of the town on the internet,
was one of the predominant reasons for the town's World Heritage status.
But unfortunately, the cathedral was heavily under repair and being an ignorant person,
I couldn't not fully appreciate its historical importance.
Travelling alone is a bliss, but sometimes I wish that there to be someone who can explain to me,
what I am exactly seeing and how precious what I am seeing.
But one does not need to know the historical importance
to appreciate the beauty of nature.
The town looked so pictureseque under the blue sky and big thunderhead clouds.
I cannot explain why but the summer clouds give me nostalgia.
After a good long walk around almost all the narrow streets in Kutna Hora,
I visited a chruch which is about 3 km away from the town (near the above mentioned station).
The church was called Kostnice Ossuary, was decorated with bones, bones bones.
In my lifetime, I've visited many churches, but I've never seen such an ominous (not sure the word is proper for describing a church) church.
I wondered whether they hold services here, probably not.
They had a chandelier that is supposed to be using 'all the bones in human body'.
I was like, okkayyyy....
I returned to Prague in the evening and had my dinner at the same pub as yesterday.
Today, I ordered a chicken, spinnatch and potatoes dipped in butter.
It was more filling than yesterday and I was satisfied.
On my way back to my hostel, I went to Tesco and bought some food for tomorrow's journey.
In the evening, my laptop got infected by a computer virus.
I shouldn't have brought my laptop, it's a piece of big heavy junk now that I must carry until the end of my journey.
Well, at least I backed up all my data before I left UK.