PRAGUE and KUTNA HORA

Frontispice of the Art-Nouveau Municipal House
Coat of Arms (Bones!) Kutna Hora



February 2, 2010
Dear family and friends
So far I had been very impressed with the European transport’s punctuality and level of service. This was about to change.
Shortly before my 7:20 pm departure time (Gare du Midi train station) I checked the main display board.
It showed the departure time would be 12 minutes late and would be on plateform 5. I also noticed that several other trains would be late. This is very easy to notice as the number of minutes late show in bright red.
I waited at platform 5 and entered a conversation with a young women from Slovenia. About 10 minutes before the revised departure time I became a little concerned as the plateform’s display board did not show any information about our train to Koln. The woman went down to the main terminal, and came back running. Apparently, because of several late trains, they had to change the plateform number, it was now platform 2.
We ran to the platform that separates track 2 and track 3. There was no display about our train. I asked an attendant about our train, and he pointed to track 3. I asked him again and he confirmed, so we moved to platform 3. A little time later a train arrived at platform 2!! The woman and I looked at each other and run to the other track, by that time all doors were closed except the one with the train attendant standing by, we run and found out that, yes indeed, this was the train for Koln.
I am still wondering how people find out about a late track change. The plateform’s display board did not show any info (maybe that is the only clue) and nobody came to tell us that there was change.
Anyway, I was worry about missing my connection to Prague. I shouldn’t have worry, my next train was 35 minutes late!
This reminded me of another experience on my previous trip to Europe. Everything went like clockwork until I boarded a Swiss train which, after a breakdown, arrived at my station more than an hour late!!

In Prague, I am staying in the Tyn Hostel wonderfully located steps away from the main square. This is my second time in Prague which gave me an opportunity to redo some of the things I really enjoyed and to do some of the things I did not do the first time.

Architecturally speaking, Prague is a beautiful city, and one of the few major European cities that were spared during the last war. I again followed the King’s Coronation Walk. A new King, and his entourage would start from the East Gate, on to the Main Square, over the Karlov’s Bridge, thru the West Gate, and then up thru several Squares to Pragues Castle.
The Castle is a huge complex encompassing several churches, administrative offices, museums.
The most outstanding building is by far the St Vitus Church, this Gothic Cathedral. After several architects over a period of 600 years, the cathedral was finally completed in 1929. Decorated with precious work of arts, it encloses St Wenceslas Chapel (name for the ‘Good King ‘ Wenceslas) and crypts with Bohemian kings.

I joined and organized tour to Kutna Hora, famous for its underground silver mines (closed at this time of the year, and for it nearby Sedlec Bone Church. This churches contains the bones of 40,000 people (killed by the 14th - century plagues and 15th-century wars. The bones have been arranged in many different designs, including a chandelier that includes all of the bones in the human body.

Later today I will take a couple of trains for a long ride to Ljubliana in Slovenia.

Love and Peace -henri