2/8 - 2/12
Prague was a little warmer than Budapest, albeit still covered in snow. We initially checked into the popular Chili Hostel, which turned out to be a horrible dump. We weren't expecting great things from a 20-bed dorm room, but one combined shower/toilet room between 30+ people? Please. We moved to a hotel masquerading as a hostel shortly after.
The astrological clock and all the usual sights were present and correct. Nothing different from when I last visited ~10 years previously.
We went on an extended wedding ring hunt, but ended up chasing down red herrings all day and had nothing to show for our efforts. We did get to see the shockingly ugly TV tower and a weird modern church though.
The 'little quarter' and Prague Castle were really impressive. For some reason I couldn't recall having visited the castle before, so it felt fresh and interesting.
We went to see an opera but decided to skip the classics and saw a modern production aimed at families called 'Enchantia' instead. We arrived shortly before it was scheduled to begin, but apparently that's late in operatic terms so we confusedly and hurriedly sought out our seats while glowy-headed 'fairies' floated up and down the aisles. I nearly showed one my ticket before I realised she was a performer! Other people, perhaps with VIP tickets, were walking through gauzy tunnels on stage before heading to their seats. The story was quite entertaining, with 'Mythologia' being threatened by cockatrices who steal a book in which the land's properties are recorded. The book being represented by a huge mobile frame with 3 metre high pages, constantly turned by the hand of a woman in white at the top of the contraption. One cockatrice steals a bow from a violinist in the orchestra pit, and when she chases after him the quest begins. An operatic parrot, comedic toad, slinking werewolves, mermaids with lively tails, breakdancing weasels and dozens of other animals and sprites rounded out the cast. Fun.
It turns out that the thing I really wanted to see in Prague isn't in Prague. Kutna Hora features the infamous ossuary and the bones of about 30,000 people on display. A legend of soil from Golgotha and total decomposition in three days made the area an insanely popular place to be buried. Why the 40,000 bodies' worth of bones were originally exhumed I'm not sure, but after spending a while stacked up outside the church someone decided to whitewash the bones and stack them in six giant pyramids. Later on another guy broke down two of the pyramids and just went to town with the decoration. A crest, a chandelier featuring all the bones in a human body, cups, crosses and frescoes. Bloody cold.
That evening we visited the bus terminal unsure of where to go next. That very night there were half-price seats available to Amsterdam, so we bought them and wrote off the pre-paid night in the hotel as an acceptable loss.
The astrological clock and all the usual sights were present and correct. Nothing different from when I last visited ~10 years previously.
Well, maybe these particular puppets weren't here 10 years ago.
The 'little quarter' and Prague Castle were really impressive. For some reason I couldn't recall having visited the castle before, so it felt fresh and interesting.
I like photographing photographers.
 |
| Art Nouveau stained glass. |
 |
| Rather aggressive gate guardians. |
We went to see an opera but decided to skip the classics and saw a modern production aimed at families called 'Enchantia' instead. We arrived shortly before it was scheduled to begin, but apparently that's late in operatic terms so we confusedly and hurriedly sought out our seats while glowy-headed 'fairies' floated up and down the aisles. I nearly showed one my ticket before I realised she was a performer! Other people, perhaps with VIP tickets, were walking through gauzy tunnels on stage before heading to their seats. The story was quite entertaining, with 'Mythologia' being threatened by cockatrices who steal a book in which the land's properties are recorded. The book being represented by a huge mobile frame with 3 metre high pages, constantly turned by the hand of a woman in white at the top of the contraption. One cockatrice steals a bow from a violinist in the orchestra pit, and when she chases after him the quest begins. An operatic parrot, comedic toad, slinking werewolves, mermaids with lively tails, breakdancing weasels and dozens of other animals and sprites rounded out the cast. Fun.
It turns out that the thing I really wanted to see in Prague isn't in Prague. Kutna Hora features the infamous ossuary and the bones of about 30,000 people on display. A legend of soil from Golgotha and total decomposition in three days made the area an insanely popular place to be buried. Why the 40,000 bodies' worth of bones were originally exhumed I'm not sure, but after spending a while stacked up outside the church someone decided to whitewash the bones and stack them in six giant pyramids. Later on another guy broke down two of the pyramids and just went to town with the decoration. A crest, a chandelier featuring all the bones in a human body, cups, crosses and frescoes. Bloody cold.
 |
| Spooky. |
Note the raven pecking out an eye (socket)
Signed.
Apparently the chandelier features 'every bone in the human body'.
That evening we visited the bus terminal unsure of where to go next. That very night there were half-price seats available to Amsterdam, so we bought them and wrote off the pre-paid night in the hotel as an acceptable loss.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment