It is only the second weekend here in the Czech Republic and I feel like I have already been here for well over a month. We were about to go on our first class field trip. I was very excited but than I was told to only use my backpack and not bring my small suitcase. So, packing was a bit of a struggle I had a hard time packing for Budapest which was only 3 days and now I have to pack for 5 days all into one backpack!
With the help of my roommate Sheyenne telling me "really Bailey do you need that many" I was finally packed and ready to go! Quick shout to my roommate here ->
Sheyenne has already done this trip once through UNK, she has gone a second time for an internship! She has been extremely helpful throughout this process! Before we even knew we would be roommates she was answering my questions, before I left America, along with giving me lots of advice. She helped us all from the very start understand how the trams worked and also helped us get around the city. When we were booking our tickets to Budapest, she had recommend what websites to use for booking. She calls Ashley, Bree, Chase and I her babies and honestly she is not wrong, shes has helped us with almost everything and has been there for us when we need her. Much love for my roommate!! <3 ^
So we left on a Thursday morning and the first thing we visited was a Monastic church in Litomysl. Here we had the amazing opportunity to go down into the crypt. A crypt is a little room under the church where there is usually a stone chambered burial vault used to store the deceased. In this crypt their was also something a little different, I think it is best to show you a picture before I continue.
So this is supposed to represent baby Jesus while he is still in the Womb of the Virgin Mary. After looking at it for a bit all of a sudden sound affects were turned on of someone breathing extremely heavy. I am not going to lie I was a little freaked out, the breathing would go from slow and soft to very loud and very quick. Finally they told us that the breathing represented the Virgin Mary giving birth. It is meant to remind us that the Virgin Mary and Jesus were real people, Mary went through childbirth and Jesus was born just like we all are born from our mothers. Though a little scared at first I truly appreciated the concept and the whole art of the idea!
The top of this church was also very beautiful (though it was a bit of a climb to get there) every corner you looked at you could see the beautiful town surrounding it. I truly love the architecture I have been witnessing in Europe, I have never seen anything like it right before my eyes.
Our next stop was Kutna Hora where we would stay in a hotel for the night before heading to our final destination Český Krumlov. Here we were able to visit the Bone church! The Sedlec Ossuary or "the bone church" is artistically decorated by more than 40,000 human skeletons. So if you are anything like me you are probably wondering how all these bones ended up in a small chapel in the Czech Republic. Well, it all goes back to 1278 when the King of Bohemia sent the abbot of the Sedlec
Cistercian Monastery to Jerusalem. When the abbot came back he brought a jar of soil from the Golgotha, that was known as the “Holy Soil”. Soon people from all over the place desired to be buried in this, so they had to make the cemetery bigger. In the 15th century a Gothic church was built near the cemetery and its basement was used as an ossuary. The bones stayed there for centuries till 1870 when a woodcarver named Frantisek Rint was hired
(click the arrow for more pictures)
to place the bones in order. His goal was to decorate the chapel with the bones and create a reminder of the impermanence of human life and inescapable death.
The next morning we were back on the road for Český Krumlov but we did have to take one quick pit stop before we got there. We went on a Budweiser tour! (sorry mom it's legal here.) The Budejovivky Budvar brewery was founded in 1895. The beer brewing tradition however dates back to the 13th century.
Some fun facts about the brewery:
- They export their beer to over 70 countries.
- The brewery has been around for 124 years, the first batch was made in 1895.
- 1 602 000 hl was shipped from the brewery in 2018.
- They recycle and reuse their bottles, you can get money for turning bottles in.
Our tour guide was amazing she was so sweet and knew a lot about this brewery, she has worked here all her life and is truly passionate about what she does! I am not the biggest beer girl but the beer they gave us was straight from the barrel before any added chemicals and it was amazing!
Back on the bus again and our next stop was finally Český Krumlov! Our hostel was very nice. It had a full access kitchen and dining room area. With in the kitchen their were different dishes we could use along with free tea and coffee. In the dining room their were little board games like connect 4 and battleship! Though the WiFi was not the greatest it was nice to have our own little place to come back to each night and relax!
The first thing we did the next morning was climb up the Český Krumlov Castle! This castle is one of the most important monuments in Central Europe in terms of architectural level, cultural tradition and scale. Perhaps due to hidden position in a remote corner of South Bohemia. Its building development has been preserved with the original layout, material structure, interior installations and architectural details from the 14th to the 19th century. Like always the views did not disappoint!
Our tour of the castle was really fun, we got to see what certain rooms looked like back than. Did you know that beds were actually not very long because it was normal for people to sit up when they were sleeping? They feared that if you layed down when you were sleeping people would think you were dead! Our tour guide jokingly said one day we might go back to sleeping upward but I would much rather prefer to stay laying down. Our tour guide also talked to us about how bears were very sacred and noble to this castle. Which is why they still have bears living happily their today as you see in the picture above. Other rooms we had visited while on our castle tour, were waiting rooms. These rooms basically held people who wish to speak to the king, sometimes the king would make guests wait for hours in hope that they would eventually give up and go away! There was also a beautiful ballroom which they called the Masquerade hall. It was a masterpiece during the Rococo period and was painted by Architect Andreas Altomonte. The main theme of the paintings is a group of aristocrats enjoying themselves in the middle of a masquerade festival.
Out of all the things we learned while on this tour, my favorite was learning about the tale of the white lady! Perchta Von Rosenberg, known as the White Lady, lived in the Český Krumlov castle in the 15th century. Her father, Ulrich II Von Rosenberg married her off against her will and without love to the Moravian lord Johann Von Lichtenstein who was cruel to Perchta all her life. When Johann was dying he had Perchta called in and asked her for forgiveness. She refused, and her husband cursed her. Since then, the soul of the White Lady Von Rosenberg has had to roam the Rosenberg castles and tends to appear before significant events. White gloves on her hand bear good tidings, whereas black gloves are a sign of impending disaster. I was a little spooked after I heard this tale, I thought to myself oh gosh what if I see her will she be wearing white gloves or black ones?!?!?!
We also had the opportunity to visit the castle theater and it truly was a sign to see. They took us under the stage and showed us the unique mechanisms for changing the scenes and other decorations which were prepared by the Viennese carpenter Lorenz Makh, while the wall paintings, ceiling mural, and curtains and wings were created by the Viennese painters Hans Wetschel and Leo Markl. Though I would love to see a production here one day I am afraid tickets are well over a million dollars...
Though due to the weather we were not able to go rafting along the river that flows around this beautiful town, I still had an amazing time. I learned a lot of history and just like that our first class weekend trip was complete! Stay tuned to here about more, next stop ROME!!!
- Bailey Gittler