Bohemian Wonders

The Czech Republic is split into two separate regions, Moravia and Bohemia. Olomouc is in Moravia (eastern half of the country) and Prague is in Bohemia (western half of the country). However, after this week traveling through Bohemia, I have learned that there is so much more to the region than just the City of Spires.

We started our journey going to a little town called Litomysl. It was a town of about 10,000 on the border of the two regions. We started off our day by getting to roam and explore on our own for a few hours before taking a guided tour of a church/museum. This “angel church” was in the process of being rebuilt and redesigned and was just opened to the public in 2014. It was a beautiful example of incorporating modern elements into a Catholic sanctuary. Unfortunately, due to a little unfortunate weather, we weren’t able to explore much more of the city, so we went to a nice dinner instead and enjoyed one another’s company.

The second town that we got to experience was Kutna Hora. On our way, we stopped at an ossuary (bone church). Essentially, when mass graves existed, there were just people buried on top of people on top of people. So, when excavations had to be done, nobody knew what to do with the bones. They decided to make a church to commemorate the lives of those in the graves. They took the bones and made structures out of them and built a chapel on top. After our quick stop at the church, we headed into the little city of Kutna Hora. We had some free time to explore the city a little bit before our tour of the cathedral. We got a little taste of the town and got to enjoy the day before meeting at St. Barbara’s. Because Kutna Hora was a town that boomed because of mining, they decided to build a giant cathedral dedicated to St. Barbara (patron saint of miners). It was a beautiful day to see a stunning cathedral and to appreciate our second little town in Bohemia. After a quick night, we got up and took a tour of the silver mines that we had heard about. We dressed up in “typical” miners attire (white coats, hard hats, headlamps) to experience the conditions that the miners worked in. Walking through passageways that were between 40cm-120cm, we definitely got an intimate idea of just how awful mining for 9 hours a day would be.

The whole group going down into the mines

Ossuary (bone church)

Artsy picture of St. Barbara's

Saying goodbye to Kutna Hora, we hopped on the bus, once again, to say hello to Cesky Krumlov. The first stop of the day was the Budweiser (Budvar) plant just outside of the city. It was such a cool tour that we got to take. Being a supply chain management major, I loved seeing the efficient packaging line that this company has perfected. It was a logistics dream, and having the product be a beer made it that much better. We got into the cute little town and were free for the day. So, a few of us decided to find a hill to climb to see an overview of the city. After getting a tad bit lost, we asked a local and made it up to Cross Hill. There was a chapel on top of a hill overlooking the entire valley. It was all I could have asked for after being cooped up in a bus all day, the hike was great, the view was impeccable, and it was a good way to start off Cesky Krumlov. Our second day in Cesky Krumlov was also one of the best days I could have asked for to end our trip. We took a tour of the local castle and theater and got to view the history that made the little city into the tourist destination that it is today. I loved that we got to see the under-workings of the theater. It was something different that I have never really seen (or thought about) before. After our morning tours, we went back to get ready for the infamous rafting through Cesky Krumlov. It was a blast. Hands down, it was the most fun that I have had in the 87 days that I have been here so far. I loved that our whole group got to experience it together. We were all just happy to be in each other’s company and laugh together and enjoy our last adventure together.

 

View of Cesky Krumlov

Ready for a trip down the river

Bohemia was, by far, my favorite class excursion that we took. I don’t know if it was because we all knew it was the last shebang, or if it was the fact that we got to see and do so many things, or what it was. However, the Czech Republic is a beautiful country and this trip let us experience so much more of it. I am extremely grateful for all of the trips that we have been fortunate enough to take and I couldn’t have asked for a better itinerary. I also couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my study abroad program. 


~"At the end of the day, life's about realizing one's human potential. I don't know if I've realized mine, but I've certainly gone a long way towards realizing some goals and some dreams." -Linton Johnson