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.
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
~"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