in which we fall in love with Prague and eat meat off of a sword {The Great European Road Trip Day 2: Eichstätt, Germany thru Prague and Kutna Hora to Kasanice, Czech Republic}

Day 1
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5

we rose early on Monday morning, though not as early as Father, who joined the nuns for 6 o'clock mass. stepping outside into the cold fog, we had our first glimpse of St. Walburga Abbey in the daylight. the cream colored buildings of the complex are built around a square, each topped with a cheerful red roof. one of the buildings houses an elementary school, and Greta and Cece played in the painted hopscotch squares on the pavement. we were very much looking forward to a German breakfast buffet, and the nuns did not disappoint. i could have hugged the huge vat of delicious coffee (Italy is master of the demitasse espresso, but sometimes, you really just need a vat). we filled our plates with cold cuts, cheese, bread, local honey and blueberry jam. one of the priests joined us for breakfast as well. the Lady Abbess greeted us all and, with a twinkle in her eye, ribbed Father for our late arrival last night. with pleasantly full bellies, we paid our bill and bought a few bottles of the Eichstätter Klosterlikör, an herbal liqueur. 

Greta "reading" the New Testament in the morning (i promise i didn't stage this photo!)

kind of obsessed with this door

way better than Weetabix

hard to see in the picture, but the girls braided Cece's hair

then, one of the nuns (who is from Western Pennsylvania) took us on a wonderful tour of the church and told us more about St. Walburga. truth be told, i had never heard of St. Walburga prior to this. she was an English missionary who lived from 710-779 and came to Germany in answer to her Uncle St. Boniface's call to help evangelize the Germans. she later became the Abbess of a Benedictine monastery, presiding over both monks and nuns -- quite progressive! thousands of miracles of healing are attributed to her intercession. one hundred years after she died, her relics were exhumed and brought to Eichstätt. and for the past thousand years, a special water has collected on her relics every winter. known as St. Walburga Oil, it has been chemically tested as water, but it is collected and used similarly to holy water.

view of the city from the church portico

i asked Greta if she thought this church was the same or different from Italian churches.
she said, "the same and different." and she's right ... the ornate parts are the same, but i've never been in an Italian church that had this much white space. 

next, we were able to visit the crypt, which contains the original high altar as well as over twelve hundred ex votos of thanksgiving for the intercession of St. Walburga.

St. Walburga is in the center, flanked by her father, St. Richard the Pilgrim, and her brothers St. Winifred and St. Willibald.
below the statues is the top of the high altar. 

St. Walburga's relics are kept behind the golden grate and this is where the St. Walburga Oil is collected. 

all of these paintings signify a healing miracle attributed to St. Walburga's intercession

we finally said goodbye to the nuns, and got on the road to Prague. it's a three and a half hour drive, so we got some genuine road-tripping vibes going on. Father cranked up the tunes (paying especial homage to the soundtrack from Smokey and the Bandit) and we crossed the border into the Czech Republic without much fanfare.

originally, Father's itinerary had called for us to reach Prague by noon and eat lunch there, but we were almost two hours behind schedule since we lingered in Eichstätt to eat a leisurely breakfast and tour the abbey. so we ended up getting sandwiches at a gas station in the Czech Republic, which were surprisingly delicious. we also stocked up on snacks and a wide variety of chips.

the three amigos in the front seat: Nick, Father, Chris

sweet girls, still jet lagged

look out Europe, here we come!

thank God for screens.

i think gummy bears are her new comfort object

we finally arrived at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, which is part of the Prague Castle Complex. the area is a pedestrian-only zone, so we had to park off of the main road and walk in. after passing through a rather lax security checkpoint/bag check, we could finally see the spires of St. Vitus disappearing into the mist. by the time we made it up to the castle complex, it was time for the changing of the guard, which was fun to see.

someone wasn't feeling the photo op

finally, we made it to the cathedral itself. St. Vitus was one of the Christian martyrs killed in Rome under Emperor Diocletian. i wasn't familiar with his story prior to this trip, but the name St. Vitus did ring a bell ... because of "St. Vitus' dance", the name given to the jerky movements of Sydenham's chorea. it turns out that this neurological disorder mimics the dancing that people used to do in front of St. Vitus' statue on his feast day. to this day, St. Vitus is the patron of epileptics, dancers, actors, and entertainers.

 the interior of the church is one of the most beautiful i have ever seen. it's Gothic and it is not apologizing for it. not one bit. however, we were a bit put off by the fact that you had to buy a ticket to get beyond the entrance to the church. and to buy the tickets, you had to go back outside and around to a little building. we probably would have done it if we had more time, but we were on a mission to get to the Sedlec Ossuary (bone chapel) in Kutna Hora before it closed at 5 p.m., so this was going to be the most whirlwind tour of Prague imaginable. anyway, when the staff at St. Vitus saw Father's collar, they let him through the turnstile for free. he was trying to work his magic to get us in without tickets too, but no dice. so we just walked around the back of the church and took it all in, while Father made a quick loop of the interior and reconnected with us poor plebeians after about ten minutes.

the next hour reminded me of an episode from The Amazing Race, although we were (thankfully) all on the same team. we had to make it across the bridge to the historical center of Prague, see the astronomical clock, absorb as much of the city as possible, and be back on the road with enough time to make the hour drive to Kutna Hora before the bone chapel closed. #weirdCatholicproblems

there was a bit of discussion about having Father go off on his own to see the nearby Loreta Church while we drove to the astronomical clock, but without reliable cell phone communication, we decided to stick together (which proved to be the right choice). so off we went, driving into one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Angel and i were both "ooh"-ing and "aah"-ing and snapping pictures out of both windows as fast as we could

even the sidewalks are beautiful!

and again, without the photo-bombing pedestrian (but i kind of prefer the photo with her in it!)

blurry but this gives you a real sense of what we were seeing -- the beautiful landscape flashing past our window, with Angel's camera lens trained on every vista. we kept saying, "we don't want to leave! let's cancel the rest of the trip and just stay here!"

to really give you a sense of what happened next, please click below for the most appropriate soundtrack as you read.

at this point it was 2:55 PM. the astronomical clock would chime on the hour. the GPS was taking our van down increasingly narrow cobbled streets with no way to turn around if we made a wrong move. 2:56 PM: we come to a parking lot which is a few blocks away from the clock, but no spots are available. there is a tiny alley leading off of the parking lot and Nick noses the van into it, but it appears that it was a pedestrian zone so he thinks better of it and backs up. 2:57 PM: we quickly decide that Nick should drop us off right here, the rest of us will make a run for it, Nick will find the closest place to park (a mission impossible unto itself) and then meet us at the clock. if we don't find each other at the clock, we will all meet at this little cafe by the parking lot in about fifteen minutes, jump back in the car, and zoom off to Kutna Hora. 2:58 PM: Greta refuses to get out of her car seat. everyone else has tumbled out onto the side walk. i pass Cece to one of the Pongracs and my fingers fly to unbuckle Greta and carry her out onto the street. 2:59 PM: we are striding down streets, occasionally looking longingly back at adorable little shops and buildings in a manner befitting Lot's wife, then whipping our heads back around in pursuit of the clock. 3:00 PM: we're still speedwalking through a little tunnel lined with souvenir shops when we hear it. BONG. BONG. BONG. and of course it had to be three, not noon when we might have a chance of seeing the last few chimes in action. we burst into the square, joining the throng of happy tourists who had just witnessed the conclusion of the hourly show featuring the figures of the twelve apostles and the figure of Death striking the time (memento mori much?). another American couple said, "oh, don't worry, it'll happen again at four!" to which we could only laugh bitterly. 

even though we missed the show, just seeing the clock was amazing. built in 1410, it's the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world, and the oldest still functioning. 

it also became clear that finding Nick at the clock might be a little more difficult than we anticipated. the crowds were crazy! so we looked around the square a little, keeping an eye out for him. suddenly Angel spotted him across the crowd, standing with Father Aron who had found him first. we took a few more pictures as we waited for them to come back over to us. 

we suddenly realized that we hadn't seen Nick or Father in the last few minutes. after much deliberation, walking around the square and poking our head into various shops and museums that we thought might have lured them in, we finally decided to just head back to our meeting spot. and there they were, sitting in the van, waiting for us! there was no time to discuss who was "right" -- we had to peel out of the parking lot (that is, if backing up one inch at a time while pedestrians squeeze around the van from every direction can be called peeling). it was 3:45 PM and our estimated time of arrival in Kutna Hora was 5:02 PM. 

Nick once again proved his inestimable worth and (safely) made up seven minutes of time on the road. dusk was falling as we drove around the winding roads on the outskirts of town, passing little cottages which i one hundred percent would believe have ghosts. the trees reached their gnarly arms heavenwards as the moon began to rise. the mood was heightened when Father began playing Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre.

 

and ... thank you, St. Raphael ... we screeched up to the bone chapel at 4:55 PM. by this time, Greta and Cece had fallen asleep, so i stayed in the van with them while the others hurried out. the Sedlec Ossuary began as a normal cemetery attached to the Sedlec Abbey. in 1278, the abbot traveled to Jerusalem and brought back some dirt from the hill of Golgotha, which he sprinkled on the cemetery. from that point forward, the cemetery became a popular burial spot. then, during the Black Death, the cemetery turned into a mass grave. over the centuries, the skeletons were exhumed and stacked in the chapel to make room for more bodies. and in 1870, the bones were arranged by a woodcarver named František Rint at the request of the Schwarzenburg family. 

the ossuary is now estimated to hold anywhere between forty thousand to seventy thousand skeletons. some of its most remarkable features include a chandelier, which contains at least one of every bone in the human body, as well as the coat of arms of the Schwarzenburg family.

photo credit: Angel

photo credit: Angel

our next stop was St. Barbara's Church, also in Kutna Hora. this is another stunning Gothic church, dedicated to St. Barbara, the patron saint of miners. the silver mines in this town provided the wealth to construct this church. with its fourteenth century frescoes, St. Barbara's is considered a UNESCO world heritage site.

a much better shot of the exterior (photo credit: Angel)

Chapel of Michael of Vrchoviste

a statue of a miner

my one regret is not seeing St. Barbara's in the daylight. the interior was dimly lit and i would have loved to see the sunlight streaming through the windows. but it was still absolutely beautiful.

by this point, we were ready to turn our attentions to dinner. Father had made reservations at the Restaurace Dačický in Kutna Hora, known for its traditional Czech food and generous portions. after asking directions from a friendly young family, we walked around for a bit, trying to find it. what we did find was a hotel selling hot wine, which of course we had to try. (the verdict? not actually that delicious.) 

finally, we managed to find the restaurant. and oh, my, what a feast. it's impossible for me to pick a favourite meal from our trip because they were all amazing in their own ways, but this night certainly wins for presentation. 

drinking the local brew

the servers were great. they even brought little engraved chairs for Greta and Cece, and coloring sheets with two big pouches of colored pencils for them! 

then the food began to arrive. and it just kept coming, and coming, and coming. we started with a pork belly pate, and a salad of fresh cheese and pickled vegetables. 

then the main dishes came out, each with more flourish than the last. Chris ordered a steak that came out in a huge cast iron skillet over a flame; Nick and i split a huge portion of various meats, sauerkraut, and sausage that was served in a literal wooden manger; and Father, not to be outdone, ordered assorted meats skewered and served on an actual sword. it was like the Central European version of a Brazilian steakhouse, and we could not have been more delighted. 

our manger of meats

hard to see in my photo, but yes, that is a sword full of meat

feeling like we had just consumed two Thanksgiving dinners in a row, we rolled ourselves into the street and clambered back into the van. our destination was a guesthouse at a small farm with a water mill in the rural town of Kasanice. as we drove deeper into the remote countryside, we all had the sense that we were about to feature in a horror movie. everything was pitch black -- there were no lights on in the houses, and dead branches were strewn over the single lane road. at one point, the guys had to get out of the car and move a small tree off the road so we could continue. we saw a neon cross on the side of one building, which was somehow more creepy than no lights at all, and breathed a sigh of relief when the GPS told us to keep going. ten minutes later, the GPS directed us to turn into the driveway of a house that was also submerged in darkness, except for a few bobbing flashlights. 

"is this ... it?!" we asked each other. i stayed in the van with the girls while the other adults did some reconnaissance. yes, this was indeed "it", but a windstorm had knocked out power to the surrounding area earlier that day, so there was no electricity and no flushing toilets (no power means no way to get the well water up to the toilet). nonetheless, our hosts were jovial and provided us with flashlights. a group of Italians was also staying there, and called out a merry "Ciao!" to us as we lugged our suitcases up the steps. 

once again, they had provided a crib with the cutest little purple pony printed sheets for Cecilia. the girls soon fell asleep while i prayed for the power to come back on so we could charge our phones (we hadn't brought our big camera on this trip). occasionally it would flicker on but then it would turn off again within a minute. after i got the girls settled, i was ready for sleep myself, and snuggled in under the down comforter (which turned out to be the bed covering of choice on our entire trip!). meanwhile, Nick and the other adults congregated in the downstairs bar of the guesthouse, which is actually the owner's private bar, but he opens it up like a restaurant for the town and serves beer for €1 a glass. i, however, knew none of this until the next morning, being already fast asleep. 

the next day's agenda: more gems in the Czech Republic, namely Konopiste Castle (Franz Ferdinand's castle), followed by Český Krumlov with its castle and baroque theater; then crossing the border to Austria to spend the night in Vienna!