Back to Rotterdam

I flew back to Rotterdam on Christmas night.  I was a little worried about the night tram--the Prague public transport system was scheduled a little oddly over the weekend and I had already ended up in different places than I had intended a few times as a result of the fact that the trams' schedule had changed without warning (or at least without a warning in English).  Since I figured that I didn't want to get stuck in some back corner of Prague while missing my plane, I took a fairly early bus to the airport.  The down side of this was that it meant that I got to spend three hours at the airport on a Sunday Christmas evening.  That is not the most enchanting way to spend a Christmas evening.  Even with Christmas lights, it wasn't that fun.



 


On the bus ride, I ended up sitting behind four teenagers who spent the entire bus ride smooching in the most revolting fashion and (it appeared) critiquing one another's performances.

At the airport, nothing was open, of course, seeing as it was both a holiday and the weekend.  But I did get a "long decoffee with milk".  Well, actually, I got a cappuccino with caffeine, seeing as I knew I had a long night ahead of me but I thought that the other translation was funnier.

I had an awfully fun time in Prague.  Apparently, there are a few scams which are popular in Prague and I ended up getting some of them tried out on me.  I managed to escape them all, as far as I know, which means that I feel like I've gotten the real Prague "Experience" and which also allows me to feel superior for not having fallen into their traps.  Folks kept trying to sell me transport tickets--which is, as far as I know, is both illegal and fraudulent.  Apparently I appear either too nice or too credulous.  I didn't buy any of them, though, and could say, with perfect honesty "I don't need that, thank you".  That's another good reason to have a transport pass.

Christmas Eve

A closed Trdelník stand.  Trdelníks are awesome.

On Christmas Eve, after I got back from my day trip to Kutná Hora, I went out to see what things were like on Christmas Eve around Prague.  I expected it to be extra exciting.  I expected in vain.  In the Czech Republic, Christmas Eve is the big day--that is when everybody gets together with their families.  So, the only folks that are out are tourists.  And there weren't even really many of those.  Most of the Christmas Markets were closed--just long, empty, closed rows of stalls.  Most of the tourists that were there were either American or Chinese.  The majority were American.  I certainly hadn't heard that much English since I got to Prague and, I am fairly certain, I haven't heard that much unaccented, American English since I left America.


I looked for a booth selling the traditional Czech Christmas Eve diner of sauerkraut soup and baked cod.  I could not find a single one.  There were several stands that were advertising "traditional Czech Ham" which was being cooked on giant spits over large pans of coals.  It smelled really good.  But, I am still not convinced that that is really "traditional"--since I've been back I've been looking things up to see if I could find anything about it and I haven't.  I am a little suspicious that this was a transparent attempt to pander to tourists because baked ham sells better than sauerkraut soup.

I was hanging around waiting for a Christmas Mass which they had at the Old Town Square Market.  While I was waiting, and because it was really cold (and because I hadn't gotten to have any sauerkraut soup) I decided to try some Grogg.  It was not nearly as tasty as one might have expected.  It was, actually, really, really disgusting.  The Christmas Mass was really just music--they didn't offer a prayer to start the show off or anything else that seemed remotely religious, although I suppose that the songs could have had some religious significance.  I suppose, though, that this is in keeping with the Czech agnosticism.

I had originally planned on going to the Midnight Mass which was being held at the Strahovský Kláster, which is in the Castle Quarter.  I ended up not going because I couldn't figure out how to get back with the night train schedules and I really didn't want to be stuck walking back from across the river.  Also, it was cold and I was tired, but that wasn't the main reason.  I ended up having to walk most of the way back to the hotel anyways because I still couldn't figure out the night trams but, on the plus side, walking was almost  enough to keep me warm.

Since I couldn't get any traditional Czech Christmas Eve food in Prague, I looked up some recipes once I got back to Rotterdam.  I realize these are Slovak recipes but they look the same and sound the same as the Czech recipes and they were convenient.  So now you can make your very own Czech (or Slovak) Christmas Eve Dinner.
Sauerkraut Soup
Potato Salad
Fried Carp

Chrám Nanebevzetí Panny Marie

What does "Chrám Nanebevzetí Panny Marie" mean?  Good question.  It is the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.  It is the smaller of the two Kutná Hora cathedrals that I visited and also the simplest.

The exterior is really simple but that is at least partially because they are undergoing renovations and some of the statutes and thing are on display inside the church while they get things in order.

I really liked the stained glass windows.  They were really simple but the colored borders were quite attractive.

Although the building itself is simple, the building materials are somewhat unusual (maybe it is something in the Kutná Hora water).  When they were doing renovations, they found the bones of martyred Cistercian monks (they were dated 24th April 1421) stuffed in the walls and buried under the floor.  They have stuck those bones back where they were but put in windows so that you could take pictures of them.

There were also more official relics as well, which were donated when the church was consecrated as a cathedral in 1742 by Pope Benedict XIV.  St. Felix and St. Vincent are both labeled as "protomartyrs of antique Rome" which I believe means that they were supposed to have been killed by the Emperor Nero.  They were really short.  I bet they weren't much more than five feet tall.  The skeletons are all dressed up in semi-transparent medieval outfits so that you can see their bones but they do have masks on their faces.

St. Felix.  You can see his arm bones pretty clearly here.

St. Felix Reliquary

St. Vincent Reliquary

St. Vincent--see the ribs peeking out through the the shirt
 and between the bits of lace?

The cathedral has a a large collection of confessionals.  I don't know if it is just because they like them or if they just had them up in all kinds of different places.  These aren't your typical confessionals though.  They aren't enclosed so, theoretically, it would be easy to hear what people were saying.

  

This fellow, who sits on top of one of the
confessionals, looks mighty shocked
by whatever is being said inside.

       

This guy looks like he is from
the Lord of the Rings.

This is a very unattractive cupid
of some kind.

This is the Chapel of the Fourteen Helpers of Indigency.
It seems awfully sparkly and gilt for indigency.   

I really like the interior of the church.
It is pale yellow and white,very simple,
and decorated in curvy lines and designs.
I think it would make a really pretty quilt.

       




                       
This is the Chapel of the Virgin Mary of Sedlec (a tiny village that was incorporated into Kutná Hora).  I will say, that there does seem to be something kind of pagan about those pine trees just plopped down in the middle of the chapel.

They need some decoration.  That would be better.





Below are some of the statutes which used to be on the outside of the cathedral but which are temporarily inside for the reconstruction.