Bohemia

       This weekend we spent some time in the Czech Republic, traveling around the region of Bohemia. We started our trip in a town called Litomysl. We visited a castle and the Discovery of the Holy Cross Church. While I am pretty much at the end of my rope for visiting churches, I will say that this one I will remember. The history of the church is rooted in performances. The idea was in order to get people back into the church, it would be used for concerts and performances as well as mass. This church is very modern. The alter used lights that would bend and move around inside the table, as well has using green laser light that went through the middle of the church, and through the side of the church to make a cross. This light would go through the windows and reach throughout the town, as a welcome to the church. We also had the opportunity to go up the spiral staircase to the roof and look out over the town as well as go into the balcony of the church where the organ is located. I really enjoyed the visit. 

We also visited the town of Lezáky. This town was completely demolished during World War 2. It had been one of the places where the parachuters were hidden. When the Nazis found out that this town had helped in hiding the people who were to assassinate the Nazi official Heinrich, they destroyed it. The only thing left in the valley are crosses that mark where houses once stood. The people who hid members of the resistance put their entire families at risk of being killed. However, the men of the families often committed suicide in order to protect their family, but what they didn't know is that their families would also be killed. Only 2 people survived the destruction and one looked enough like the Aryan race that he was taken to Germany, and the other was killed. The valley where this town once stood is now covered in lushes grass and flowers, and a memorial for an entire town and people, who killed and destroyed during the war.
       After seeing the memorial in Lezáky, we continued to the town of Kutná Hora. Here we visited the bone church. Most of the bones inside the church were from those who died of the Plague and were once buried in graves containing up to 10 people in the city center. However, after the bodies were decayed after a few decades, the bones were used as decoration in the church (no one really knows why). Some of the people also died fighting during the Hussite Wars from 1421-1424. While it was really different and kind of creepy to use bones as decorations, the most fascinating part was seeing the archeologists right outside the church, unearth even more bones. After lunch we headed to the silver mine. There is only one level of the mine that is left for the public to visit because the rest of the levels have been flooded. We put on our white coats and hard hats and headed into the mines! It was so much fun to squeeze through the mines and I am very thankful for the hard hats because I am not coordinated enough to watch my step, as well as my head. We also got to walk through part of the town in all of our gear, and receive the best looks from tourists as we all walked down the street.

       The following day on our way to Česky Kremlov, we stopped in Česky Budejovice for a tour of the Budweiser Budvar Brewery. While I am not the biggest fan of beer, we got to try it before it had been filtered, and it wasn't half bad. In the Czech, 160 liters of beer per person per year is consumed. That's a lot of beer! It was really cool to see how bottles and cans are packaged and how the bottles are washed and cleaned before more beer is poured into them. The fermentation at this brewery takes 10 days and then it matures for another 40 days. I think I would have liked the tour even more, if it was learning about how wine is made instead, but it was still interesting to learn about!
       Our last stop on our regional field trip was Česky Kremlov. This town is like straight out of a fairytale book. It has a river that flows around it, and cute little bridges as well a beautiful castle and one of the only Baroque theaters still standing with most of its original pieces still inside. The theaters used candles to light the stage but everything was made of wood which meant the likelihood of the theater burning down was very high. This is what happened to most of the theaters, either a fire burned them down, or they were bombed and destroyed during the wars. We got to see under the stage and all of the mechanics that went into making a production. The stage itself is about 13 meters, but with the sets from the audience, it easily looked like 40 meters. It is really creative how they played with allusions and sound effects to make the plays as realistic and entertaining as possible. The castle we visited was the second biggest castle in the Czech Republic, only behind the Prague Castle which is 8 meters bigger. On average, 10 course meals were served in the castle, but the most courses on record was 42! That is a crazy amount of food to eat in one sitting.
       We also had the opportunity go rafting on our last day of the field trip. I fell even more in love with this little town. It was so relaxing and fun on the raft, after we figured out how to keep our raft from going in circles. There were splashing wars (of course), and we stopped about an hour into the trip to enjoy a beer and take a break. After our break, my raft was the first one to head back down the river, and we soon became the only raft on the river. We couldn't see or hear anyone in our group which meant all we could do is listen to the birds and the wind and enjoy the peacefulness of the trip. We also jammed out to Carrie Underwood and had a few heart to heart chats as we got into our rhythm of rowing. I absolutely love everything about nature, and I will definitely come back to this little town. It has a little piece of my heart.  

Česky Kremlov

Rafting :)