Staying With New Friends In Czech

Today is an exciting day for us. Not necessarily for the destination but rather for the experience. If you have been reading along, while we were on a train from Flam Norway to Oslo, we met Jiri and Debbie. They live in the Czech Republic and have graciously opened their home to us. We are excited to see a different slice of Czech life, but also to build on the quick friendship that we developed. We have been in touch with Debbie on and off as we got closer to their home and today is the day we will see them.
First, we are going to Kutna Hora. Kutna Hora had a few small places we had planned on visiting.

Sedlec Bone Ossuary

We get off at the Sedlec Train Stop and walk about a half mile to the Ossuary. Why is this here? It all started in 1278 when the abbot of the Sedlec Monastery returned from Jerusalem with some holy soil. Soon people from everywhere wanted to be buried here and the cemetery was expanded. Then in the 15th century a gothic church was built and its basement was used as an ossuary for the unearthed bones. The bones stayed there until 1870 when Frantisek Rint was appointed to place the bones in order. He did it with some flair. There are over 40,000″bones in the chapel. The chandelier contains at least one of every human bone. There is also a bone coat of arms of the Scwarzenberg family and Rint also signed his name in bones.
We leave the chapel and walk back to the small train stop. We have about a 25 minute wait for the train to the main station in Kutna Hora. It is a hot wait and we find very little shade to sit in. When the scheduled train time gets closer, we stand to wait and a local man waits in the shade across the tracks. This seems like a good idea so we join him. We talk a little through sign language and his limited English. I tell him his English is much better than my Czech and rattle off the few words I have learned. When I say dobre den, he tells me how to say good morning, afternoon, and night. I remember Dobre ranu is good morning.
The train comes, we have to wave it down, and then we all get on. When we get off after the 5 minute ride, the man says St Barbara, and follow me. Then he points and says we must go right up ahead. As we approach the corner where we must go right, he says my friend is here, speaks English. We are introduced to his friend who I tell that his friend is a very nice man. He says, I know, I have known him a very long time. It was a fun little meeting.
We walk uphill in the heat along a curvy road and then some more medieval type roads with cobblestones and stone walls. We pass St James Church which is undergoing a large renovation.

St Barbara and Vineyardk

There is a nice viewpoint here of St Barbara and its vineyard. Before we go to St Barbara, we stop at the Hradek Silver Mine where we were hoping to take a tour. The covered courtyard tunnel is cool and has benches. Carol waits here with our things while I go inside. The only English tour is at 1500 and it is 1045. The next tour in Czech is at 1215 and she says there are English text in the rooms. The tour itself lasts an hour and a half. We talk it over and decide we would rather spend time with Debbie and Jiri than hang around here. We call Debbie and tell her that we are running early and should be done in around 45 minutes. We will wait for her at the front of St Barbara’s Church. She tells us that we should peek inside St Barbara’s before we buy our tickets. When we get there, that is what we do. We have seen many churches on this trip as we like going in them and this one is nice inside but probably does not warrant the price they are charging. We decide to save our money and find a nice bench nearby in the shade.
The outside of the church is gothic and has two buttresses.

Front of St Barbara

First Carol walks around, scouts the area, and finds our meeting point. Then I walk around and check out the exterior of the church. It has many gothic nuances which includes several gargoyle and people like stone drains up above. They are very interesting to me. While sitting we watch a young boy and his father walking around. The boy smiles at us and then runs back to his father. We think the boy will keep him busy and very active. Before we know it, it is time for us to move to ur meeting spot. We only wait there a few minutes before Debbie pulls up. She has a Rav 4 just like us.
The drive to Jevany where they live takes us through rolling hills of farmland and a small town or two. She drives us through the small town of Jevany where only 500 people live. Then on to their home we go. It is a beautiful ranch style home with a nice open floor plan. The interior decorating is astonishing to us of the still a lot of bare walls clan. Not to be outdone by the Croatians, Debbie gets us two beers. St Bernard beer which is very good and one that we tried yesterday in Praha. This is more of a Pilsner and we had tried both a dark and light yesterday at the hotel. It is an excellent Czech beer that now has a partnership with Duvel Moortgat from Belgium. I wonder if many Czechs know this.

Great Lunch

Debbie also makes us some very nice open faced ham and cheese sandwiches with pickles. After that, she says she bought a special traditional cake for us which turns out to be Honey cake, our favorite dessert from Praha. How did she know? Debbie is such a great host. I can tell that her and Carol have a lot in common in this arena. The heat of the day is upon us so we stay inside under the ceiling fans and spend a few hours talking while waiting for Jiri to get home from work. It is if we have been friends forever and are catching up on things. Jiri texts her and to cater to or jokingly acknowledge her southern roots, says ” y’all there yet?”.
We do manage to finish another beer before Jiri gets home. Cold water with ice is another perk. Ice in your drinks is a rarity here and throughout Europe. Jiri arrives after his drive from Praha. We really missed the boat there as we could have had lunch or dinner with him or Debbie could have joined us for a day while we were in Praha. Our collective minds did not think that one out too well.
After some more conversation, they drive us to a neighboring town for dinner by a lake. Their first choice of restaurant with traditional Czech food was unfortunately closed on Tuesdays. The second choice which I don’t remember the name of or the town we are in, is also good. We have a beer and Carol gets a chicken and potato dish while the rest of us get turkey schnitzel with boiled potatoes. The meal is excellent and the company is better. While we were there, the wind kicks up like a microburst, sending people sitting outside scrambling while their food gets a sprinkling of Czech dust. We are now glad to be inside. I think the heat wave has just broke. We learn that the Czech Republic has zero tolerance for drinking and driving which means not even a small amount of alcohol in your system is allowed.

Jiri and Debbie

That means we are keeping Jiri from having a glass of wine so it must be time to go. We try to treat our hosts but they will have none of it and treat us instead. Jiri says that we are their guests. I hope we did not offend them with our gesture.
Leaving the restaurant, the air is now cool. The heat wave may be over. The ride back to their house is nice. There are quite a bit of woods in this area. Back at their home, we settle in with some wine and honey cake. We talk about many things, we learn more of what is going on in the Czech Republic, swap some relative stories, travel stories, and things in general. Somehow the subject of a local plum brandy comes up and Jiri asks if we would like to try it. Well, of course! Slivovice ( hope I spelled it right) is 110 proof and will definitely warm you up on a cold night. You sip the shot and the taste is a bit hard to describe. It reminds me of a fine moonshine. I have a bit of trouble distinguishing the plum flavor and I can’t say that I would equate it with a brandy that I would be used to. However, it is the best Czech plum brandy that I have had and I do sip away until it is gone.
Before we know it, it is midnight and Jiri has to work tomorrow. Time for bed where we discover Belgium chocolates left by Debbie, which we somehow missed earlier. We have thoroughly enjoyed our day here with our new friends.
Expenses
Train from Praha to Kutna Hora. 193 CZK
Sedlec Bone Church. 180 CZK
Lunch and Lodging at BNB Camr. Priceless
Walked 4 Miles