Spring Weather

Well we have survived the worst winter in Prague in 40 years.  During a period of 100 days we only had 20 hours of sunlight!  10 days ago in the school holidays it was still snowing, we were out sight seeing in temperatures between -4 and 4 degrees (we were happy that it was above freezing some of the time).  Last week the temperature jumped to about 10 (we hit double figures) ... today we hit 21!!  The forecast is for fantastic weather this week, slightly cooler next week and then SUMMER!!  Seriously spring is about 3 weeks long.  Throughout summer I have been told to expect temperatures between 25 and 35, so looking forward to July and August when I will be on my long summer holiday:+)

Gifts

It was very exciting to see Taylor at the airport when she came home.  She was really, really tired!

Thank you Nana and Granddad for sending us some books home with Taylor, we love them!  The Easter eggs didn't make it, they melted before Tay even left NZ.

Thank you Granddad for sending some Easter eggs, Corban and Leo like the little chicken and bunny. 

Kutna Hora

Kutna Hora , a set on Flickr.

Did a day trip to Kutna Hora.  Interesting little place, full of Cathedrals.  We have seen castles and lots of WWII stuff so we thought it would be a bit of a change to look at Cathedrals, we did a tour of 3 of them.  It also has a history based on silver mining, however Leo and Corban were not old enough to go through a Silver Mine so we just stuck to the Cathedrals.   

The Sedlec Ossuary is a small Roman Catholic chapel. The ossuary is estimated to contain the skeletons of about 40,000 people, The ossuary is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the Czech Republic, attracting over 200,000 visitors yearly.  It’s kind of weird and freaky, some 1/2 blind Monk in about 1300 decided to start stacking bones.  From here.  An enormous chandelier of bones, which contains at least one of every bone in the human body, hangs from the center of the nave with garlands of skulls draping the vault. Not sure what I think of this place, kind of unusual and creepy.  I guess people have different hobbies :+)  

Saint Barbara's Church is one of the most famous Gothic churches in central Europe and is absolutely amazing.  St Barbara is the patron saint of miners.  Construction began in 1388, but because work on the church was interrupted several times, it was not completed until 1905.  This Church has massive stain glass windows, giant statues and carvings with the most elaborate designs, spires, gargoyles ... This is a really impressive building and outstanding artefacts!

The Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist is a baroque-style church. The church was built first in a gothic style at the end of the 13th-century. After the Hussite Wars, it was destroyed and re-built at the beginning of the eighteenth century by Jan Santini Aichel in the style of the baroque. The latest restoration of the church took place in 2001.  This is a beautiful Church, it is light with amazing architecture, a number of paintings on display, giant organ and you can walk through the attic to a viewing balcony. 

While in Kutna Hora we also did a walking tour and saw the outside of more Cathedrals, a gothic stone fountain, an Italian Court and heaps of neat little streets.  It was freezing cold and started snowing but still worth the visit.  We stopped to look at a children's wooden toy shop where the shop assistant let Corban and Leo play with every toy in her shop! She even opened new toys for them to look at ... A great sales woman, they chose a spinning top and fancy pencil.  Not a big spend but they were pretty happy with their treat after being dragged around Cathedrals all day.