I am taking a day trip to Kutna Hora from Prague. I’ve read in my Lonely Planet Book about a small chapel Sedlec Ossuary, the inside of which is decorated with the bones of no less than 40,000 people and I am morbidly fascinated!
I need to catch a train from the Main Station around midday and head off from the hostel early giving myself plenty of time to get my bearings and walk to the station without any stress.
With map in hand I confidently head in the direction of the station and estimate it shouldn’t take me any more than around half an hour of easy strolling, but as usual, at some point I take a wrong turning and find myself doing several circuits round Republic Square before I find my direction again.  By this time I am becoming extremely cross and am certain it is the Czech Maps that are at fault and not my own inadequate map reading!
Eventually I arrive at the station, an hour after setting off from the hostel! I am feeling frazzled and frustrated and having wasted an inordinate amount of time I am muttering profanities at myself under my breath as I enter.
The Main Station is large and crowded and I am immediately on high alert sensing an unsavoury character lurking behind me, seemingly stalking me as I walk through the station. I suspect he is going to hassle me for money so with a sudden snap of my head I quickly turn and glare at him, giving him my best evil look, hoping my black eye will suggest he shouldn’t mess with me! It seems to have the desired affect and he quickly slinks off after some other unsuspecting tourist.
The station is on three levels and I have entered on the middle.  There are the usual big screens with train departure and arrival information, booths, metro and tram ticket kiosks and a lot of travellers coming and going. However, despite Prague now being a major international destination it seems there is a shortage of signs in English and I struggle to work everything out. I finally figure that I have to buy my ticket on the bottom level where there are a number of tellers behind glass windows; one section for International tickets and another for Domestic. I am issued a ticket by a rather abrupt teller and when I ask where I should go to get my train she simply points up.
I go back and look at the boards again, but still nothing makes sense to me. I don’t know what time the train leaves nor its final destination and neither the ticket nor boards give me any clues. I see signs for the platforms on the higher level and go up there, but still nothing makes sense. By now I am desperately looking for an Information Kiosk or station employee who might be able to help me but there are none! I see someone sitting in a corner, who looks like she is perhaps Station Security so I approach her and show her my ticket. She waves me towards the platforms with no comment. I walk all along the corridor which has signs for exits to each platform with their numbers and destinations, but still I can’t work out where I should be going. There are no signs for trains to Kutna Hora and no employees to help!
I go back to the middle level and start hunting again. I can feel the tears welling up as my frustration heightens. It is getting close to midday and I tell myself that for the small cost of the ticket, if I don’t make it in time it is no great loss, but then I argue with myself that if I can’t master this one small day trip, how am I going to manage to get out of Prague at all or even continue my travels?!! At this thought and feeling completely incompetent my tears well up even more!
Finally I spot a sign for “Information” pointing to the lower floor where I had already been when buying the tickets. I go back down and finally see a couple of employees who look like they are are standing around ready to assist the public; but no, they are only there to point and point me towards the Information tellers; only two of them very well hidden behind nondescript windows in a far flung corner of the lower floor! Finally I get the help I need and make it to the platform with only minutes to spare! I’m feeling worn down by the difficulties of the language barrier and doubts start niggling at me about the sense of my trip.
However, soon the train is moving and I am looking forward again. We arrive in Kutna Hora within an hour and as I disembark at the little station I immediately notice the striking difference between the Prague station and this little country affair. There are signs in English and right there on the platform is a huge Information centre! Inside I find an incredibly warm and friendly lady who supplies me with a map, tells me what sights to see and where to go and what time the train returns to Prague.

Feeling in control again, I set off much happier and calmer and look forward to seeing the Sedlec Ossuary and whatever else this little country town has to offer.

My first stop is the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady, a lovely bright Cathedral that has an interesting history and beautiful murals that have been painstakingly restored. The spiralling stairs lead me up into its attic, which I find interesting and novel.

Next I make my way to the Sedlec Ossuary – a tiny little unassuming church set in a beautiful and well kept cemetery.

The Ossuary is under the main chapel and as I walk down the steps I am immediately confronted with human skulls and bones carefully assembled into wall decorations, draped like delicate lace garlands.

 

I have never seen anything quite like this in my life and am completely enthralled. As I enter the main vault, four enormous pyramid shaped mounds of neatly laid bones and skulls take up each corner while an elaborate chandelier of bones hangs dominantly in the centre of the room, candles carefully balanced on top of skulls!

It is indeed a bizarre sight to behold and initially one would wonder why anyone would do such a thing. However, the story goes that in 1278 the abbot of the Cistercian Monastery of Sedlec was sent to Jerusalem by King Otakar II of Bohemia. When he returned he brought with him some earth from the Holy Land and scattered it over the abbey cemetery and so it became a desired burial site throughout Central Europe. In the 14th Century during the Black Plague epidemic and after the Hussite Wars many thousands of people were buried in the Abbey Cemetery, which had grown greatly in size as a result.
After 1511 the skeletons were exhumed for various reasons and laid in the chapel where a half blind monk was given the task of stacking them which is how I understand the pyramids were created. Following on from his care a woodcarver Frantisek Rint was appointed in 1870 to give some order to the bones,  who I believe created what is there today (Information extracted from Wikipedia).

Contrary to it being a macabre atmosphere, it is a very peaceful and tranquil ambience within the vault, even with the throngs of tourists stopping to take photos as we all walk around in silent and respectful awe. I feel privileged to be able to look upon the remains of these people who walked in life all those centuries ago, their skeletons a tangible and eternal testimonial to their existence and as I study the faces of the skulls I wonder who they were and how their life had been.

Much later I wander along a pleasant riverside track for a little before joining the main road and walking the 3.5km distance into the little town. It is a sleepy little town nestled into the high side of a valley, medieval in character with sloping cobble streets and narrow lanes. There is no one to be seen other than the occasional car slowly trundling down the street. I am slightly lost again, but am making my way to the town square where I am hoping to see some sign of life and perhaps a cafe to stop at for a refreshment. As I make my way around another soulless corner I mutter under my breath but out aloud “Is anyone alive in this town?” and immediately a big wooden door set into a whitewashed wall opens and an old man pops his head out, making me jump out of my skin!  He talks to me in Czech appearing to be asking me if he can help me. He has no teeth and is only wearing a shirt and boxer shorts but he grins widely at me and when I tell him I am Scottish his toothless grin becomes even wider as he tells me very proudly in broken English that his Grandson is at University in Edinburgh.

He points me in the right direction and soon I am in the heart of the little town, where tourists are wandering the streets and making their way to St Barbara’s Church, its magnificent Gothic Cathedral style architecture dominating the landscape. St Barbara is the patron saint of minors so it is not surprising that this UNESCO world heritage site watches over this little town, once a wealthy silver mining town.

There are a few restaurants and pensions around the town square and its beautiful country setting is so peaceful that I wish I’d planned to stay overnight. However all too soon I must think about catching the train back to Prague and I make my way back to the railway station where I talk to a group of three Indian ladies travelling together. They are well travelled and the younger one, possibly a daughter and niece to the other two makes me feel so much better about my incompetent Railway Station experience when she complains at length about the difficulties of navigating it with the lack of English signs or employee assistance!

As we make our way back to the city I reflect on an enjoyable and happy day and compliment myself on having mastered a day trip out of Prague! Now I look forward to moving on and reassure myself that I can cope with foreign languages and public transport after all!

Useful Links on information about Kutna Hora and places to stay go to Trip Advisor and Booking.com