Those bones, those bones, those old bones

Today I visited somewhere that I first heard about on the Long Way Round and pledged that I would one day visit..........The Church of Bones at Sedlec, Kutna Hora.
According to the records a church and burial ground existed at Sedlec from about the 12th c. In the 13th c, the Abbot visited the holy land and is said to have bought back a handful of soil from the grave of the Lord in Jeusalem, this soil he scattered in the grave yard of the church. The earth in the cemetery therefore became part of the Holy Land and in consequence everyone wished to be buried there. By the year 1318, following an outbreak of the plague, it is recorded that 30,000 people had been buried in the graveyard, with huge numbers following in 1421 after the Hussite wars. This obviously created a huge problem, there was just not enough room. In view of this bones were dug up and graves re-used, the bones being stacked around the outside of the Ossuary, eventually, they were stacked in the lower chamber of the church.
In 1511, a half blind monk started to pile up the bones in pyramids, and this was the start of what we have today, the Ossuary decorated with bones...The Church of Bones. It is believed that the bones from upwards of 40,000 bodies are currently stacked in the church or used in decoration. I is supposed to be good luck to leave money, buying yourway to heaven.

This is just part of one of the 4 huge stacks of bones.

The chandelier is supposed to contain every bone from the human body.

I am afraid that this one got out of order, Jed just could not wait. He is really looking forward to a nice long soak in his own bath tonight. I dare not tell him it is the bidet!

Back to the bones, this is a coat of arms of the Schwarzenbergs, in 1598 Adolf of Schwarzenberg conquered the Hungarian fortress at Raab, reducing the power of the Turks for a long time. In recognition of this achievement Emporer Rudolf II added a severed head of a Turk with its eyes being pecked by a Raven to the coat of arms. This is sean in the bottom right of the coat of arms, the skull is actually that of a defeated Turk! Gruesome eh!

Let it Rock

Well, the weather gods shone on me today, I did not get wet once, in fact, the sun shone and pushed the temperature up to a dizzy 21 degrees, wow!
Where I am staying is about 100 mile north east of Prague, and just south of the Polish border, and the main reason I wanted to come here was because a bloke in a shop in the Lake District told me about some rock formations that are pretty strange.
The rocks are the Adrspach Rocks and they are sandstone that have been carved by the wind and water. In fact they are pretty much the same as some I saw in America on what they call the Needles Highway.
The Adrspach Rocks were known by the locals but were not known to the wider world until 1700, then, following a major fire in 1824, which apparently burnt for weeks, all the trees that had grown on and around the rocks were burnt away, exposing the beauty of the place, and exploration could take place of the labyrinth of passages between the formations.
There is now a 3.5km walk around and through the rocks, and the brochure says the walk should take about 3hrs.
Well I included the 1.5km walk around the lake below, and the whole experience took me 3hrs, still pretty slow progress.The lake really did look tranquil, and the water was so green, it had to be seen to appreciate the colour, the picture does not do it justice. It is in fact a old sand pit and the whole walk is on sand.

This formation is called The Sugar Cone and appears to be standing upside down. It is some 52 mts tall with a top diameter of 13mts but a bottom diameter of only 3mts. The whole block weighs it at about 40,000kg so I would not like to be there when it topples.

In fact, in an effort to stop it falling, people put sticks at its base to support it.

Do you think it will work?

One of the stones has a small plaque on it and a line marked across it. This shows the depth of water following torrential rain back on July 23rd in 1844. Today the stream at the base of this stone was just below the level of the footpath and was perhaps 2 inches deep. Must have been some rain that day.

This rock is called the lovers, and shows a man and a lady kissing. Which do you think is the male, and which the female, the tall thin one or the short fat one........I'm not getting involved in any discussions on this point, I will just throw it out.

Following my bit of exercise, which did, once again, involve lots and lots of steps going up, and very few coming down for some reason, I got back to the bike and just went for a spin with no destination in mind. After riding some great roads, especially the one down from the rocks which was just tight hairpin after tight hairpin, I ended up high up in the mountains surrounded by ski lifts, at what was obviously a winter resort. However, it is also very busy in summer by the looks of it, the town was heaving and the cafes were doing a roaring trade.

All the ski lifts seemed to be open and were taking mountain cyclists and walker up to the higher levels above town.

It was the time for me to use the gps in order to get back to Hostinne, it was at this point that I noticed that the GPS mount has gone very slack and it appears that the rubber mount going into the headstock may have persihed so I had to make some running repairs until I get home and can order a new one. I love cable ties, a superb invention that have got me out of many a sticky situation.

Tomorrow I am off to Prague for 3 nights via the Church of Bones at Kutna Hora, but that can wait till tomorrow.

Observations

First thing that I noticed when I first crossed to Tallinn in Estonia (seems ages ago) and something that I have been meaning to write down for ages is regarding people crossing the road.
Like most places, in the towns and cities they have pedestrian controlled crossing points at traffic controlled junctions, and it appears that no one, and I mean no one crosses the road until the pedestrian lights show green, even when there is no traffic about.
Take yesterday as an example, I arrived at Olomouc in pouring rain, and the first thing I had to do after getting my room was sort out some Czech money. I got changed, and wandered across to the railway station to use the ATM. After getting my cash, I had to cross the road, and then an open square of about 100mts to get back to the hotel steps. At this time it was still raining quite hard, anyhow, I got to the road and the pedestrian lights were showing red and there was a middle aged couple standing waiting to cross. I looked around, and there was no traffic or trolley buses in sight, so I just wandered across. I heard a tut and some comment made behind me but continued across the road, and the open square to the hotel. When I reached the hotel I looked behind and the couple were still standing in the rain waiting for the lights to change, and there was still no traffic. As I looked, the lights did change, and they duly crossed.
I have seen this on numerous occasions and it is certainly not a one off. In Warsaw last week, the roads were closed off for a fashion show, but still people waited for the lights to change...most odd.
A second thing I have noticed on my travels,is that nearly all the petrol stations sell LPG, and a lot of people see to use cars that run on it. How many LPG points are there in the UK, not many!

Anyhow, this morning I caught Jed looking at his badge collection with a rather perplexed look on his face. He knows that he has had flag badges from each country, but he cannot remember which one is from Slovakia. I have not got the heart to tell him that I could not get him a flag badge in Slovakia and he had to make do with a badge from Bojnice instead. I will tell one day, promise. Still a little wet today but it did dry up later, saw this nice view just before I arrived at my digs for the next 2 nights. Thought the church looked nice across the wild meadow. As you can see the mountains in the background are still covered in low cloud.

This is the town hall in Hostinne, it is in the central square and I am staying in a Penzion just off the square. The Penzion I am staying in is a renovated 17 c property and the owner has spent the past 7 yrs converting it into a Penzion. He has done each room in a differant colour and furnished it in a 1960's theme. Now before anyone says anything, I was only 6yrs old at the start of the 60's and only 16 at the end, so I do not remember the swinging 60's OK, I was too young!
The town hall has 2 giants standing either side of the frontage.

Below is a close up of the giants, they are each about 4mts tall and there is apparently a lot of tales about them and they play an important part in the history of the town. Note the little of blue sky!!!

Jed finds himself a 17c hideaway in which to spend the night.

The owner has uncovered a lot of the original features and has made features of them. The Penzion has only been open for business since January this year. I have managed to get B and B for 2 nights for £40.00.

Tomorrow I intend visiting the Adrspach Rocks, about 20 mile from here, they form an impressive rock labyrinth by all accounts, and the only way of seeing them is to take a walk. I just hope that the weather is good tomorrow......will the little tinkers who tied those grey clouds to my bike at the start of the trip PLEASE now undo them, I need to see a bit of dry weather.I am paler now than when I left home.

What a bloody awful day!

Well last nights room at Bojnice left a little to be desired, although brand new. It was a room in a block that had just been built on top of an existing block and it is apparent that it has not quite been finished yet, The main problem being that there were no curtains or blinds over the windows, not really a major problem as the builing is quite high up and there is no way anyone can see into the room, but as daylight starts at about 5am I thought it would be a little bright. Having said all that, it was not so bad and I slept till about 6.30am. I suppose it was no worse than being in the tent really, except I was dry and warm.
Started out today, yet again in light drizzle, for Olomouc, in the Czech republic. Well, it started as light drizzle, but within the hour it was getting decidingly wet. After about one and a half hours my sense of humour was going very quickly. I seem to have a problem with the visor on my helmet, in that it does not shed the water, it just seems to sit as a smear across the visor no matter how much I wipe it. In fact the rain had got so heavy and the visor so bad that it was dangerous for me to continue, I could barely make out the shapes of cars in front of me...it really was that bad. I fact I decided that I could not continue at all as the rain was sheeting down so I managed to pull onto a garage forecourt to wait out the very heavy rain.
By now I was into the Czech republic, and you can probally guess, I had none of the local currency, so I could not even buy a hot chocolate to warm up, the temperature by the way was a chilly 12 degrees, what have I got to do to get a little warm weather?
All I could do was break out my emergency can of Red Bull and wait for the worse of the rain to pass.
Pass it eventually did, so off goes I again, following the directions of the GPS. Turn left in 250mts, which I do onto a new road, recalculating she says for the next 14km until I could turn off....I must update my mapping.
Eventually I reach my hotel for the night, and I can see why its only cost about £22.00, its as if I have moved back into the days when communists ran Czechoslavakia. The room has 2 single beds and a double put-u-up plus ancient cheap wooden furniture, and would you believe, a wash basin in the bathroom that overhangs the bath/shower! A very strange set up.....but at least it is dry and warm, and its only for one night as tomorrow I move on to a Penzion in Hostinne, north of Prague for 2 nights.
I just hope that it is dry tonmorrow....please!!!!
I have, for the first time, turned to the West, so I feel that I am on my way home now. Chris, you have less than 2 weeks of peace and quiet left so prepare yourself.
To cap it all, my phone, although set to auto search, cannot find a phone line provider, so for the 1st time I am out of contact.
You will notice that there are no photos today, the reason being, nothing worth photographing..sorry, I hope for better tomorrow.

Puss in Boots!!

Moody picture taken this morning on the road to Bojnice, as you can see, still no blue sky!! Up and out in waterproofs again this morning after another good breakfast. It was only mizzling for the first few kms and then stopped, however, there was still quite a bit of spray about until the roads eventually dried.
Whilst on a section of motorway I saw a warning sign for otters, now there is a new one for me, have seen warnings for moose, deer and cattle and now otter, wander how big they must be to warn you about them?

Had to stop for a quick confort break so thought it was about time you saw blackie all loaded up for the journey. The panniers are in fact about half empty, the roll on the back is my camping gear, and in the tankbag, things I might need like GPS, camera and locks.

Arrived at the town of Bojnice, where I am staying tonight, it had been recommended that I also take in the fairy tale castle in the town, I could have picked a better day I can tell you.

When I arrived at the castle there was quite a long queue, mainly families with young children, I wandered up to the front of the queue and the only sign I understood was one saying that no information in the castle was in English, thats a great help then. Due to the queue I assumed that it was like the castle in Krakow, where they only allow so many through at a time, to me this made sense as about every half hour another batch were admitted.

As I got near to the front I clocked a picture of Puss in Boots on a small poster together with todays and tomorrows dates, and as I eventually paid to get in I found that the play Puss in Boots was being put on today and tomorrow for the kids. All OK except that the play is performed in sequence in the rooms throughout the castle and on the route that I needed to take in order to see the castle, that meant that I had to watch the play as well.
The reason that they were only letting so many through at a time is that there were 4 performances of the play all going on at the same time, so that when one group has seen a scene and move on another group come in behind and see the same scene but with differant players.

Well, from what I could understand, the play was performed very well, the only downside for me was that obviously it was all in Slovakian and I understood not one word. The kids all seemed to enjoy it though.

From what I saw of the castle, it was very impressive, however I think that I would have rather seen without Puss in Boots, or is that me being fussy.

Just for a change, here is a view from my guest house room for tonight, at least I can see the mountains tonight, the last place they were covered in mist all the time.

Tomorrow I head for Olomouc in the Czech republic, I have just managed to book a hotel room for tomorrow night for £23.00 inc breakfast. I can only imagine what it will be for that, but as camping would cost me £12.00, who cares.

The view form the top of the climb near to the enterance to the Ice Cave, yes, that is mist rolling down the right hand hill. This is looking the other way, the Penzion that I am staying in is in the village in the cleft between the trees top right.

" There be Dragons", near to the enterance to the cave, the first people to enter the cave complex found several bones, they thought they came from dragons, however it was later found that they were ice bear bones.

Ice structures in the ice cave, spectacular, and cold!

Another view from inside the ice cave. I think a better image.

View inside the second cave complex.

Structure from the second cave.

Doesn't it remind you of ear wax, or is it just me????

Why do my walks always go up?

I am afraid that there are no photos today as the internet seems to be on a go slow. I will try to download some a little later tonight after my mealand drink.
Today I got up and went down for breakfast and saw the best spread of food that I have seen yet on this trip. For once I was spoilt for choice so chose, what for me, is the best breakfast (after a full english of course) a bowl of cerial followed by a freshly chopped fruit salad. Banana, plums, kiwi, grapes and water melon finally drizzled with fresh honey, yum!
After that I washed the bike, the first time since Estonia, and boy, did she need it. The weather is still grey today but at least it is not raining, however the temperature is not good. I was told that it should be between 23 and 30 degrees at this time of the year, but today, a mere 15, where is that sun? Anyhow, as the weather is no good, instead of going for a ride I just went a short 10km to see a couple of cave complexes. When I got to the first one, lo and behold, the bike was filthy again due to the damp road and gravel, I ask myself, why do I bother.
The first cave I went to was the Demanovska Ice Cave. I parked in the car park and then found that I had to climb up a path to the enterance. The notice board told me that the path was 460mts long and rose 90 mts in height.The math tells me that that is a one in five incline, my thighs and lungs can confirm it. Chris always moans at me that all my walks go uphill, I can agree with her this time.
On reaching the top of the incline I found out that the tours are only every hour on the hour, I therefore had about 40 mins to wait.I did not even consider going back down and coming back....no chance.
The tour costs 7 euro and believe it or not they wanted another 10 euro to allow you to take photos, needless to say I did not pay that and I don't think many did, but plenty took photos.
The cave was very impressive, especially the part where the ice still lingers, the temperature inside was between 1 and 3 degrees constant, but the ice does not melt. I will try to load some photos of the ice, it is worth seeing.
The only down side was that the tour was in Slovakian, with no english spoken, however, there was a guide at the back of the group to deter stragglers and she did speak a little school english so at least I did find out a little.
The 2nd cave was a few kms further up the road, and was the Cave of Liberty. Again this involved a climb up from the car park, but not quite as steep. When I got to the top of this climb I heard a woman speak to a man in very accented english, but he answered in very plain english. I got talking to him and he told me that he named Dave and he was from Wisbich and that he had travelled to Slovakia with his girlfriend, Magda, in order to visit her family that lived nearby. Again, this meeting was very useful as Magda managed to translate for myself and Dave.
This cave was more of a conventional cave complex with the usual stalagmites and stalactites but the chambers in the cave were of a huge size. The walk inside the cave covered just over a km but there were over 900 steps involved, luckily not all of them were up, but again at the end my thighs were aching. the ambiant temperature inside this cave was between 7 and 9 degrees, so a little warmer.
Again, I did take some photos and I will try to load them later.
You may have noticed that there is no view from my balcony, well today I cannot even see the mountains as they are covered in low cloud, perhaps tomorrow eh!