Photo Challenge: Urban

The city of Prague, ancient, full of history and rich culture!! A city you will fall in love with instantly. Pictured here is the river Vltava with the Prague Castle and the famous St. Vitus cathedral in the background.

Black and White Wednesday -- St. Vitus Cathedral

Last month today(23rd) saw us as tourists in Prague,Czech Republic. These are shots of St. Vitus Cathedral, the most important church in the country and an excellent example of Gothic architecture.

                                         

Sundays in my City!!

Its my favourite day of the week. Sundays in my city hosted by Unknown Mami. For those who do not me, I am May, an Indian expat living the life of a German!!! Yeah, the Germans love to holiday. I believe they plan their holiday a year in advance. Well that is one trait of theirs which we havent accomplished as yet. We have been going on impromptu holidays the past two weeks and I am eager to show you the places that have been very interesting to me. Before I proceed to describe this particular place, take a look at the pictures. If you are weak hearted, I suggest you to not proceed.

This is the well known BONE CHURCH or OSSUARY in Kutna Hora(belongs to the UNESCO list of the world cultural heritage), a little village an hour away from Prague, Czech Republic. It is believed that an abbot of the Sedlec monastery returned from a visit to Palestine with a pocketful of soil and sprinkled it on the cemetery surrounding the Chapel of All Saints.

        The graveyard then became a sought after burial site among the aristocracy of Central Europe. At the time of the thirty years war in the 17th century, the number of burial outgrew the space available, the older remains were exhumed and stored in the chapel. Urban myth has it that a monk went mad and made things from the bones, and there are stories to suggest that partially blind monks entrusted with the care of the chapel were the first to begin piling the bones in geometric shapes. 

There are strings of skulls and bones hanging from the ceiling as well as a chandelier. The chapel now contains the bones of upto 40,000 people. The visit to this chapel is quite eerie and I was wondering, was it this way that the dead wanted to be remembered??? Also couldn't help but wonder how did these ladies work day in and out surrounded by eerieness. I hope I didn't scare you with my Sunday posting. 

For more not so eerie Sundays head over to Unknown Mami and take a look!!!

Sunday's in my City

We are back from holidaying in the Czech Republic!! The highlight of our trip was a 15 km hike at the Bohemian Switzerland National Park at Hrensko, close to the Czech German border. This park is the youngest National Park in the Czech Republic.

Deep in the park is PRAVCICKA BRANA, the largest natural stone bridge in the continent and a natural monument of the Czech Republic. Inseperable from Pravcicika Brana is the holiday chateau(pictured below) known as the Falcon's Nest. It was built in 1881 and served as a tavern. Today, it contains a preserved period restaurant.

This is the Grand Canyon of Europe. We climbed way upto the top and I must say, my heart was in my mouth. Husband and the children enjoyed every bit of it, just like an adventure.

Wouldn't you be petrified too at such a height??????

We continue our hike admiring the flora and fauna, taking in sights and songs of birds. This was an amazing experience for us. The last leg of it takes us through the Gorges at Hrensko alongside Kamenice river, a landscape which had started to develop many millions of years ago at the bottom of the sea.We walked beneath rock ledges, several tunnels and narrow footbridges, surrounded on both sides by a wall of high rocks.

I felt I was in paradise, lost to the world!!! We completed the hike in 7 hours, and at the end we were a very proud family!!! I hope you enjoyed hiking along with me!! Do not forget to have a look at Sunday's in my city of fellow bloggers too!!! Visit Unknown Mami to see more!!!