From Prague to Kutna Hora

Day's Summary
"The destination for today was Kutna Hora, a fairly small town off the main roads, which made it quite difficult for tourists to get to and therefore more attractive for individual tourists like ourselves. We somehow took a very minor road that meandered through the countryside, but got there at about lunch time. Parked at an out of town parking area near a campsite and cycled into the town which was quite hilly. The highlight was the St Barbara cathedral, a remarkable example of Gothic building. We had supper at a restaurant in town after the few tourists had left and moved the camper into the campsite for the night"

Today we had to leave Prague. We found a new person at reception and discovered how to open the gate ourselves. We drove past the various sports facilities and stopped at the service station that had caused us to miss the turnoff three days before to fill up. Prague had been fun and we had got to see a lot, but we had no doubt missed much as well. It was easy to get out of the city with the help of the Google Girl, but somehow we landed up on a much smaller road than planned. This road was very scenic and went through a rural area. This was very interesting , but also very stressful with lots of trucks on the narrow twisting road and several small villages which took long to get through and cost us a lot of time. There were also roadworks and at a big bump the passenger side wing mirror jumped back. I was quite sure that I didn’t bump anything, but was concerned about the dents on the door top. We found a place to stop for coffee right next to the road (self catering) and later stopped at a supermarket to buy bread rolls and ham for lunch , which we later enjoyed in the camper.

We got to Kutna Hora, but it was difficult to orientate ourselves and to find parking. We eventually found the historic centre, complete with narrow cobbled streets, but had to stop in a taxi parking place while Marianne went off to find the tourist info office. A taxi arrived and I had to move, but collected Marianne and she had directions to the local campsite. We found a parking area next to the Santa Barbara campsite. The gate of the campsite was closed, but it looked operational and very decent. There were two campervans in the parking area, so we joined them and got the bikes down to cycle into town once we had our lunch - the typical white rolls with ham and cheese.

It was an easy downhill into the town, where the cobbles were certainly not bicycle friendly. The town was beautiful and certainly not touristy. We explored the lovely narrow streets with lots of beautiful historic buildings and monuments and came across our first plague tower. We would find that there were these monuments in almost every town to commemorate the last plague that occurred in the early 1700s. We spoilt ourselves with excellent ice-creams as it was heavy going on the up and down cobbled streets and it was quite warm! Thanks to the bicycles we soon got to the Santa Barbara Cathedral after passing a procession of thirteen sculpted saints and warriors. The hills were also covered with vineyards. The cathedral was spectacular with a roof that neither of us had seen before. We explored the g
Gothic building thoroughly. There were lots of flying buttresses and twisting spiralling rib vaulting. The dramatic Gothic arches and vaults were heavily decorated and rich in sculptures We went up to the mezzanine level where there were views of the nave and where there were lots of artefacts on display and a view of the back of the organ which showed that the backs of carvings are indeed very rough. The position of the cathedral allowed lovely views back to the town. We made our way back through side streets and got to see the late 15th century Gothic city fountain.

It was supper time so we found a pizza restaurant called “Factory” and shared a really good Carbonera (ham and mushroom) pizza. It was a lovely way to end a very interesting day. Then it was an uphill ride to the camper. The campsite was open and very jolly with locals enjoying the restaurant. The facilities were excellent and we were the only residents. We enjoyed the showers and got to bed at about 22h30 feeling very content. Our camper trip had now really started..

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