Kutna Hora, Anthropos Institute, spooky dead Capuchin monks, Prague, and Mendel!

On Wednesday I took the train up to Kutna Hora, which is a little town (or more like a small city, I guess) around 30 miles southeast of Prague, to see the Kostnice bone church.

Look how cool!:









I almost used up my entire 1 GB memory card there! The entire church is decorated with human skeletal remains. The majority of them are plague victims from the 14th century, but some also died during the Hussite wars of the 15th century. The remains of approximately 40,000 people are stored in this ossuary. The chandelier you see in the first photo is made from every single bone in the human body. (Or so they say. I didn't really check.)

Aside from the bone church, Kutna Hora is also a really pretty town with a gorgeous Gothic cathedral: St. Barbara's Cathedral.

Here's a shot of the main square in Kutna Hora:



Thursday was a working day. I went to my second Czech museum, the Anthropos Institute (oooh, I'm having fun with the external linking today!) at the Moravian Museum in Brno. This is the museum:



I worked in the little orange building on the far left. The grad student who helped me with the skulls that day was really nice and we hit it off pretty well. She even treated me to lunch in an underground pub right next to the museum. It was great to have someone to hang out with, even if it was just for 1 day!

After I was done at the museum, I went around the corner to check out the Capuchin Crypt. (My second Capuchin Crypt this trip!) Jesus Christ, did this place frrreeeeak me out. I wasn't allowed to take any photos inside the place, which was just fine with me. I don't want the digital memories anyways! Now, most of you know that I've spent plenty of time up close and personal with lots of dead people (especially lately!) but for some reason, this place really gave me the creeps. Maybe because I was the only person (well, the only breathing person) inside the crypt at the time, maybe because the place was all low ceilings and dark, narrow passageways, maybe because they were still kind of fleshy and you could still make out what they sort of looked like in life, maybe because it was just so eerie and quiet...I don't know. But I didn't stay long!

The last time I was in Prague I touched this statue on the Charles Bridge:



So I was destined to return. And that's what I did yesterday. Actually, I'm not really sure if that's what touching the statue means. Everybody was touching it, so like a good sheep, I touched it too. Baaaa. People may touch it for luck or money instead, but I like the Trevi Fountain explanation, that touching it ensures that you'll return to Prague. And so far it works! (And yes, I touched it again.)

Prague was cold and foggy, as I think Prague should be.











Prague was also very crowded. (But still beautiful.)



One day isn't enough for Prague, even if you've been there before and already seen most of the important sights. I could spend one whole entire day in the Old Town Square looking at the Tyn Church.

Here's a golem:



Today I walked to the Augustian Abbey where Gregor Mendel lived and worked from 1843-1884. Mendel is generally considered the "father of modern genetics". The experiments he conducted on peas in his garden at the Abbey resulted in Mendel's Laws of Inheritance, on which every Anth 102 student is lectured and tested. Now the Abbey houses the Mendel Museum of Genetics.

This was the spot of Mendel's original experimental garden:



The window directly above the arch was Mendel's room at the Abbey. From this spot he was able to keep a close watch on his garden and his experiments. This was a really cool thing to be able to see. (Maybe I've been teaching Anth 102 for too long!)

Tomorrow I leave the Czech Republic and head down to Vienna for 1 week. My German is better than my Czech (but not by much ;), so it'll be nice to be able to read signs (and menus) again!