Short Update

I'm now in the city of Prague. We left Krakow at 6:50 a.m. two mornings ago and took a 7 hour train to Kutna Hora. Kutna Hora is a town in the Czech Republic and is famous for silver mines and this church called the Ossuary that is decorated with over 40 thousand bones.

The night we stayed in Kutna Hora, the four of us ventured down into the old silver mines. We had to put on hard hats and a white, doctor-like coat. It was cold and drippy in the mines with narrow passage ways. At times you had to squeeze your body through narrow crevices and under 4 foot ceilings. Needless to say, I've had more comfortable situations. Afterwards, Suzanne and I ventured out into the town on our own to find a restaurant. So far, we'd been lucky in finding a waiter who'd speak enough English to understand us. We lucked out again; however, I ended up with a massive bill b/c I ordered fish. Apparently, they charge by the gram for fish . . .wish I had known that before I ordered. What looked like something would cost 64 kc (Czech korunas) ended up being 204. Still not too much, but combined with other items, it hurt the pocket book a bit. Also unbeknownest to me is the format of the fish they serve. Apparently they like it very fresh here. They must have gone out back and grabbed it from the stream when I ordered it. When the waitress brought our plates, I exclaimed, "Oh that looks so good!" Suzanne responded, "Did you see the face on it?" Glancing down again, I jumped and shivered in surprise, as though having a minor seizure S said later. "Ewwhh!!! Hell no, I didn't see that! Its eye holes are following me!" I quickly cut off the skin and head and covered it with a napkin. Phew.

Suzanne and I proceeded out to walk back . . .and somehow lost our way. I think the multiple times we'd walked past different areas of the city started to meld together into one, indeterminable mess and we weren't sure when we had seen what. However, we finally made it back.

Yesterday afternoon we took another train to Prague, after a mad, thirty minute dash to the train station sweltering in the afternoon heat with our backpacks and etc weighing us down. As you probably imagine, I have the most crap, so I blame that for how much my feet hurt today.

It took what felt like FOREVER to get to our hostel/pension in Prague. What was supposed to be a ten minute walk took about 45. I hurt pretty badly after that. This morning I drug my tired body out of bed with the thought of taking a walking tour . . .was less than excited about that prospect. Man, I miss having my own car!! (However, I know it's a LOT healthier to walk to so many places.) We ended up going to the Museum of Communism--small but quite interesting. We thought to forego the walking tour until tomorrow, but then happened across it in Weneslaus (sp?) Square and joined up part way through. Presently we are waiting until 1 p.m. here to continue . . .hence my ability to check email and write here. I've heard some fantastic stories on this tour thus far. Will have to share more at a later time. I do go home in three days . . .I've decided that I'd like a good night's sleep and a better bathroom and shower. It's ok, but I tend to miss home after awhile. However, so far I've been glad to here. Later I will have to share my reflections on the different countries and groups of people I've observed here. Must go. I pay by minute for my internet usage.