Bones, Mines, Knedlíky, and a Cathedral

I visited Kutná Hora today. First stop was Sedlec Ossuary, a church that has bone 'creations' inside. Apparently, the bones of 40,000 people are used in the Ossuary. Babies have something like 350 bones that eventually fuse into a total of 206 for adults. For simplicity let's assume that no babies are used in the count, and there are no individuals with polydactyly or other bone deformities. That makes a bit over 8 million bones used in this church. Yikes. Here are some great pics (way better than the ones I took).

Next, I took the coolest tour of mine shafts underneath Kutná Hora, which was famed for its silver mines. Coated up, hard hat on, retro alkaline lamp in hand, and down we went into the shaft. Barely kept the claustrophobe in me from freaking out - dark and cramped is an understatement. The water in the mine has carved out some strange pits, promoted the proliferation of many a green and fuzzy growth, and poisoned a lot of the miners that drank it (it was arsenated).

After the mine tour, I feasted on some serious Czech food. Large portions - really good garlic soup, potato knedlíky, and red cabbage. I'm not a fan of the 24-7 meat and potatoes cuisine, but this stuff was pretty tasty.

Lastly, we visited the Cathedral of St. Barbara, patron saint of the miners. Its a beautiful cathedral, rivaling St. Vitus cathedral in Prague Castle. Kutná Hora was definitely worth the trip.