捷克／Czech Republic（Part 2）

＊库特拉霍拉／Kutna Hora
捷克的主要旅游景点看了七七八八后，决定到捷克周边去看看，于是去了一个叫库特拉霍拉的小镇。这个小镇以俗称“人骨教堂”的塞德莱茨为名。这个教堂的坟墓被视为圣坟，尤其是在14至15世纪，有不少人被葬在这里。后来因为墓地数量有限，教堂又被装修，这些人骨都被挖掘，一堆一堆地摆放在教堂内。而在1870年，一名木雕师傅被委托处理这些人骨，结果他干脆用人骨来布置教堂，前后采用了大约四万至七万人的遗骨进行教堂的室内装饰。
After catching most of the sights in Prague, I next head for a small town called Kutna Hora, about a one hour train ride from Prague. This biggest attraction here is the Sedlec Ossuary, otherwise known at the “Bones Church”. The Sedlec Ossuary contains approximately 40 000 to 70 000 human skeletons which have been artistically arranged to formed decorations and furnishings for the chapel. The cemetery in Sedlec was considered to be a desirable burial site and hence many thousands were buried here between the 14th and 15th centuries. Later, the whole site underwent reconstruction and the bones exhumed were simply stacked in the newly built chapel. In 1870, a woodcarver, Frantisek Rint, was given the task to put the bone heaps in order. The macabre result of his effort speaks for itself. You can see chandeliers made from bones, piers and monstrance of human bones flanking the altar and even a coat of arms of bones.

原本还想参观库特拉霍拉的一些博物馆，可是提议与我结伴来这里的美国姐弟比预定时间完了一个多小时到火车站，结果一拖再拖，待我们参观完人骨教堂，已经接近五点，所有的博物馆几乎都关门了。最后只好随便在空荡荡的市中心走走，找东西吃。好在最后无意间发现了一个中国餐厅，吃了自离开中国以来最好吃的一顿中餐，我才没有觉得浪费时间到库特拉霍拉来。
I had planned on visiting some of the museums in Kutna Hora, but the American brother and sister pair who had wanted to do the trip with me was late by more than an hour. In the end, by the time we reached Kutna Hora and were done with the Bones Church, it was nearly 5pm. By then, most of the museums have closed. In the end, we could only wander around the nearly empty town center to look for something to eat. Luckily, we chanced upon a Chinese restaurant and I managed to have the best Chinese meal I had since leaving China, hence I did not feel as if I wasted my time in Kutna Hora.

＊克鲁姆洛夫／Cesky Krumlov
我想除了蒙古之外，人口仅有1万4000的捷克小镇克鲁姆洛夫应该是我到目前为止最爱的地方了。捷克人将克鲁姆洛夫形容为第二个布拉格，但我觉得这里比布拉格更有老的味道，更有特色，更吸引人。小小的一个镇，没有人群，没有吵闹的车子，整个镇被伏尔塔瓦河包围着，河边全是特色小餐厅和咖啡座，再加上那16世纪的城堡，这简直是个童话故事里才会有的村子!
If I have to rank the places I have visited on this trip so far, then Mongolia is definitely top of he list of my favorite places, followed closely by Cesky Krumlov, a small town in the South Bohemian region of Czech Republic. Some people described this place as a second Prague, but to me, Cesky Krumlov has more charms and is definitely way more appealing than the capital city. A tiny town with no crowd, no blaring horns of vehicles, surrounded by the Vltava River, with tiny cafes and restaurants dotting the banks of the river and a charming 16th century castle, this place feels just like something out of the fairy tales. 这里没有所谓的古镇或新镇，整个镇自18世纪后就没有太大的改变，房子和商店都非常有中古时代的味道。连吃东西也会有古代的感觉，像是这个波希米亚大餐。既然是大餐，当然是什么都有，菜、马铃薯和烤肉等。肉方面，你可以选择鸡肉、猪肉或是兔肉（对！是可爱的小白兔）。下一张照片卖的是香桂面包。
There is no such thing as the Old Town or New Town here. The whole town has pretty much remained the same since the 18th century, with the houses and shops all having a medieval touch to them. Even food here feels medieval, like this Bohemian feast. Since it is a 'feast', of course there is everything in it, i.e. vegetables, potatoes and meat. For the meat part, you get a choice of roasted chicken, pork or rabbit (yes, that cute flurry animal!). The next picture is of a shop selling cinnamon rolls.到克鲁姆洛夫，一定要到这里的城堡走走。城堡内饲养了几只大熊，而从城堡内可以眺望整个克鲁姆洛夫。
The one place which everyone has to visit in Cesky Krumlov is the fairy tale like castle. At the entrance to the castle, you can see a few bears. From inside the castle, you can get a great view of the whole town. 与同宿舍的人结伴租了个筏艇到河上游玩。一边喝着啤酒，吃着薯片，一边欣赏周边的美景，让河流慢慢推动着筏艇，呵，呵，简直是人间最大的享受！划艇划累了，我们就靠岸，卖杯啤酒，吃些香肠。不过捷克的天气很怪，虽然只有9月，但太阳一被云朵遮盖，气温就迅速下降。我们没有料到终点距离起点那么远，因此太阳快下山时，我们仍在拼命地划船，结果被冻得半死。虽然结尾不完美，但大家都一致认为，在河上度过那么完美的一天，即使到后来快变成“冰人”，但却是值得的。
Teamed up with the other travelers from the hostel and rented a raft to go down the river. This is the thing to do if you are ever here in Cesky Krumlov. Letting the river push your raft along gently, as you sip beer or wine and munch on your chips, THIS is what travelling is all about!! When we got tired with rowing the raft, we found a place to beach up and had a break. Not only did we get beer and sausages, the friendly shop owner even lit up a campfire for us. However, things were a little spoilt by the weird Czech weather. Although it was only September, once the sun went behind the clouds, the temperature quickly fell. We did not expect the ending point to be far from where we started, and hence took our time with resting and rowing. In the end, when the sun was setting, we were still rowing furiously with our half frozen fingers, trying hard to look for the ending point. Although by the time we got back to our hostel, we had almost become “iceman”, everybody agreed that it was worth braving the cold for such a lovely outing on the river.