Day 2: It's a New Day!

Hooray, we made it to the next day! On this day, we visited a few last minute sites in Prague before driving back to Brno, where my parents live.

The first place was, you guessed it, another library. Well, it is a monastery, but what we went there for was the library. What can I say, my family humors me. I already blogged about this gorgeous library (which allows non-flash photography, so I went all out) on my book review site here. However, here is a photo of part of the Strahov Monastery (non-library section):

Did you read about the Strahov Monastery Library on my other blog yet? Good.

We paused in our trek to take our photos by a statue of some of my favorite historical astronomers:

Brahe became the imperial astronomer in Prague in 1597 and Kepler (who I know you all have heard of) used Brahe's measurements to make his famous laws of planetary motion

I also snapped a random photo of this horse statue:

If you look closely at the inscription, you might notice the reason for my snapping this otherwise random photo

Our next stop, on the drive from Prague to Brno was at this rather simple-looking church:


Do not be fooled by its plain outward appearance, for inside we find the Kostnice Ossuary:


Need a new decorating style? This ought to liven things up (pun totally intended)

Anyway, apparently, this church was a really popular place for rich people who wanted to be buried. Also, during the plague in the 14th century, they had a huge influx of bodies and not as much room to house them (approximately 40,000 people now!). Someone finally had the brilliant idea to artfully arrange those bones:

this is the excellent chandelier!


Pretty decor, no? Definitely perfect for Halloween!

There were four huge piles (bell-shaped apparently) in the four corners of the church in addition to all the exciting arrangements.

Coat of arms (literally)

And of course, the artist signed is name in, that's right, bones:

Random Czechsky thought: let's elaborate on my brief mention of driving. Europeans are plain scary. Let's be honest, drivers in America are nuts. I've been in multiple infamously horrendous driving areas (my home state included) - particularly New York. But, I have also experienced some terrifying escapes during my trip to Paris in high school. Fearing for one's life is the best way to describe it. The cars may be tiny, but boy the drivers sure make up for it! The swerving, the speeding, the terribly confusing road signs (some things are not as universal as you would think). Being wedged into the back of a tiny little skoda car (a Czech company) did not make the drive any better. But, it beats walking (well, at least over long distances). I'll talk more about other transport systems later, but driving - well, I guess you just have to experience it to fully understand what I mean.