Our last day in the Czech Republic involved a lot of driving.
在捷克的最後一天，整天都開車到處跑。
In the morning we visited the Vysehrad (Castle on the Heights) on the south end of the city centre. One of our colleagues warned us beforehand to avoid driving in Prague. One of the reasons – we found out as we strolled through the myriad of streets – is that there are generally street signs only at one end of the street, typically the end with smaller street numbers. If the GPS fails or if there are temporary traffic diversions, a driving map wouldn’t be as helpful as it could be. (That’s also the reason why I found Prague rather difficult to navigate on foot at first; I ranked it almost on par with Venice which constantly fools people with its unnamed network of bridges and alleys!) The other reason became clear as we approached the park: we could not find a parking spot near Vysehrad after 15 minutes of searching. Eventually, I convinced our driver that we (i.e. cars) were allowed into the Vysehrad area, and voilà, we managed to park our car there in no time!
早上先到布拉格市區南端的高山城堡（Vysehrad）。我有個同事，早就勸告我在布拉格市區駕車可免則免，到達布拉格後便真正體會到箇中原因：一則往往祇有在街頭的一端（通常是門牌號碼較小的一端）才有路牌，若果汽車的衛星定位出錯，或有臨時交通改道，就算有普通駕駛地圖也不一定容易找到地方。（所以我也覺得起初在布拉格按地圖找地方挺困難，祇比小橋、水道錯縱複雜的威尼斯好一點！）另一個原因，待我們駛近高山城堡，就馬上發覺停車（泊車）艱難，找了15分鐘也找不着。我們在城堡外圍徘徊，看清楚交通標誌，猶豫好一會，最終決定汽車是可以駛進城堡範圍，原來在城堡範圍內停車是多麼容易！
Vysehrad is a castle built on top of a hill overlooking the Vltava river and the other parts of the city centre, surrounded by a wall along which visitors can take a stroll and appreciate the view of Prague from above.
高山城堡居高臨下，市區和Vltava河盡收眼底，遊人也可在沿着圍繞城堡的城堡走一圈，觀賞全市風景。
The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul
聖彼得及聖保羅教堂
St. Martin Rotunda
聖馬丁圓屋
Views from the Vysehrad 從高山城堡的景色
The Prague Castle from afar
遙望布拉格城堡
Prague is not called a city of hundred spires for no reason; see how many you can spot from these two photos already!
布拉格又稱「百尖聳之城」，果然名不處傳。你在這兩張相中又找到多少個尖聳？
We hit the road again, to the town of Kutna Hora about 65 km east of Prague. Our route took us through many small villages, including one in which the road was one part sand, one part cobble that was peeling off. Fortunately relief was in sight (for other motorists, anyway) as we could see that roadwork was already underway at the end of the town! We drove into the heart of the town in time for lunch.
之後再度上路，前往布拉格以東65公里的Kutna Hora。沿途經過不少小鎮和村落，駛過有個小鎮，路面一邊是沙石，一邊是鬆脫中的石磚，待駛出該鎮才見到修路工程，希望以後的駕駛者不用再受顛簸之苦了。差不多午飯時間，便到達Kutna Hora。
On the right: inside the rotunda 右圖：圓屋內的藝術品
The Plague Statue and the streets nearby 瘟疫紀念塔及附近的街道
After lunch, we explored the main highlights of the town. The Cathedral of St. Barbara was the dominant sight of the town and could be seen from many parts of the town, including the Italian Court which was probably named for its similarity to Italian architecture. As we walked along from the Italian Court to the Cathedral, we began to realise that Kutna Hora was built on top of a hill overlooking a valley similar to Vysehrad in Prague. We all enjoyed the scenery, but it would have been perfect if a lake or sea were there, so we thought.
午飯後到Kutna Hora市內的幾大景點，包括充滿意大利建築色彩的意大利宮廷，從那裡聖芭芭拉大教堂遙遙可見，從前往大教堂的路上，看到Kutna Hora的地勢，原來Kutna Hora是建在山上，對着山谷，格局有點像早上去過的布拉格高山城堡，風景算是不錯，但各人皆想，如果從山上望到的是海景或湖景則更妙！
Italian Court
意大利廣場
The Cathedral of St. Barbara from Italian Court
從意大利廣場遙望聖芭芭拉大教堂
The road leading to the Cathedral of St. Barbara 前往聖芭芭拉大教堂的路
A view of the valley from the Cathedral
從大教堂望到的山谷
The Cathedral of St. Barbara 聖芭芭拉大教堂
Just out of the town was another attraction – well, that’s if you’re attracted by these things. We drove to a chapel called Kostnice Sedlec of which the interior and basement were in fact an ossuary decorated with human remains! Normally the sight of human remains out of nowhere would have scared everyone’s guts off and send a chill down the spine, but all we could feel there was the peace and quiet of a normal burial place, and we weren’t particularly uncomfortable with the bony décors. We were wondering whose idea it was to turn death into an art form and what purpose it would have served. Have a read of the website of the chapel if you’re interested.
離Kutna Hora市中心不遠處的另一個景點，則可能要有點心理準備了。我們開車往Kostnice Sedlec教堂，室內連同地窖，都以人骨作裝飾！若是平時無緣無故看到人骨，隨時都會嚇個半死，但在那裡，並無甚麼陰森感覺，跟其他死者安息之地沒太大分別，而且那些裝飾也不太嚇人。究竟用人骨作裝飾，目的何在，又是誰的主意，教堂的網頁（英文版）有所介紹。
The entrance to Kostvice Sedlec Kostvice Sedlec 人骨教堂的入口
Art, immortalised 不死的藝術
From the ossuary, it was a long drive back to Munich, through the heavy traffic on Prague’s motorways with a queue of container trucks stretching for kilometres in the midst of the evening peak traffic. Fortunately the lost time was made up for by the Formula 1 driving on the German autobahns, thanks to the unrestricted speed limit. Driving also offered an advantage: it offered us a handy way to spend our last remaining Czech krones and make use of the lower petrol price. We did it again: 3 cities in 3 days, masters of whirlwind travel!
從那個人骨教堂出來，我們便踏出歸途，路經布拉格時，碰上傍晚繁忙時段，加上貨櫃車的車龍，綿延數十公里，幸好耽誤了的時間，返回德國境內後，在公路上風馳電掣，追回不少。而臨離開捷克國境前，我們把握機會為汽車加油，一來油價較德國低，二則可把手頭上剩餘的捷克幣花光，所以駕車便有這個好處。當然這次能旋風式三日遊三地，也是無車不行！
在捷克的最後一天，整天都開車到處跑。
In the morning we visited the Vysehrad (Castle on the Heights) on the south end of the city centre. One of our colleagues warned us beforehand to avoid driving in Prague. One of the reasons – we found out as we strolled through the myriad of streets – is that there are generally street signs only at one end of the street, typically the end with smaller street numbers. If the GPS fails or if there are temporary traffic diversions, a driving map wouldn’t be as helpful as it could be. (That’s also the reason why I found Prague rather difficult to navigate on foot at first; I ranked it almost on par with Venice which constantly fools people with its unnamed network of bridges and alleys!) The other reason became clear as we approached the park: we could not find a parking spot near Vysehrad after 15 minutes of searching. Eventually, I convinced our driver that we (i.e. cars) were allowed into the Vysehrad area, and voilà, we managed to park our car there in no time!早上先到布拉格市區南端的高山城堡（Vysehrad）。我有個同事，早就勸告我在布拉格市區駕車可免則免，到達布拉格後便真正體會到箇中原因：一則往往祇有在街頭的一端（通常是門牌號碼較小的一端）才有路牌，若果汽車的衛星定位出錯，或有臨時交通改道，就算有普通駕駛地圖也不一定容易找到地方。（所以我也覺得起初在布拉格按地圖找地方挺困難，祇比小橋、水道錯縱複雜的威尼斯好一點！）另一個原因，待我們駛近高山城堡，就馬上發覺停車（泊車）艱難，找了15分鐘也找不着。我們在城堡外圍徘徊，看清楚交通標誌，猶豫好一會，最終決定汽車是可以駛進城堡範圍，原來在城堡範圍內停車是多麼容易！
Vysehrad is a castle built on top of a hill overlooking the Vltava river and the other parts of the city centre, surrounded by a wall along which visitors can take a stroll and appreciate the view of Prague from above.
高山城堡居高臨下，市區和Vltava河盡收眼底，遊人也可在沿着圍繞城堡的城堡走一圈，觀賞全市風景。
The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul
聖彼得及聖保羅教堂
St. Martin Rotunda
聖馬丁圓屋
Views from the Vysehrad 從高山城堡的景色
The Prague Castle from afar
遙望布拉格城堡
Prague is not called a city of hundred spires for no reason; see how many you can spot from these two photos already!
布拉格又稱「百尖聳之城」，果然名不處傳。你在這兩張相中又找到多少個尖聳？
We hit the road again, to the town of Kutna Hora about 65 km east of Prague. Our route took us through many small villages, including one in which the road was one part sand, one part cobble that was peeling off. Fortunately relief was in sight (for other motorists, anyway) as we could see that roadwork was already underway at the end of the town! We drove into the heart of the town in time for lunch.
之後再度上路，前往布拉格以東65公里的Kutna Hora。沿途經過不少小鎮和村落，駛過有個小鎮，路面一邊是沙石，一邊是鬆脫中的石磚，待駛出該鎮才見到修路工程，希望以後的駕駛者不用再受顛簸之苦了。差不多午飯時間，便到達Kutna Hora。
On the right: inside the rotunda 右圖：圓屋內的藝術品
The Plague Statue and the streets nearby 瘟疫紀念塔及附近的街道
After lunch, we explored the main highlights of the town. The Cathedral of St. Barbara was the dominant sight of the town and could be seen from many parts of the town, including the Italian Court which was probably named for its similarity to Italian architecture. As we walked along from the Italian Court to the Cathedral, we began to realise that Kutna Hora was built on top of a hill overlooking a valley similar to Vysehrad in Prague. We all enjoyed the scenery, but it would have been perfect if a lake or sea were there, so we thought.
午飯後到Kutna Hora市內的幾大景點，包括充滿意大利建築色彩的意大利宮廷，從那裡聖芭芭拉大教堂遙遙可見，從前往大教堂的路上，看到Kutna Hora的地勢，原來Kutna Hora是建在山上，對着山谷，格局有點像早上去過的布拉格高山城堡，風景算是不錯，但各人皆想，如果從山上望到的是海景或湖景則更妙！
Italian Court
意大利廣場
The Cathedral of St. Barbara from Italian Court
從意大利廣場遙望聖芭芭拉大教堂
The road leading to the Cathedral of St. Barbara 前往聖芭芭拉大教堂的路
A view of the valley from the Cathedral
從大教堂望到的山谷
The Cathedral of St. Barbara 聖芭芭拉大教堂
Just out of the town was another attraction – well, that’s if you’re attracted by these things. We drove to a chapel called Kostnice Sedlec of which the interior and basement were in fact an ossuary decorated with human remains! Normally the sight of human remains out of nowhere would have scared everyone’s guts off and send a chill down the spine, but all we could feel there was the peace and quiet of a normal burial place, and we weren’t particularly uncomfortable with the bony décors. We were wondering whose idea it was to turn death into an art form and what purpose it would have served. Have a read of the website of the chapel if you’re interested.
離Kutna Hora市中心不遠處的另一個景點，則可能要有點心理準備了。我們開車往Kostnice Sedlec教堂，室內連同地窖，都以人骨作裝飾！若是平時無緣無故看到人骨，隨時都會嚇個半死，但在那裡，並無甚麼陰森感覺，跟其他死者安息之地沒太大分別，而且那些裝飾也不太嚇人。究竟用人骨作裝飾，目的何在，又是誰的主意，教堂的網頁（英文版）有所介紹。
The entrance to Kostvice Sedlec Kostvice Sedlec 人骨教堂的入口
Art, immortalised 不死的藝術
From the ossuary, it was a long drive back to Munich, through the heavy traffic on Prague’s motorways with a queue of container trucks stretching for kilometres in the midst of the evening peak traffic. Fortunately the lost time was made up for by the Formula 1 driving on the German autobahns, thanks to the unrestricted speed limit. Driving also offered an advantage: it offered us a handy way to spend our last remaining Czech krones and make use of the lower petrol price. We did it again: 3 cities in 3 days, masters of whirlwind travel!
從那個人骨教堂出來，我們便踏出歸途，路經布拉格時，碰上傍晚繁忙時段，加上貨櫃車的車龍，綿延數十公里，幸好耽誤了的時間，返回德國境內後，在公路上風馳電掣，追回不少。而臨離開捷克國境前，我們把握機會為汽車加油，一來油價較德國低，二則可把手頭上剩餘的捷克幣花光，所以駕車便有這個好處。當然這次能旋風式三日遊三地，也是無車不行！
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如果是,是會嚇人的啦!