May 24, 1996
Kutna Hora
We headed east out of the city, following with some difficulty the route from a map we found at a bike store in Prague. We pursued several dead ends, but by and large the map was a great help to us in escaping the city. The day started out wet, the rain halting just before we left town; and although it remained grey all day and sprinkled lightly at one point, we never really got wet. We arrived in Kutna Hora at the end of the day feeling fortunate to be arriving dry.
The suburbs of Prague - in fact most of it outside of the appealing core of the city - is somewhat bleak. Road quality is not too high, houses are often rundown. Above all though, it is blighted by the monotonous and ugly grey concrete Soviet-built high rises.
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It was with relief that we left the last of them ehind us and entered the countryside, which became progressively greener and more appealing as we moved east. By the time we arrived in Kutna Hora we were surrounded by lovely rolling green fields broken by woods; dazzling yellow rape fields; and small villages. The only less aesthetic aspect of the region is the predominant architectural style - mud-grey plaster houses with tile roofs. This monotonous uniformity gradually changed as we moved south, with more and more of the houses brightened by colored trim or bands of paint relieving the grey.
We splurged in Kutna Hora, staying at the deluxe Medenik Hotel. For 1500 kc (about $50), we got a nice room including breakfast. After looking around a bit we found a couple of pensions we might have tried instead, but we were tired and just glad to have shelter. After unpacking we took a walking tour of the colorful old town. The style, which we were to see repeatedly through southern Bohemia in the days ahead, is a very colorful baroque - each façade has a different hue, and is often decorated by geometric patterns or bas relief.
The town sits on a bluff above a meandering stream, with a beautiful view over the countryside. Most spectacular of all though is the church of Santa Barbera (the patron saint of miners - Kutna Hora was built on its silver mines), a tremendous gothic structure. It is unusual in that it is not crowded by other nearby structures, so that a good view of it is possible.
Today's ride: 90 km (56 miles)
Total: 90 km (56 miles)
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