With a long, long, long day of walking behind us, we turned our attention to a quieter, slower activity- one that would be a standout memory of the trip.
When researching worthwhile things to see and do in Prague, one that kept coming up over and over was the Klementium. While I’m sure it is indeed beautiful, one that stood out, to me anyway, as a “best kept secret”, and far less touristy option, was the Strahov Monastery and in particular its magnificent library.
One blogsite mentioned that there was a private tour option that, while a bit spendy, was well worth every penny and more. If you don’t opt for the private tour, the pricing list can be found HERE, along with all of the monastery’s information. If you do, you will need to contact them directly by e-mail.
I ended up going “all in” for a couple of activities on this trip and this would be one. After some back and forth about the dates and our available times, our private tour guide and we finally agreed on Sunday morning before we had to get on the road to Budapest. It was supposed to be a 5 ½ hour drive, but we all know how that goes. So, while we weren’t in hurry, we would need to get marching.
Now, here is where things got REALLY interesting, REALLY fast. Before we went to the Library/Monastery that morning, our plan was to pick up the rental car at the airport right at 8:00 so we could make it back across town for our 10:00 scheduled tour. No problem, we made that in plenty of time by way of Uber.
“Hello. We are here to pick up our car for the 2-week rental.”
“Great! Glad you’re here, we have just what you wanted, and it’s ready to go.”
“Perfect, <decline pre-filled gas, sign on the dotted line, yada, yada, yada…>”
“Now, do you plan to visit any other countries during your visit?”
“Oh yes, Hungary…”
“No problem! Any others?”
“Ummm, yes, 8 others… Romania,”
“Ohhhh, sorry! You can’t take the car there!”
“Uhhhhhh….. ?!?!”
“Any others?”
“Yes, Serbia and Montenegro.”
“Oohhhh, so sorry, you can’t take it to those countries, either!”
<We look at each other in full panic mode, knowing our whole trip’s itinerary was now pulverized.>
What else could we do but rent the car, and figure out a whole new trip, one that had taken literally months to plan, in a matter of a couple of hours over a couple of dinners? ALL but two of our hotels had to be cancelled or re-booked, and we knew there was likely going to be $$$ lost to pre-paid nights with not enough time to cancel.
I could have cried. I could have panicked and gotten very upset. I could have lost my temper and been very mean-spirited. Instead, I looked at pkondz and said, “This isn’t a loss, it’s an opportunity!”. Let’s face it, we were both born in a time when there was no internet. When you traveled, you didn’t make hotel reservations ahead of time, you just went and had a great time. You ate at places along the way that caught your eye, there was no spending months and months micro-planning every little detail. You traveled and had a great time. How would we do? Well, for that, you’ll have to stick around all the way to the end! Sure, we’d miss out on a LOT we’d hoped to see, mostly in Romania, but as you’ll see, the trip went on.
Back to our morning’s destination: My international phone plan came in handy, and I plugged in the directions to the Strahov Monastery and off we went, arriving in plenty of time to park and walk the few blocks to where we needed to check in.
I will say, when I mentioned the back and forth with the Strahov tour guide, it was a bit more than that. It actually bordered on a bit weird. “Can you meet Saturday?” “No, I’m afraid not, we already have other plans that day.” “Sunday at 1:00?” “No, we need to drive all the way to Budapest that day.” <One week later> “How about Saturday…?” WTH? “NO! We can’t do a tour on Saturday.” This went on for over 3 weeks. I almost gave up, but today was the day, and it seemed a go.
Some photos as we made our way to the meet up place:
Right on time, our tour guide met us and took us to the Library Entrance. She gave us a short history of the monastery itself and the order of monks who built and curated it over the centuries. To make a very long, complex history short, it’s old. Really, really old. But, if you ARE interested in a more thorough history, Wiki should do you nicely.
When we approached that entrance to the Theological Hall, the first of two halls we’d get to be in all alone, just the three of us, our mouths literally fell open. There really are no human words to describe how breath-taking it is, only emotions of amazement and being overwhelmed by something so ornate and obviously painstakingly crafted.
She let us wander in the hall of ancient books letting us take photos of whatever we wanted as long as the flash wasn’t on (wasn’t needed) and we didn’t touch. She directed our attention up to the gorgeous frescoes and explained that the philosophy of the monks was that of study and vigilance in learning- and that, through those, along with dedication to reason and reading, one could overcome many evils of this world. You can see owls in some of the paintings on the ceiling which symbolize wisdom. The fresco with the women staring in the mirror alludes to “those who will be ignorant, will be” speaking to the higher pursuit of knowledge and learning over vanity and other vices.
She explained that the books bound in white are so with lambs’ skin, as opposed to the colored and brown books which are covered in bovine leather. I can’t remember if she said it was just the style of the time, or if book-binding had evolved to more sturdy methods over time.
From the Theological Hall we moved on to the Philosophical Hall where works of science and other subjects- those not of theology. The two halls were so very different- the former light and airy with pastels and filigree, the latter dark, rich woods with darker tones of carved walnut. Both halls were immense in size and equally stunning, but this one has a couple of hidden gems that, again, one would not see or hear about without a special tour.
In addition to the extensive book collections, of which the oldest title is a Latin manuscript written on parchment that dates back roughly to the year 860 AD, and the ceiling of beautiful frescoes, were several neat antique pieces of furniture. The inlay alone was mouth-watering, not to mention the clever workings of a rotating study desk, a table which turned into both a table with a seat AND a ladder. Such fun stuff that you definitely will not get to see without a private tour- which by the way, was about €80/person.
One such piece in Philosophical Hall was a tiered cabinet that holds quite a history: (From AI)
Another was a hidden staircase that leads up to the 2nd floor, done that way to make access to the upper floor books harder to get to. For the most rare and irreplaceable books, worth so much that they are uninsurable, the library has a secret vault, temperature and humidity-controlled of course for storage.
Now, the most amazing part of this entire complex is that it is a working library. The books CAN be read and studied and are regularly. The monks still believe, after all these centuries, that books are to be read, not locked up or hidden away.
After we’d gotten our fill of photos and over an hour of super interesting information, our guide cut us loose to spend as much time as we’d like to in the little museum of old astronomy maps, books, globes, and sea-faring gear. There were also some geological curiosities like fossils, rocks and minerals, and taxidermized sea creatures. The day was marching on and we needed to as well.
I used the monastery potty for the 3rd time at a €1 a pop and with that we got on the road with a planned dinner stop in Bratislava, Slovakia en route to Budapest. Let’s see what would turn up…
First an interesting stop in the little village of Sedlec! Getting off the beaten path is how I roll and pkondz seems to roll the same way. He was actually the one who suggested this visit and I was all game. I’d visited another ossuary in Rome a few years ago and was very humbled at the message of the one Capuchin Monks conveyed at this one that was curated in Rome. This one was more understated without much fanfare but was a worthwhile stop nonetheless. We also used the opportunity to grab a cold drink and quick snack, then moved on. (None of these photos are mine as photos are not allowed out of decorum and respect.)
The deets for the ossuary and chapel can be found HERE.
By the time we rolled into Bratislava for some dinner it was 6:30. I was HUNGRY. Pkondz wasn’t so much, but we both needed a break out of the car and this cute little penzion with a nice little restaurant was perfect. It sits just near the Castle Devin, so if you’re in the area, and stay there, that could be something to explore.
Beer was the bevvie of choice, at least for this meal along with some very traditional fare for me and a nice little salad for pkondz. Both were shared and both of us seemed to enjoy it all. A huge benefit of sharing, aside from getting to taste more yummies, is that you also get to save a little room for dessert!
My main was a glorious dish of venison cutlets in a rich, delicious gravy, cranberries, and bread dumplings. These were by far better than those I’d tried in Prague the previous days.
Beer and heavy Central European fare is filling enough, but vacation calls for dessert. To end our meal, we shared a dish of traditional dumplings, not sure if they were yeast or potato, but they were coated with nut flour and served with fresh clotted cream and berries. It was okay, not a favorite, but uniquely local and nice to try.
It was quite late when we arrived at the Budapest hotel, at least later than we’d originally planned, and with another very full day on tap tomorrow, we headed straight to bed.
Ummmm, how’s this for a view?! Yep, that was the last sight before bed and the first one in the morning.
