June 29 – Prague to Vienna, Austria. Today we are leaving Prague to head back to our starting point, Vienna. Our extra luggage has been waiting patiently for us to return and claim it.
On the way we are stopping at Tabor, a Hussite stronghold during the Hussite Wars prior to the Catholics taking over again. It was and still is a small town in an isolated part of the Czech Republic, actually southern Bohemia. It was named for Mount Tabor in Israel, the site of the Transfiguration of Christ. Like most other fortified small towns of the era it's on a hilltop with natural defenses on at least three sides. One of the original city gates is still standing. It's set in a 30 foot thick wall that also serves as housing for the soldiers. Just outside the gate, set in the wall is a bronze relief casting of the city from above so you can get the lay of the land before you venture into its narrow streets.
As is usually the case Tabor has a river on three sides. Many inland old cities were built on a large curve in a river to provide just this feature for help in defending the city.
It's always uphill going into these old towns but the nice part is that going out is always downhill after a day or touring. Like most medieval town many of the buildings are decorated with religious images of one sort or another. The most common motifs are the Virgin Mary, Jesus, the Nativity, Saint George and the Crucifixion. On the walk up the hill to the main square we saw all of these at least once.
The main square of Tabor, Žižka Square (named for Jan Žižka, is not a level space. In fact nothing I've seen in the whole town is on the level. Every buildings foundation is thicker on one end. Jan on the other hand was a very level guy. He was a military leader that started out during the Hussite Wars of 1419 to 1434. He was a great tactician and innovator. He was the first to use armored wagons as a platform for artillery. He also used circled wagons as a defensive position, still called a Tabor. Each wagon had a crew of 16-20 soldiers, 4-8 crossbowmen, 2 hand gunners, 6-8 soldiers equipped with pikes or flails, 2 shield carriers and 2 drivers. He'd set up his wagons close to the enemy encampment and provoke them to fight with an artillery barrage. When the mounted knights would attack him, his hidden infantry would rise up and shoot the knight's horses reducing them to fighting on foot. An armored knight on foot is almost worthless and many of them died when their horses fell. As the enemy retreated his infantry and cavalry would ride out in pursuit usually on the flanks. While they attacked the flanks his artillery continued to fire on the center. These tactics allowed him to defeat forces that were many times stronger than his. The tank wasn't invented for another 500 years.
This era also marked the first successful use of side arms in battle, especially pistols. Žižka apparently loved gunpowder as many of his innovations involve its use. In fact the Czech word for pistol is 'píštala' and cannon is 'houfnice'. Our words pistol and howitzer derive from these Czech words.
The Roman Catholic Pope proclaimed several 'Crusades' against the Hussites (Contrary to popular belief the Crusades were not all against Islam, some were against Protestants. While Žižka was alive two of these Crusades failed. Only after his death from the plague in 1424. He's one of only six commanders in history that never lost a battle. The others are Alexander the Great (Probably the greatest of all time. Military organizations around the world still teach his tatics.), Scipio Africanus, Genghis Khan, Alexander Suvorov (63-0, now that's impressive.), and Khalid ibn al-Walid.
The Church of the Transfiguration is about at the top of the hill is appropriately names. There was a baby christening underway inside the church so I just quietly looked around a bit. It's not a large church but it has a nicely carved Gothic wooden altarpiece. The scene carved into the center is of course the Transfiguration. It's a polychrome wooden relief of Jesus and the prophets with the three disciples looking on in wonder. The Stations-of-the-Cross are ornately carved scenes each in a gilded background and in a carved frame with Gothic spires. It's the same style as the altar and so similar in technique that they could have been done by the same carver or at least in the same workshop.
In one corner of the square I got a bit of a shock. I came upon a building with exactly the same color scheme as St George's in the Prague Castle. My rudimentary Latin let me read enough of the inscription to know that it's also a Benedictine Church and was built not too long after St. George's. The only real difference is that the parts that are cream on St. George's are much whiter here. I couldn't tell what the name is but it had a small statue of Mary as Queen of Heaven in the middle of the front façade.
The day is beautiful, sunny, cool and breezy so it was nice to walk around Tabor for an hour and a half. Then it was back down to the bus and on to Vienna.
On the way we stopped at a highway plaza for lunch and Diana ran into one of her old boyfriends at the café where we ate. I'd say that Micky D is still looking pretty good.
We arrived in Vienna late in the afternoon with just enough time to clean up a little before going out to our farewell dinner.
This evening we are going out to the Royal Hunting Lodge, Marchfelderhof, for dinner. It has been a restaurant since the 1940s and you can trace its history by the autographed pictures of celebrities on the wall. The place is a riot of things from days past. If it were not for the sense of humor with which things are done it would be too much. As it is, it's thoroughly enjoyable. When we arrived the owner and three of the staff were waiting on the sidewalk to greet us. Two staff members were holding a large banner that said, "Welcome Friends – Welcome Home". They had stretched a red ribbon across the entrance and the other staff member had a white pillow with a scissors on it for the first person to use in cutting the ribbon. The bus had parked on the opposite side of the street and as we stepped into the street the owner kicked a rolled up red carpet open for us to cross on. As I mentioned the restaurant is decorated within an inch of its life. There are photos, statues and memorabilia in every possible space. Much of it had to do with the era when it served as a hunting lodge.
The food matched the greeting. I had a roasted pig's knuckle and Diana had Weiner schnitzel. Both were excellent. After dinner they served us a shot glass that was half espresso and half whipped cream to accompany a desert that was served in an old fashioned glass, 2 layers of chocolate with a layer of thick whipped cream in the middle. Both were good.
It was a fun evening as all the drinks were included and unlimited. I had a taste of the local beer but that was it for me.
Everyone was saying goodbye because we all leave at different times tomorrow. Some people have to leave the hotel at 4AM to catch flights. We have it easy, our train doesn't leave for Mainz until almost 3PM. I'd like to have gone earlier but all the departures before this one involve changing trains at least once. This train goes door to door.
After all the goodbyes it was up to the room to get some sleep.
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