We caught the 11:30 train to Tábor, and enjoyed a scenic ride through the country.
The train arrived in Tábor just before 1 PM, and we walked about a half mile towards the old town center.
We stopped for lunch at Kozlovna U Františka, just outside of the historic center.
The weather cleared up while we were eating, which was a nice surprise. After lunch, we made our way to Žižka Square.
Our primary objective, other than seeing Tábor, was to see the Hussite Museum, in the old town hall.
The $5 all-inclusive package includes entrance to the museum exhibits, the gallery upstairs, and a guided tour of the underground tunnels and vaults under the square.
There was an underground tour starting shortly after we arrived, so we had about 10 or 15 minutes to spend looking around the gallery.
The underground tour was nominally in Czech only, but the tour guide ended up doing the entire tour in both Czech and English, as there were as many, if not more, non-Czech-speakers present.
There was also a laminated page, available in several languages, that explained each of the points of interest, and it had a map on the back.
The caverns and vaults were originally dug (carved?) as basements, for additional living/storage space for food, animals, people, and beer, but they were additionally used as shelters during/after fires, wars, etc.
As with the underground tour we took yesterday, part of it was used as a jail. In this case, it was (at least partly) for containment of "cantankerous women".
The arrangement was something like... if a man felt that his wife was being unruly, he could have her locked up temporarily, until she had calmed down.
However: If, during that period of containment, he became drunk and unruly himself, his wife would be released and he would be jailed instead.
The tunnels were narrow and/or low-clearance, in many places. They offered all of us hardhats, in fact, but we had declined.
Since the odd assortment of medieval basements had never been intended to be connected together into a cohesive network, they varied widely in size, depth below ground, and orientation.
Therefore, the tunnels twist and wind around the perimeter of the square, and are full of stairs, sloped floors, and other uneven footing.
After about a third of a mile, we emerged back to the surface, having navigated about 3/4 of the way around the square.
Next, we wound our way through the extensive exhibits (much larger on the inside than seemed possible from outside) of the museum, learning about the history of Tábor, Jan Hus, Jan Žižka, and the Hussites.
After the museum, we continued our stroll through the town center, stopping at the Museum of Chocolate and Marzipan. As it has three floors, and was closing at 5 PM, there wasn't enough time to tour around. We did buy some edible, very-short-lived souvenirs, though.
Continuing through the old town, we reached the back of Kotnov Tower and passed through Bechyně Gate, to see the remains of the castle from outside the old city walls. (We knew the castle was closed before going to Tábor).
Once we crossed the street, it became apparent why the tower was built here.
We walked along the outside of the old city wall, and eventually wandered back to the town square.
Across the square and down Bethlehem street, we sought out the water tower that was built in the late 15th century.
This tower held the town's water supply, which was (somehow?) pumped up from the manmade Jordán lake reservoir (Google translation of wikipedia).
As the sun was considering the possibility of setting, we sauntered back to the train station, for the 6 o'clock train back to Prague.
Hopefully next time we're in town, we'll get a chance to check out this traditional American restaurant.
When we returned to Prague, we took the metro over to Můstek, then weaved through a few blocks of Old Town to Dutá hlava (literally "Hollow Head", according to Google Translate) for an excellent dinner.
Side note: it was "Club Architects" or "Klub architektů" last time Sabrina and I were there (in 2010).
Tomorrow morning, Brenna and Shannon are joinging the MoCo group on a train trip to Karlštejn.
Sabrina and I haven't yet decided what we will do. (We went to Karlštejn last time we were here, and Sabrina had already been there prior to that trip, too.)
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