Day 3: Hradec Kralove and Kutna Hora in Prague and the Danube Travel Log

On my birthday we hired a private guide to take us to Hradec Kralove and Kutna Hora. We headed out at 8, arrived at 9:30, and were handed off to a special guide from Petrof for our own private tour of the factory. I later found out that factory tours aren’t supposed to run unless they have 5 people signing up, so I am surprised. We spent 2 hours in the factory, which was more than normal. Our guide was slightly nerdy, and knows a lot about the technical details of the manufacturing process, and the Piano making business - from the effects of Covid on piano sales, to business changes caused by Seinway’s acquisition of Renner, to the inventory problems caused by Ukraine war - even though she does not play herself. So I learned a lot, and saw how Petra was made. I like to think she enjoyed giving us the tour as well (since I have some basic knowledge about pianos and piano maker and piano parts, and own a Petrof grand, so she can fully indulge in her geekiness). She showed us the work rooms - the wood room where soundboards were assembled with the rib and bridge, the cabinets are shaped. Metal work where strings are coiled. Assembly room where the steel frame is mounted and strings pre-tuned. A room where the actions are put in place and ‘broken’ in with a machine (we saw the automatic playing machine). The guide can touch stuff and show us how they work, so it was really cool.

At the end of the factory tour, we were joined by another family who also toured the Petrof museum. We spent another 1 1/2 hours in the museum, which is just 3 rooms - one concert hall, one that looks like a showroom but with specialty pianos (a ‘piano’ bar, a disco piano which La Professeure calls “Lady Gaga” piano, a very old piano with serial number in the 200s, which doesn’t even have a steel frame , and some special made-to-order pianos). There was also a room of harmonium/organ/player pianos. We ended the tour in the showroom. Unfortunately there was a youtuber using the showroom so I couldn’t play much of the nicer grands. We left at 1pm.

I get the sense that Petrof is trying to lose its mid-range piano reputation from the communist era, and now wants to compete with the higher end manufacturers like Steinway or Bosendorfer, and these tours is a part of the outreach/advertising effort. To be fair, the new models are so much nicer to the touch - Petra has a beautiful sound, but her action is really heavy, and the action on these newer models is a vast improvement - I played on the new version of model IV and it was so much easier.

When we left we tried to pay for our visit, but our guide refused (even though she charged that family that only toured the museum). She says I already own a Petrof so it counts, and I should pay by evangelising for them. So, um, yeah, buy a Petrof, people.

Then our private guide took us to Kutna Hora. This is part of her usual itinerary that she offers… the Petrof factory is a special request that she says almost never happens. So, we’re special. We had lunch at 2pm. She had a 5 1/2 month old daughter with her, who was very sweet and friendly. For a baby she was surprisingly mellow, and same with us on the walking tours. We sometimes help push the stroller in town. We had lunch at the same restaurant that Viking’s own Kutna Hora excursion lunch in, except we got the normal menu instead of the special Viking one, so we got the authentic Czech food. I liked my goulash with gingerbread dried fruit “dumpling” (it was more like sweet bread), which goes surprisingly well with goulash. However, La Professeure did not like her dill dip. After lunch we went on a walking tour of Kutna Hora old town, and saw St. Barbara church first, and got a nice view of the town, and then walked down to the town square, saw some churches and plague column there, and the old water reservoir, which now it’s an arts exhibit which you can only see by peeping through a hole on the door. Finally we went to the bone church, where we failed to notice the “no picture” sign until we left and overheard the guard admonishing some new arrivals about the strict no picture policy. By the time we were done it was 4pm. The drive back to Prague was slow and hit traffic, but we got back at 5pm.

Our private guide knew we were from viking, and was surprised by how young we are. We were amused that she gave some accounts (e.g., John of Nepomuk sainthood) that contradicts yesterday’s guide. But they both emphasized these accounts were legends. So I guess that’s okay?

We had dinner at the hotel again because we were too tired/lazy to find a good place to eat. Also, maybe La Professeure has had enough food authenticity for one day. And I zoomed with my in-laws the night, so that made for a very long day.

Last updated August 25, 2022