Because of its age, St. Barbara’s Cathedral requires a lot of maintenance, which leads to many engineering challenges. These challenges are securing the structure of the buttressing system, restoring damaged stone and plaster, and maintaining the stained glass. The cathedral’s history also involves periods of interrupted construction and modifications, further complicating restoration.
Inside the silver mine, it is clear that the medieval engineering methods are only in the beginning stages of development. The most developed machine we saw was how the transported silver up to the surface, using a large, horse-driven pulley system. Inside the silver mine we explored, miners had to bring their own light source to navigate the caves. Without electricity, the miners used candlelight to made their way around, which also posed several issues if the light were to go out. Also, the wood structures that were used to prevent cave-ins were flawed. Because of the damp, humid conditions of the cave, the wood would quickly rot and secrete CO2. So, not only is the cave less stable, there is less oxygen in the air for the miners to breathe. It is clear that with these engineering practices, working in the mine was very difficult and dangerous.
For a “fish-out-of-water experience”, I feel it the most in restaurants and at the football match from yesterday. With restaurants, there is a language barrier, and sometimes the staff seems annoyed by our presence. I feel bad because I do try my best, but the Czech employees are sometimes not the nicest. I also have been charged more than what my food has costed and had to correct them, which felt targeted. On a less depressing side, it was cool seeing the custom chants and traditions at the Slavia Praha v Sparta match. It was my first European football match ever, and I had so much fun! I yelled along them even if I did not know what they were saying (except for “Ole!”), and was happily surprised when they swing their scarves like terrible towels after a goal is made. It reminded me of fond memories from home.
Swanson School of Engineering 