07-OCT-2007
Nusle/Lego
I arrived in Prague (Praha) on October 4. After a car, a bus, two planes, a couple of buses at Charles de Gaulle, another plane, another bus, a subway, and a tram, I found myself in Nusle, a neighborhood a few kilometers south of the center. I checked into the Pension Madona for three nights. The pension was OK, nothing special, but it was certainly nice to stay in an out-of-the-way area, far from the traffic and crowds. And with the excellent public transport- the tram was only a block or two away- getting downtown was easy.
Much of Prague is big decorated roomblocks, like in the picture. Nusle happens to be an area where that ends, and some "regular" houses start. It's just an ordinary neighborhood, with shops, small businesses, and a very popular Italian restaurant (it appears the Czechs really like Italian food).
06-OCT-2007
just a street
Most of central Prague looks like this, more or less. The picture happens to be in Josefov, the former ghetto. Aside from a few synagogues, it was leveled and rebuilt around the turn of the (last) century. So it's mostly Art Nouveau, rather than Art Golem.
This also shows the problem with trying to take pictures in Prague- narrow streets & big buildings. Where it's open- like Old Town Square, it's also filled with people.
This also shows the problem that plagued me during my few days in Prague- overcast and sometimes rainy weather.
Most of the cars are Skodas, the local brand.
06-OCT-2007
Staromestske Namesti
AKA Old Town Square. I couldn't find just how old Stare Mesto is, but Nove Mesto was founded in 1348...
Most or all of what's visible is from much later than that, thanks to various fires. But it still makes for a stunning place, especially the way it just goes on & on. And on. I didn't really attempt to photograph or even see that much, considering I only had a couple of days. And there was just too much!
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That tower just right of center is the Radnice, or town hall, the home of the....
06-OCT-2007
Full Orloj
Orloj.
Parts of this clock date back to 1410. It tracks movements of sun, moon, seasons, and more; it takes the tour guides quite a while to explain it all. At least I think it does- I'm not sure 'cause I don't go with tour groups. I just know that they're still talking by the time I feel compelled to move away.
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At the top of every hour the orloj becomes the focus of the tourist hordes, as the figures on the sides move, the doors near the top open to reveal a parade of saints, and finally the golden rooster crows.
06-OCT-2007
Orloj
Just a closeup of the astronomical dial of the orloj. It's a nice picture, so I wanted to show it again.
06-OCT-2007
Trio
Two of the apostles on parade. I'm not sure who's who, but the one on the right appears to be the patron saint of lumberjacks.
06-OCT-2007
Orloj
Two of the figures, in action (hard to tell, they move slow). The skeleton rings his bell and tips his hourglass.
These and the other two figures make up what evidently were the four big fears of old: Death! Vanity! The Turk! The Jew!
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The figures all had to be recarved after the war, since the Nazis tried to burn down the building during Prague's liberation. The Jew was redone with his moneybag, but without his beard- which seems to have turned that figure into: generic Greed! Evidently The Turk couldn't be (or at least wasn't) turned into some other deadly sin (suggestion: Lutes!). Or maybe it's not intended to be a Turk at all, and the four evils are really Vanity, Greed, Sloth, and Death...
06-OCT-2007
Orloj
This is one of the newest parts of the Orloj- a dial showing seasons (grape harvesting, here), and each day of the year with its associated saint. Name days are a big tradition.
Somebody must have to reset it every four years, I guess.
05-OCT-2007
Hradcany
Besides Old Town Square, the big attraction in Prague is across the Vltava: the castle, or Hrad.
The spires in this shot mostly belong to the Cathedral of St Vitus (Sv Vita). One of the striking things about Prague that I wasn't able to depict (due to weather, mostly) is all of the spires. As you look across the town, you see them by the dozens.
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The hrad was hopelessly silhouetted in this picture, so I decided to cheat and make it Dramatic.
05-OCT-2007
Vladislavsky Sal, Hrad
This Very Large Room is one you encounter just after entering the palace istelf. It can contain vast numbers of the tourist hordes. You exit the hall through a door just to the right of the picture, down a ramp. It's a ramp rather than stairs not because the old Bohemian kings were ahead of their time on handicapped access, but because the knights used to ride in on their horses...for indoor jousting tournaments.
05-OCT-2007
Sv Vita
The hrad's a big place, but it's mostly filled with very big buildings, so you wind up looking way up at things, and it's tough to get a decent-looking picture. (Plus you have to contend with the tourist hordes...)
This is Sv Vita again, kinda distorted by the wide-angle lens I needed to get it all in. The cathedral was started in 1344, and finished in 1929. Not that they were working on it that whole time, of course. They took a few beer-breaks.
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The time required to complete Sv Vita explains some of the surprising features inside...
05-OCT-2007
For Scale
Sv Vita is big. Very big. This picture is just off one of the side aisles; it's not even the nave (for that, check out the main gallery).
Many of the chapels and decorations are old, dating back to the renaissance or even to the early days of the cathedral. Most of them are really remarkably gaudy. But the windows were added very late...
