05-OCT-2007
Sv Vita
...which is why they are in a very modern style. Most are sort of cubist, like this example.
05-OCT-2007
Sv Vita
And a few are Art Nouveau, like this detail (the full window is in the main gallery). It's sort of like Prague itself- a lot of baroque buildings, that tend to get most of the attention, but also quite a bit of Art Nouveau, once you start looking for it. Check out the pictures of the Obecni Dum for more examples. There's also cubist architecture in Prague, but I don't think I saw any of it.
05-OCT-2007
Prague's Personalities
A doorway on one of the buildings along Zlata Ulica. Zlata Ulica is a street inside the hrad complex lined with little brightly-painted hobbit-houses, which used to be homes and shops for craftsmen. Now, it's shopping.
I hadn't thought too much about well known Prague's personalities before my trip. Mostly they are writers and composers that I'm not familiar with. On the other hand, without really trying, I stumbled across Tycho Brahe's grave (a pillar in the Tyn church; I think I found the right one, but I couldn't see any special marking), and I had coffee a couple of times in the Cafe Louvre, which was a haunt of both Einstein and Kafka (not at the same time, though). One improvement since then is the addition of no-smoking areas.
.
This also gives a clue to part of Prague's personality: lots of culture, in the form of theater, music, and books; plus lots of cafes, restaurants, and bars.
05-OCT-2007
Never Alone
On Karluv Most, the ancient bridge connecting Hradcany and Stare Mesto, you are never alone- it's almost always filled with vendors, their pushcarts, and lots of pedestrians. And even if they're all gone, the statues still loom overhead. This is the East end of the bridge, near Old Town.
06-OCT-2007
Fishing the Vltava
So I'm walking along the Vlatava, thinking, "Wow, that's a lot of people fishing..." And a short while later, I hear music coming from a nearby island (Strelecsky Ostrov, if you're taking notes). I head over to the island, and find a concert in progress, which turns out to be part of The First Annual Orvis Cup- Prague. Which explained why all the people were fishing on the same place, and seemed a bit frantic in their casting. I couldn't tell who won (and few people seemed to be paying attention to what appeared to be the announcements of the results), but the music was fun. And I had the chance to sample the Czech fast-food staple of sausage with mustard and bread (the bread is optional). The crowd seemed kinda thin, so I'm not sure whether there will be a 2nd annual...
And that was all the time I had for Prague on this trip. I'll go back, with or without the Orvis Cup. I get the feeling it's the kind of place where you run into little events like that on a regular basis. So when the music switched over to a band I didn't like, I hopped on a tram back to the Pension Madona (after spending some time shooting some nighttime pictures of Prague, some of which can be found in the main gallery). Actually, I think I went back via the Cafe Louvre...
.
I packed up, and the next morning headed to the Florenc bus station to head for my next destination. It turns out that the buses are nice, efficient, and cheap- although getting information about them and buying tickets can be a pain in the neck, complete with shabby service.
07-OCT-2007
Cesky Krumlov
Next stop was Cesky Krumlov, a jaw-dropping, perfectly-preserved medieval town, first mentioned by name in 1253. It's a UNESCO site, and there's a wealth of information about it on the web, including a blow-by-blow description of all the buildings. It's almost too picturesque, and just about all of the buildings in the central district are given over to restaurants, shops, and hotels. But it's hard to fault the locals for capitalizing on what they've got, and there's really very little that's tacky-touristy. I think there's a "Torture Museum," but that seems to be a given in any Czech town with more than a couple of pre-18th century buildings.
This picture looks across the old town to the castle, which is completely painted in tromp l'oeil stonework and figures. There's a tour of the castle available, but I'm not sure it was really worth it- mostly just portraits of the Schwartzenbergs and gaudy furnishings, including a gilt carriage used at some point for a procession into Rome to see the Pope (no word on what the Pope thought of someone visiting in such a lavish carriage, or what he thought when they took it back). The most impressive thing to me was that the carriage is now inside a room barely bigger than it is. Guess if you go to the trouble of making a gilt carriage, you take extra care to make sure you can take it apart & bring it inside. Doing things over again, I'd rather see the Rococo theatre than the castle interior.
.
But the grounds and gardens of the castle are free, open 'round-the-clock, and well worth the time spent wandering around. There are some pictures of the castle by day and by night in the main gallery.
09-OCT-2007
Cesky Krumlov
This view looks from the castle tower back across the river (the Vltava again), towards the main square. There's a newer town surrounding this and the backside of the castle, but it's easy to forget it's there. There's a short brass band concert in the square sometimes (maybe every day, but at least on two of the three days I was around).
I stayed at Krumlov House Hostel, a short ways to the left of this photo, on a street called Rooseveltova. The official Cesky Krumlov guide calls its architecture "not very remarkable," but it was a nice and friendly hostel. The whole place is non-smoking, and generally quiet. The only downside for me was a room that was partly built into the hillside, and therefore a bit damp.
07-OCT-2007
Good to be King
Beyond Krumlov Castle, past the renaissance theater, the formal gardens, and the revolving theater, you pass through a wooded area, which might seem like a natural forest, except that everything is just a little too perfect. At the very far end of these royal gardens is- a pond. Nothing special about it, it's just a pond (or even a small lake), but a nice place to claim a bench and enjoy the last of the autumn sunshine.
09-OCT-2007
Zmrzlina
The Czech weight-loss program: make the word for "ice cream" unpronounceable. It makes up for the other delicacies like ham-stuffed pork.
08-OCT-2007
War Pony
There was plenty to explore immediately around Cesky Krumlov, but I wanted to get farther out into the countryside, so I rented a bike for a day. The bike available turned out to be an Author, which I assume is some local central European brand. Not much of a bike, but it served its purpose for 50km or so. Tires with air (to say nothing of tread) would have been nice. The following day I saw another bike-rental outfit with bikes that at least looked better...
The bike is parked in front of an overlook towards Divci Kamen, a 14th century castle built by the Rozmberk family, accessible after a harrowing descent of a rocky path. Harrowing mostly because I really didn't like the looks of those tires...
08-OCT-2007
Your Own Risk
Divci Kamen wasn't mentioned in my guidebook, probably because it was difficult to get to except by bike or on foot, and I thought it was one of the best discoveries of my trip: a place where just about the only English in view was the sign reading, "Enter at your own risk." I've got a few more pictures in the main gallery, but they don't convey the fun of rambling around the ruins.
When I arrived, the little table at the gate was all set up, with brocures and what-not, but there was no one in sight. The site was obviously still open- and then I noticed the other bit of English: "Donation." So I took a guess at what the entrance fee might be, dropped it in the box, and headed inside.
08-OCT-2007
Near Plesovice
I had heard that the Czech Repubilic was a biking paradise- and it is. Tons of well-marked, well-maintained routes, and almost no traffic. Some of the routes I took were purpose-built for bikes, but most were just like this- just a single-lane country road. I did some riding on dirt paths, but mostly on hard-surface roads (it's easy to tell which is which on the maps). There's veery little traffic between these small villages, so the roads stay in very good shape. There are maps (complete with distance and elevation profile information) just full of roads like this one, which happens to be just outside of the small community of Plesovice. Roadside shrines are a common feature of the landscape, some of them seemingly far from any amount of present-day traffic.