it was a great four days last week for the family (baba, chhora buhari, chhori jwain and myself.. alas no cholu) in prague (praha/prag)... the following blog is a collection of images from the lovely city, one that seems like an exotic museum .. every building in the old and new towns looking like a piece of art...
prague of course dominated by the prague hrad, castle, (and the resultant fascination for it, as the pix will tell) and the vlatva river flowing close to its heels...
the trip to prague was a gift to us from chhora buhari and for kripa and ravi from daju bhauju!!
the images of the focus of prague castle complex,with its jewel, the cathedral of sv vit, and the royal palace... in various lights and angles... in daylight, at dusk, at night... and from the inside and out...
these evening shots were taken from the tower at the edge of the charles bridge... the play of colours on the clouds and silouhette of the spires of the cathedral and other churches meant cameras were constantly cliking!
changing of the guards at the palace grounds
and now the images from outside and inside the cathedral...
going down to the city.. the walking areas (as well as many motorable roads) all over paved with stone
and these set of images of the river, monuments, bridges, buildings etc in and around it...
the arch of the famous charles bridge... with normal water level...
... and the level during the flood of 2002 that inundated a lot of areas around the vlatva...
this is how high the flood water level was...
we also went into canals that led to the river
the river kept changing its look... overcast and ready for rain or calm and reflecting the clear blue skies...
the edge of the bridge with its four arches built at various times.. our boat ride originated from here...
'good luck' (see how worn and shiny it is!) image of st john of nepomuk who was thrown to his death from the bridge in 1393!
the other attraction across the river from the castle is the old town square with the astronomical clock from the 15th century... where every hour.. figures move. death chimes the bell... .. apostles led by christ do a silent stroll along the two windows that open atop the clock...
the view of tourists like us gathered in front of the clock for the 'grand' spectacle...
the following are images of various objects of arts from around the city.. atop various towers and spires.. at ground level.. or housed inside art galleries...
dove comfortable atop artist josef manes...
king charles iv... the holy roman emperor too... who ruled in the 14th century and made czech/bohemia prosperous...
peeing on the republic... creation of david cerny.. the statues move their hips.. and can supposedly also 'write' watery messages that visitors can send through sms!!!
bau rubs the image of st john of nepomok for goodluck...
... as does chhori
kripa got us introduced to alfons mucha's neuvo art.. in the galleries and in the buildings...
we also saw a bit of salvador dali's work after being 'mucha'd and exhausted
top layer of some of the grafitti on john lennon wall (where previously anti communism grafitti used to be scribbled with great risk).. so leninism vs lennonism!
statue dedicated to franz kafka...
... the black madonna at the house of cubist museum
the view of the red toof tiles over prague from the top of the astronomical clock tower
the old town square...
owl's eye view from prague's 'eifel' tower on top of petrin
every building in the city seemed to have an artistic tale to tell...
... that's 8:30 in the evening!
this building is part of the jewish museum complex in the jewish quarters... the synagogues, the cemetery etc survived the holocaust as part of hitler's grand design to set up 'an exotic museum of an extinct race'!
scenes from the medieval jewish cemetery.. where it is said the graves have been stacked on top of each other due to limitation of space.. and could be as deep as 10-12 graves deep...each grave six palms apart!
the metronome on the hill above vlatva river.. not everyone seemed to know what it signified...
it was built on the spot where there were huge stalinist statues in the communist heydays
and which were blown up once it ended... the boat guide told us it cost the russians more to blow up the statue than to build it!
fake limestone wall...
in that park there were peacocks roaming around.. peahen, actually with chicks...
this was the first time that i had seen baccha majoors
tribute to the once famous czech brand ...
wenceslas (good king wenceslas) square..
prague is a very tourist-centric city.. one can get around on foot, on horse carrieages .. old skoda cars, open deck buses, vans. or on segways...
shops selling souvenirs and food etc line the steets and alleys...
our guide monika tells us about the royal palace...
...catering for those with penchant for fast food...
... summer folk festivals in the town squares...
hooded eagle to sit on your hand for a fee at the royal garden grounds (no cholu.. just took a picture!)
artists on charles bridge...
... as well as innovative 'beggars'...
kripa doing last minute shopping for souveniers
ravi's unsuccessful attempt at ordering good vegeterian pizzas.. this one, to his surprise, came without cheese, but smothered with red chilli!!!
mexican meal with thoma, rosa, milos and jiri (all part of the czech unicef filming team in kathmandu several years ago)
ceiling of the restaurant...
baba in a maya-laagdo pose as he nibbles on his gyro
and then behind the wheels of his most favourite car -'skoda' after taking a nostalgic sight seeing trip around the city in the car (his first ride on a car as a little boy was in his great grandfather's skoda vehicle!)
prague of course dominated by the prague hrad, castle, (and the resultant fascination for it, as the pix will tell) and the vlatva river flowing close to its heels...
the trip to prague was a gift to us from chhora buhari and for kripa and ravi from daju bhauju!!
the images of the focus of prague castle complex,with its jewel, the cathedral of sv vit, and the royal palace... in various lights and angles... in daylight, at dusk, at night... and from the inside and out...
these evening shots were taken from the tower at the edge of the charles bridge... the play of colours on the clouds and silouhette of the spires of the cathedral and other churches meant cameras were constantly cliking!
changing of the guards at the palace grounds
and now the images from outside and inside the cathedral...
going down to the city.. the walking areas (as well as many motorable roads) all over paved with stone
and these set of images of the river, monuments, bridges, buildings etc in and around it...
the arch of the famous charles bridge... with normal water level...
... and the level during the flood of 2002 that inundated a lot of areas around the vlatva...
this is how high the flood water level was...
we also went into canals that led to the river
the river kept changing its look... overcast and ready for rain or calm and reflecting the clear blue skies...
the edge of the bridge with its four arches built at various times.. our boat ride originated from here...
'good luck' (see how worn and shiny it is!) image of st john of nepomuk who was thrown to his death from the bridge in 1393!
the other attraction across the river from the castle is the old town square with the astronomical clock from the 15th century... where every hour.. figures move. death chimes the bell... .. apostles led by christ do a silent stroll along the two windows that open atop the clock...
the view of tourists like us gathered in front of the clock for the 'grand' spectacle...
the following are images of various objects of arts from around the city.. atop various towers and spires.. at ground level.. or housed inside art galleries...
dove comfortable atop artist josef manes...
king charles iv... the holy roman emperor too... who ruled in the 14th century and made czech/bohemia prosperous...
peeing on the republic... creation of david cerny.. the statues move their hips.. and can supposedly also 'write' watery messages that visitors can send through sms!!!
bau rubs the image of st john of nepomok for goodluck...
... as does chhori
kripa got us introduced to alfons mucha's neuvo art.. in the galleries and in the buildings...
we also saw a bit of salvador dali's work after being 'mucha'd and exhausted
top layer of some of the grafitti on john lennon wall (where previously anti communism grafitti used to be scribbled with great risk).. so leninism vs lennonism!
statue dedicated to franz kafka...
... the black madonna at the house of cubist museum
the view of the red toof tiles over prague from the top of the astronomical clock tower
the old town square...
owl's eye view from prague's 'eifel' tower on top of petrin
every building in the city seemed to have an artistic tale to tell...
... that's 8:30 in the evening!
this building is part of the jewish museum complex in the jewish quarters... the synagogues, the cemetery etc survived the holocaust as part of hitler's grand design to set up 'an exotic museum of an extinct race'!
scenes from the medieval jewish cemetery.. where it is said the graves have been stacked on top of each other due to limitation of space.. and could be as deep as 10-12 graves deep...each grave six palms apart!
the metronome on the hill above vlatva river.. not everyone seemed to know what it signified...
it was built on the spot where there were huge stalinist statues in the communist heydays
and which were blown up once it ended... the boat guide told us it cost the russians more to blow up the statue than to build it!
fake limestone wall...
in that park there were peacocks roaming around.. peahen, actually with chicks...
this was the first time that i had seen baccha majoors
tribute to the once famous czech brand ...
wenceslas (good king wenceslas) square..
prague is a very tourist-centric city.. one can get around on foot, on horse carrieages .. old skoda cars, open deck buses, vans. or on segways...
shops selling souvenirs and food etc line the steets and alleys...
our guide monika tells us about the royal palace...
...catering for those with penchant for fast food...
... summer folk festivals in the town squares...
hooded eagle to sit on your hand for a fee at the royal garden grounds (no cholu.. just took a picture!)
artists on charles bridge...
... as well as innovative 'beggars'...
kripa doing last minute shopping for souveniers
ravi's unsuccessful attempt at ordering good vegeterian pizzas.. this one, to his surprise, came without cheese, but smothered with red chilli!!!
mexican meal with thoma, rosa, milos and jiri (all part of the czech unicef filming team in kathmandu several years ago)
ceiling of the restaurant...
baba in a maya-laagdo pose as he nibbles on his gyro
and then behind the wheels of his most favourite car -'skoda' after taking a nostalgic sight seeing trip around the city in the car (his first ride on a car as a little boy was in his great grandfather's skoda vehicle!)
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