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| Morning Sun rising from my hotel window |
The sun was coming up from behind the office buildings across the street this morning which is always a nice way to begin the day.
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| View of National Theatre from tiny Island |
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From Žofín Island
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The island was created by successive layers of soil in the 17th century . Its growth apparently accelerated the establishment of the New Town Mills Zderaz . After the flood of 1784 , the island was reinforced walls and trees were planted here. |
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| From Žofín Island |
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| From Žofín Island |
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| From Žofín Island |
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| From Žofín Island |
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| Žofín Island Garden behind restaurant |
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| Žofín Island - On the island we find one of the famous works of sculptor Ladislav Šaloun, sculpture unison. It dates from 1946 and shows a piper. The title "Souzvuk" means "Consonance" in English - Agreement or compatibility between opinions or actions |
It was still pretty frigid all day today so I spent some of my time taking trams around parts of the city I hadn't been before. I took the #14 tram that is right outside my hotel first which takes you through the whole center of Old Town into New Town and then across the river to Mala Strana and then out to the suburbs up a hill.
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| Sculpture near on a building across from the river and down the street from the Charles Bridge |
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Monument to František Palacký - František Palacký (June 14,
1798, Hodslavice – May 26, 1876, Prague) was a Czech historian and politician,
the most influential person of the Czech National Revival, called "Father
of the Nation".
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| St. Nepomuk |
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| St. Nepomuk |
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The Church of St Francis with the Monastery of the Knights
of the Cross with the Red Star. This was the only Order of Czech origin and
began as a hospitaller brotherhood in 1234. It became an independent Order in
1237 and 15 years later it gained its own emblem - a cross with a red star. The
main mission of the Order, which provided many Prague archbishops, was to
perform hospitaller duties and at the beginning, because of its location, also
the care of the stone Judith Bridge (1252-1342). Part of this bridge is now
hidden under the facade of that corner of the building which protrudes above
the river. In the square stands a bronze statue of Charles IV cast in Nuremburg
and unveiled here in 1848 to commemorate the 500 year anniversary of the
founding of Prague Charles University. To accommodate the statue the river here
between the first arch of the bridge and the Monastery of the Knights of the
Cross, had to be covered over and from then on it was no longer apparent that
the Old Town Bridge Tower stands on the first pier of the bridge.
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I got out at the final stop which was this lovely neighborhood of fairly new large multicolored apartment complexes with a fabulous view over to another hill dotted with pastel colored homes.
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| Vojan Park has probably retained a slightly melancholic echo from its long gone inception in the somewhat sombre middle ages when it was founded as a monastic garden. It was designed to have a formal and strictly geometric layout, an aspect that time has hardly interfered with, except for a few light touches in the style in some parts of the garden in the 1920s. |
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| Vojan Park with peacock showing it's beautiful plumage while other male and female peacock look on at the display |
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| Vojan Park with Peacocks in the background and humorous wood sculpture in the left corner |
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| Men at work laying new tram lines in Mala Strana |
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| Vojan Park and the Peacocks |
It was too cold to walk around the neighborhood so I got on the next tram going back this time a #6 which took us on the same path as #14 until it got to the center of town where it took a right and then traveled past the botanical garden and out to another residential neighborhood all the way across town. I then took that same tram back getting off near the Charles Bridge and walking over to a small island that is right off the main avenue on the river and across from the National Theatre building.
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| Massive Light Post outside the Philharmonic building |
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| Stained Glass window above entrance to the Main Public Library |
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| Maisel Synagogue Prague |
It seemed like a good day to visit places I hadn't gone before as well as those places I wanted to visit again like walking over the Charles Bridge again rubbing the St. Nepomuk relief as well as the brass cross embedded in the stone railing near the relief and made a wish. It's good to rub the relief whenever you visit to ensure that you get to visit again.
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| Interesting building elements with statue of man slaying dragon |
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Department store "U Novaku"- “This magnificent
building was originally built in 1878 adopting a classical revival style and
then it was turn into Art Nouveau by Czech architect Oskar Polívka to meet
public taste. The metal work of the balconies, the door with stain glasses, the
wall covering mosaic (by Jan Preisler) have been greatly restored.”
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| My hotel, Opera |
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| U Novaku Building |
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| Happy Door |
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| U Novaku building details - I love the frog trying to climb up to the window. |
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| U Novaku stained glass window on main door |
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| U Novaku stained glass window on main door |
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| U Novaku stained glass window on main door |
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| U Novaku entrance |
The bridge was packed, not like the high season but certainly busier than it had been in January. Besides the hoards of Italian teenagers there is also a substantial group of teens and adults from Israel visiting as well.
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| Wenceslaus square |
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| Pretty building in Wenceslaus square |
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| Easter Market opening this weekend in Old Town Square |
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| Easter Market opening this weekend in Wenceslaus square with National Museum in the background |
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| Pretty building in Wenceslaus square |
I walked through Mala Strana again and stopped at Cafe Kaficko for tea and snack. I walked along the cobble-stoned winding streets which are being dug up and new tram lines laid. It's so interesting to watch them taking up each stone and then laying the tracks. It was fun to watch two little boys mesmerized by the workers and the machines doing their part.
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| Tyn church at dusk Old Town Square |
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| Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square at 6:00pm as the 12 Apostle statues were moving through the two windows at the top and chimes where ringing in the new hour. Lots of people crowded around below as usual for the top of each hour and at the conclusion the bells chimed and the crowd, me included, applauded |
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| St. Havel's Church was built between 1232 and 1239 in the Gothic style, but in the mid-17th century it was re-built in a more modern baroque style. As years passed, it became part of the Carmelite monastery until the late 18th century leader Joseph II reformed it to its present day look. Konrad Waldhauser and Jan Milic once preached here and the Church is now considered one of the four most important churches of its time. |
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| Old Town Square at Dusk with St. Mikulas Church in the background |
I walked back over the bridge and down to my hotel by way of the main public library for a potty break.
The day passed quickly and it was nice to have all the sunshine.
