Saturday, January 19, 2013

Saturday Snapshot - Remembering Prague

A couple years ago, my husband and I returned to Europe to visit friends in Germany. One of the junkets that we took with Gundel and Wichard was a train ride to Prague to do a walking tour of the city. It was a lovely time ... just look.






We came into Prague by taxi, as the city is huge and divided by the Vltava River. The signage is in Czech and none of us were fluent. Walking seemed the safest bet for us. Because we wanted to stay in the Old Town where the streets are very narrow and traffic is congested, we loaded our things in the cab at the railroad station and never looked back.




Our small hotel was in an ancient building that sat on an alley right beside the massive church in this photo. We found out that this is the church that Tycho Brahe is buried in ... to think we slept across the alley from a famous astronomer!




The view from our hotel room window ... under the tower ... full of atmosphere ... extremely romantic.




The main section of the Old Town is arranged in streets and alleys that radiate from this massive square. The architecture was jaw-dropping and very beautiful.




One of the really popular tourist spots was this astronomical clock that drew crowds on the hour- lovely when it was not crowded, but over-rated and a crush when the chimes rang and the trumpeters came out of the clock.




 We preferred to walk lesser known alleys to see the vast array of small buildings and all manner of restoration that has been done on these old structures. We're geeks, what can I say?




There were many tiny squares because of the willy-nilly layout of the streets and the angles that occur when many come together . In these squares were the old wells, at which residents got their water in the days long before running water and city water works. They were surrounded by ornate gates with beautiful details.




By late in the afternoon of the first day of our visit, we'd made our way to the river and a small cafe for beers and a look at the Charles Bridge that we'd cross the next day into the other section of the Old Town. High on the hill above the Old Town sits Prague Castle and its lovely cathedral.





Along the river promenade, sat some prime real estate and beautiful parks and green spaces with more fountains, wells, and statuary. It was just lovely.





The next morning, we walked across the Charles Bridge and up through some lovely markets toward the Castle and cathedral.



I fell in love with the many shops selling puppets. In one shop, I got brave and asked if I could take some shots of my favorite marionettes. There were several puppet theaters that we saw, but I couldn't convince my friends to fork over the money for tickets to one of the performances, so I had to content myself with gawking at the beautiful wares in the shops.




Pinocchio and the Friendly Dragon were some of my favorites.






We moved on up the hill and I saw lovely Bohemian glass work,  jewelry shops, flower vendors, and these pretty Matryoshka dolls on display. The colors were so vivid!




Below the castle walls, there was a large open air market with fruit, vegetables and flower vendors.




Once inside the Castle grounds, I was completely impressed by the St. Vtius Cathedral. It was massive.





The quiet and respectful atmosphere inside was such a nice break from the noise and bustle outside.

 



I could go on with this tour, but this is a nice place to stop. We've  gone from the lower city to the top of the hill and that's enough of a peek, don't you think? I hope this snapshot share wasn't too long ... I was just thinking a lot about Prague this week and wanted to re-visit.

This post is part of Alyce's weekly photoshare at her blog, athomewithbooks.net. pop on over and check out what others are sharing today. It's a big world and there are so many photos of it to share!

18 comments:

  1. I absolutely adore shots of old buildings, especially those with such great architectural detail. My eldest son lived in Prague for more than a decade, and now lives in Berlin. He is a photographer, so I completely understand why he fell in love with these places.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Here's MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST

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  2. Those are gorgeous photos! Prague was lovely but we only spent a few days. The people were quite intrigued when we told them we were from the Caribbean! Don't think they get too many of us coming through. I also bought a puppet but working them isn't as easy as it looks!

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  3. Wow!! I'm in love with Prague and I've never been. Your shots were truly awesome and I like your style of sight-seeing!! those marionettes are something to behold!!!

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  4. I agree with the comments. Amazing photos of places that I want to visit. Here's Mine

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  5. These are exquisite! I've been to Europe several times but have never visited any of the places that used to be called 'Eastern Europe'. But they are on my must-see list though. I must say I'm impressed to find that you can actually take a taxi and cross to another country just for a visit. Guess that's quite common in Europe, but not here in N. Am. (I'm in Canada)

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  6. What a beautiful photo...thanks for sharing and for stopping by my blog earlier.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Saturday Snapshot

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  7. I like the last one...you are an awesome photographer.

    THANKS.

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  8. My daughter and her boyfriend went there about this time last year, when Prague was covered in snow and ice, and I thought their photos were pretty spectacular, but your's are even better, and the city looks incredible in the sunshine. My Snapshot is at http://goo.gl/xnBo7

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  9. Thank you for sharing your travel album. Looking at your wonderful photos and reading your fluid narrative I feel like I am walking with you and visiting the city.

    Did you buy any of the Matryoshka dolls?

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    1. I didn't because we were on such a tight budget, but I did purchase a beautiful Bohemian glass vase as a wedding gift for a dear friend and her husband ...

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  10. Lovely pictures. I visited Prague in 1991, and your photos brought back some nice memories. I have a shot too of the astronomical clock.

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  11. Love the architecture of those building, and it's such a beautiful place! What is that between the red bell pepper and what looks like cabbage, in the veggie photo? I've never seen anything like it.
    Here's My Photo

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    1. Vicki, That's called kohlrabi ... kinda like a turnip, kinda like cabbage, kinda like potato.

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  12. So beautiful! I especially love all of those red roofs. :)

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  13. Oh my goodness - so much to see! I bet it would have been hard to not take photos constantly of everything. I love the little buildings that seem to curve around the alleyways, and that clock is beautiful! And Tycho - one of the few astronomers I actually remember from Astronomy 101 in college - that's so cool!

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  14. A lovely tour ... all those beautiful buildings.

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  15. Thank you so much for sharing this. I was in Prague in 1991 (pre digital photos) so have few memory prompts. But I loved Prague a lot, especially the Charles Bridge which had markets and buskers across it the day I visited.
    I must go back one day :-)

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  16. I haven't been to Prague (yet), so I really enjoyed your tour- it looks an amazing place.

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