We got back to the UK on Sunday evening, and I can officially say that England finally feels like home to me because as soon as I saw British land from my window seat on the plane, I felt cuddly inside. And I must really love England a lot because I was happy to be back here even though I had fallen in love with and actually married Poland, where we spent the last several days of our trip. I didn’t want to leave Poland and will explain why in a few days, but first I must cover Prague, and then Vienna.
So Prague, in the land of the Czech Republic (which I still have trouble saying because my brain defaults to “Czechoslovakia” since that’s what it was my entire childhood), I frankly found enchanting. I knew it was called things like “The Golden City” but I had to walk the streets to understand why. So many of the buildings are decorated with bits of gold, and in a surprisingly attractive way, that Rupert and I could not help but occasionally dork out and quote the movie Goldmember. It’s all covahed in goooold…Isn’t that veeyad?
I hate posting pictures of buildings but tough shit, here are some examples. It’s not literally covered in gold, but this kind of small detail is all over a vast number of buildings in the Old Town and New Town of Prague, and when you take it all in as a whole, it’s pretty dazzling and impressive. By the way, by “New Town” they mean founded in 1348. Cripes.
I also like this next building, not only for the gold flourishes, but look at the asymmetrical curve of it, and the slender green building to the left, and the flowers in the windows to the right. The colors and textures of this place made me swoon, and I’m not even a swooner.
Perfectly gorgeous
Our hotel was only about two blocks from the main square in Old Town, which for some ungodly confusing reason is called…Old Town Square.
The first picture of this post up there is of the Old Town Hall on our first night, just after dusk. I couldn’t believe the deep blue of the sky and the way the buildings surrounding the square were lit up, and the pleasing crowds. It was all just so dang pleasing and I still can’t put my finger on why, other than the obvious beauty of the place.
The top pic up there was to my left as we sat and drank delicious Pilsner Urquell beers (locally brewed and fresh and awesome, and I don’t even like beer), but to my right was my very favorite building in Prague: the , built in 1365. It kinda looked like Disneyworld, but the more Rupert and I both stared at it, the more we loved it.
Church of Our Lady before Týn
You might wonder why I post that shot instead of one of the same church up close, without those squatty yellow buildings blocking the view. I would LOVE to post such a photo, but that’s not possible, because at some point in time, some stupid assholes decided it would be a good idea to build new buildings literally directly in front of – and even physically contacting the front wall of – the church.
They barely left the main arched front doorway accessible; it’s just crammed between two much more modern walls with shops and restaurants. It is kind of sad. I know they had their reasons, but still, imagine what it would look like with open space around it. The main archway is huge and glorious, which I only know because we went between the two restaurants attached to it now.
At the same time, I hate to complain because at large, the city of Prague seems to have gone to great lengths to preserve history (as you’ll see below) and make itself beautiful. Rupert and I spent 3 nights there and loved every minute.
My only complaint is that it was hot and sunny, so much that we had to buy sunscreen at the Tesco (Americans aren’t the only economic imperialists – there are plenty of Brit shops in Czech land).
And our room had no air conditioning and no fan, so the only relief was opening the windows, and wouldn’t you know? Just below us was a bar, from which poured forth loud drunks, all through the night.
And when we thought that was over, then came the recycling truck at about 3 a.m., for which the bar brought out load! after! load! of empty glass to shatter into the truck. All of which echoed between the canyon of buildings until it reached a zen-level of HORROR SOUND at our window.
It was problematic. Suffocate from the heat or lie awake all night with the noise? I’m a guest here, but you know, if they refuse to have air conditioning in their buildings, THE LEAST THEY COULD DO IS PROVIDE A GODDAMN FAN.
A simple fan. For the love of all that is Holy on this planet.
Ten dollars. Ten dollars will buy you this simple fan. I don’t give a shit what your koruna is worth, I know a beer costs the equivalent of 5 bucks, and thus two beers could buy a basic fan for the room. Do it. Do it. Do it.
So even though we loved Prague, we did not really sleep at all for the three nights we were there.
The heat was better the day we were at the Prague castle because it poured rain. Never have I been so euphoric over rain. Rupert is an Army veteran so none of this shit bothers him much, but it was a new experience for me to be excited about walking through pouring rain. It was wet and cold and that is what I wanted after two days with no A/C or fans. Yessss.
Now is the time to talk about food. MY GOD PEOPLE! THE FOOD! If you’re a vegetarian, you should not ever attempt to travel to central/eastern Europe, because you’ll starve to death. Some places have literally no vegetable matter on the menu. But if you like meat and taters, welcome to Heaven.
Our first night there, Rupert had schnitzel and I had goulash. It was like the best American beef stew you ever had, only a million times better. I do not exaggerate, the stuff is perfection.
It was served at this place in Prague with cold “cabbage salad”, which I expected to be a disgusting version of the worst cole slaw in hell, but oh dear no. It was alchemy cabbage, sprinkled with awesomeness and fairy dust. Also, as I said above, the local Pilsner beer was magnificent, and this from a person who generally does not drink or like beer. It makes a big difference when this stuff is fresh.
As I have a mental disorder, I took almost 50 international dog pics on this trip. For example, performing one day in the square in Prague was a cello trio of boys that could not have been older than 18, and they were very good (although they played the Beatles at one point, which is always regrettable). Rupert and I even gave them money because we were so happy to see teenage boys doing something other than being dickheads. But enough about them, check out the regal beast observing them.
Also in the square that day, we saw what looked like a spread of garbage right in front of the Monument, and in point of fact that’s exactly what it was, garbage on the ground with candles strewn about, except the people who put it there fancied it a “memorial” and a “tribute”. Yes that’s right, Prague’s own Michael Jackson FoolFest.
Trash put on the ground by people who are stupid
Up close, there were tons of little notes saying stupid shit like “We Love You, Michael!” I stomped all over and laid waste to the whole thing. Oh wait that was just my daydream.
Sadly, Rupert still won’t let me commit crimes in foreign countries; some nonsense about “we don’t have a lawyer here” and “we don’t speak the language” and “it will ruin our vacation and possibly our lives”.
That trash-heap pic was taken at about 10 a.m., and when we walked back through the square at roughly 3 p.m., all the crap was gone. I have never been more excited about and impressed by someone else’s intelligence than I was right then. Whoever put out the order to have that monstrosity cleaned up is my own personal hero forever.
The Czech Republic is an EU member but not part of the eurozone, still using their (usually shown on prices as CZK). Getting cash out of the ATM there is a heady experience and will make you feel rich if you forget math.
Not that awesome
Rupert was paying for our drinks with that bill, and I was all Holy shit!!!. Rupert was patient: Umm sweetie, remember what we talked about?, and explained to me again that 1000 CZK = $53.61.
Whatever. I decided not to pay attention to his silly maths and ridiculous facts, and let myself feel like a superstar until I bought a dozen postcards the next day at the Prague castle and the girl announced my total was 300 CZK. Oh.
Maybe I haven’t seen enough art in my life or maybe Central Europeans are just freaky, but I was a little disturbed by some of the sculpture I saw in Prague. Tell me you do not have troubled feelings about gynecology or amputations, or fuckin’ muppets, from this:
I don't think so pal
It’s Franz Kafka, the famous writer. Rupert and I stood staring for a few moments, trying to come to terms with it, and never really did. That kind of “art” is something that you don’t so much deal with, but accept and move on from.
We were actually on that street looking for the Old Jewish Cemetery, which is just to the left of the vag-head Kafka. I wanted to go into the cemetery and the Pinkas Synagogue it’s attached to (the cemetery is hundreds of years old and has over 12,000 tombstones piled up on each other), but there was a giant group of Jewish tourists there right then, and the truth is, we didn’t want to interfere or add to the chaos.
Frighteningly, the Kafka was not the freaky-deakiest sculpture we saw on the streets of Prague.
Oh dear
One of the most fun and exciting things about blogging is posting things like that photo, saying I don’t “get” it, and then watching the comments but most often the private emails pour in (because they know what dicks they sound like) that try to “explain” the “symbolism” to me.
Lest anyone be tempted to do so with the above work of “art”, hear me now and believe me later, but TRUST ME, I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS. As much as it looks like an invitation to buttsecks or just a general raping of humanity by death – which it really really really does, we know what this fine and nuanced work of art is for.
It was just outside the entrance to the dungeon at the Prague Castle. Rupert and I went in that dungeon, and we saw things that frankly we wish we had not seen, such as a genuine body-stretching apparatus, you know, where they strap your feet and your hands, and then turn a wheel that literally pulls you APART.
Or how about this, the “body cage”. I have a strong stomach and a stronger mental constitution, but this actually made me feel woozy.
Gross
Look at all the details of that apparatus. The museum helpfully has a skull to orient you. Note that below the body cage is a hole. We peered down that hole, and what’s down there is just another chamber, to hold all the blood and guts coming out of the body.
We spent most of the day at the Castle, which is the biggest castle complex in the world and which to this day houses Czech government offices such as the president’s office. It also has the , which took my breath away. I’m developing a taste for Gothic cathedrals, and this one was stunning.
Not only does it have the Tomb of St. Wenceslas, which you may remember from the Christmas carol, but all around the exterior, there are these horrifying and beautiful figures sticking out at every corner, gargoyle-type but more diverse than that. They’re human figures, dogs, bats…here’s a shot from near the front door of this cathedral, looking up. Notice the figures jutting out. They enchanted me.
St Vitus Cathedral
The one at the very top was a dog but I couldn’t get a zoomed-in shot of him because of the light, and it started raining. But here’s one of the humans.
She doesn't look happy
Terrifying was apparently an official style of sculpture back in the day in Prague; here is what we saw upon one of the doors of the Old Town Hall.
Good lord y'all, quit scaring me
One thing I really loved in Prague was how some newer buildings have clearly been built around or over older buildings, but they let the newer building look disjointed and “wrong” in order to show the preserved bit of the much-older building.
And now is the time for Prague Dog. He is peeing on some bushes, and he knows that I’m watching him and taking his picture to put on the internet for Americans, and he seems to be giving me permission.
What can I say but thank you for sharing your Prague trip, peeing dog and all, with us.
Now I just have to figure out how to get some of that goulash and fresh beer in SoCal.
…and, just proving once again… You did us proud, My Dear! Travel with Rachellucas.com. See the world. On HER terms.
Heh. But, OMG, such buildings! Thank you!
Oh, and I want Prague Dog. Very much.
Thank god you are back – we were going thru withdrawal.
Crap! No time to read. Be back later.
That was some hard waitin’ while you were gone, but so worth it. It is extremely unlikely I will ever see these places in person but it’s nice to have such a lovely alternative to Ned Flanders – I mean Rick Steve’s – to tell me about them. Can’t wait for the doggy pics.
I will be back later to read the rest. Taking a break for a pot pie right now.
Anxiously awaiting the Post of International Doggery as is Her Royal Dogliness, for she is of ancient ancestry and quite noble of fart and such a post might include portraits of some of her distant relatives for all we know.
Wonderful pictures, especially the buildings… thank you for sharing!!
Oh that. I was focusing on the wood block underneath that skull/body dilly thing. To me the wood means a painful flashback to a Beaves and Butthead show where the boys would always…..
WB, Rachel. I went to Texas while you were gone. I bought a fan.
YEAH!!! RACHEL’S BACK!!
My normal state is to have absolutely no interest in travel outside the US. Then someone will post wonderful pictures and interesting stories about exotic places.. and I’m wanting to leave for Europe tomorrow morning :) I’m looking forward to more info about your trip in the days to come.
Hi Rachel.
Fans are cool. I tell my kids (and now, you) that years ago it took wealth or power to be able to afford such a luxury. You’d have to pay a servant (or two or three or whatever) or brand the fear of god into people to FAN you while they sweltered in the heat that they relieved you from. Ten bucks. God, I love capitalism. And genius. Because of the combo, voila, morons like me live better than the kings of yesteryear.
Thank God that human civilization wasn’t limited to my intellect and fortitude. There would be no fans. There would be no beer. Hell, there would probably be no one period, ‘cuz nobody would have figured out sex so they would have just stared at each other and masturbated a lot.
Culture shock is a great place to remember having been slapped in the face with, umm, a different culture. You’ve got some memories to cherish.
I may have run down to the pub and drank with those assholes ‘cuz the shadow on my shoulder said “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” Then again, that may have led me to a not so pleasing stay at a Turkish prison and a starring role in the “Locked Up Abroad” season premier for season 35. Or some other stupid shit. And thus, you are a damn genius.
I have to pee. And pee I will. Thanks for the travelogue, Rachel. And welcome “home”!
Ahhh, Rachel, I do love your Travelogues. I will come back and read in more detail later!
Welcome back!
“some stupid assholes decided it would be a good idea to build new buildings literally directly in front of – and even physically contacting the front wall of – the Tyn Church.”
Damn commies! (No, I’m not interested in being corrected on this point which I just made up.)
I do hope you went in to genuflect at the tomb of Tycho Brahe! (The exclamation point is part of his name.)
“Rupert repeatedly threatened to urinate upon the people on the street below, while I repeatedly went much further and threatened to throw actual chairs and tables and lamps and other hard Death Objects down there.”
Such a good wife you are, making sure Mr. NHRN comes across as the reasonable one, no matter what.
“If you’re a vegetarian, you should not ever attempt to travel to central/eastern Europe, because you’ll starve to death.”
Tell me about it. When I was in Prague, I decided to replace the goulash in a business lunch by a salad. Fedex-ing the salad from the US would have been cheaper.
“Rupert still won’t let me commit crimes in foreign countries”
Boooo! Spoilsport! Doesn’t he know we eagerly await your travelogue series: A Hillbilly in European Prisons?
Re exchange rates, why not visit Japan? You’ll feel like a veritable Rothschild. Until you try buying anything.
Re the first sculpture, that’s what Kafka actually looked like. Explains things.
Re the last doggie pic, I choose to believe that you photographed him at the apex of a two-foot leap in the air, reacting to some hillbilly behaviour of yours, possibly your exclaiming that you could just eat him up.
One last thing: Tycho Brahe!
Monkeyhumper:
“Fans are cool.”
Well, not really. What happens is that they produce an airflow, which… Oh, you were using a colloquialism. Never mind.
“I tell my kids (and now, you) that years ago it took wealth or power to be able to afford such a luxury. You’d have to pay a servant (or two or three or whatever) or brand the fear of god into people to FAN you while they sweltered in the heat that they relieved you from.”
Yes, and then while fanning you, they would get hot, thus heating up the room and inconveniencing you even more. And you’d tell them to stop heating up and go dunk themselves in a tub full of ice cubes or something, but those moronic good-for-nothings would just stand there dumbly staring at you, because there was no way to get or produce ice-cubes.
Man did I hate the seventies!
Yep, traveling like that will make you stop and re-examine what you think you knew…..awesome isn’t it?
Sheesh. Even the lion looks unhappy. Like he’s ashamed to be eating the guy.
Nope. Baroque peeled back to reveal the Gothic and even Romanesque architecture underneath — mind blowing!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking us there! (Oh, and welcome HOME!)
BTW, did you check out the Old New Synagogue? They say the Golem of Prague is locked up in the attic there.
Rachel is back! And with pictures of beautiful Golden Prague; great.
About facades: I think that arch is authentic, as all the other fragments of previous-periods architectural trim. Czechs are crazy about preservation of their history, incl. architecture, especially in Prague. I’ve seen the same method used even here, in NY/Brooklyn – overlaying remnants of previous doorways, fragments of trim and entrance stoop – and in North Chicago.
Prague is also notorious for its medieval orientation system; they have the same system in Poland (I’m sure you’ve noticed), but in Prague it’s preserved through all the way back to actual . Do they also, like in Poland, still call the buildings “Under a boot” or “Villa Apothecary”?
Thank you SO much for the great pics !
Technically any decorative water spout that is a human or creature figure is called a gargoyle. We just usually think of gargoyles as the grotesque creatures, usually with wings and are found on cathedrals. I collect gargoyle figures….have over 70 from a half inch tall to 3 feet tall.
I don’t know about those older architectural fragments on buildings. It would be interesting to know details.
Love all your pics…..never hesitate to post any of them !….Looking forward to the vast collection of Doggery pics !
Your parents weather report sounds like how it is here…100 miles NW of Houston.
Around 90 when it’s past 11pm ?….Oh yeah….misery.
Like stepping into the 7th Circle of Hell.
We’ve had something like 3 weeks straight of highs over 100.
The buildings in front of Tyn Church:
Nothing dynamite and blasting caps and a 30 minute warning wouldn’t cure.
What was it that Billy Mays used to advertise? KA-BOOM!!!!!
I’d be making that face too if I had nasty rain water pouring out my mouth
Glad you’re back. Thank you, Twitter, for alerting me to Rachl Lukis’ return!
Honeydew,
Bet you don’t hate some masturbatin’.
And them hot bitches with the fans would be “dumbly staring” at me… you guessed it, masturbating.
I was in Prague for the six greatest days of my life.
Did you visit Obecni dum? U Flecku? U Kalicha? Konopiste?
What a fabulous country!!!
If I didn’t know better I’d swear you were just making up words.
Rachel that is quite possibly the best post since your account of the death of poor blessed Digger! I lived in Europe for four years and you made me recall the awe I was in every time I looked at the facades of these several hundred year old buildings. Thank you!
Ken
The sad thing is that many parts of Germany used to look like Prague before WWII. The systematic carpet bombing of Germany in WWII destroyed a lot.
(and spare me the , “they brought it on themselves” line. The fact remains that the bombing destroyed history art and culture, wholesale.)
Of course had that not happened the vandals of thje 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s (called architects and city planners) would probably have done the same.
Five bucks for a beer in Prague? They were about 50 cents the last time I was there, just a couple of years ago, unless you only ate in tourist traps. I’ve been there 6-7 times now, and it’s definitely one of the best places to visit.
Out of all the countries I’ve been to in Europe (only seven, but saying that makes me sound well-traveled and important) England is my favorite, and Prague comes in at a very close second. I’ve only been to Prague once and unfortunately, I went in January and being from Texas like you, Rachel, I almost froze to death. However, I did manage to have a great number of experiences with both the citizens and the food (my God, the food!) and… I must confess that I met a prince. Oh, yes. A prince. Rachel, one place you should have gone to is the Lobkowicz Castle. The man who owns it is originally from America, Boston in fact. His family used to be royalty in Prague but when the communists took over, they had to flee to America and lost everything. Anyway, in about 1990, William Lobkowicz went back to Prague and went through hell and high water to get his family’s property back and has been restoring everything they owned ever since. Lobkowicz Castle is a beautiful place, and the prince is often there… it just so happened that we got lucky when we went to it and got to meet him! He’s very friendly and amazingly enough, there are a few pictures in the hallways of him with the Bush family when George W. was still in office. (Closeted Republican? Probably not, but I like to think so).
If you want to read more about him, here’s an article. It’s pretty interesting.
Yay! Rachel’s back! With pictures! Golden Prague with golden beer is beautiful through your camera’s lens. Am eagerly awaiting your Doggery post.
I love the pictures of the buildings almost as much as I know I’m going to love the dog photos.
The only two European cities I’ve visited are London and Glasgow and didn’t get to spend near enough time in either. I am so envious, but so glad I get to read your travelogues.
Thanks!
Prague is one of the three or four most beautiful cities in the world. Too bad you had the problems in Rome, which really is a beaut too. Vienna and Paris make my list too.
Meanwhile back in Texas all the dirt daubers are homeless, ’cause there ain’t no mud.
Pictures:
Pic one – ass. European ass. Thanks! The blurred thing in white walking behind blue jean person.
Pic two – is that uppermost left image taking a dump while staring at us?
Pic three – U Zlate Studny
Who’s that stud? Huh?
Also looks like a cake from the cake boss. Too beautiful. You made that up.
Pic four – Dali? Who the fuck put THAT sign up on that fucking view blocking building? Are those UFO’s?
Pic six – unbelievable, the way a beer can taste. And make you feel. Golden. Like these pictures. City of gold you said, right?
Anyway, there is some gold in this here post of yours. I’ll keep digging.
Thanks again.
I forgot an observation – the Hotel Studny has a cloud behind it that resembles a lion/dragon as depicted in priceless jade.
Welcome back, little sister. We missed you.
Rachel! Back! THANK GOD, life has been so boring without you. You are not allowed to ever go away for so long again. SO SAY WE ALL.
Frequently, to conserve on building materials and labor, pieces of older buildings were simply incorporated into the structure of newer ones. What you see is generally not all that is there; it just happens to be that part of the old building that extends beyond the plane of the new wall, and is left sticking out because they were too, um, “busy” to chisel it off.
Cities like Prague, that went through more than their share of “marginal” destruction (i.e. fire as opposed to more thorough annihilation), simply had more ruins standing around to use this way.
I am surprised that you didn’t find your way to the ossuary at Sedlec, however. Any pretenses the Europeans may have to superiority go right out the window when you find out they have stuff like lying around.
i’m jealous. its been a little over 16 years since we visited Praque. We were there to celebrate the new Czech Republic Jan 1, 1993.
we stayed in a soviet style hotel and froze our asses off, then in the middle of the night the fire alarm went off and we all herded out for about a half an hour.
praque in the dead of winter is something to behold. at the time, they were heavily dependant on coal, so the smell of coal permeated everything. at some points along our walking route, we were roof top height and the smoke billowing out from each building was like a scene out of Oliver.
praque unlike most cities in europe went undamaged during WWII (thanks neville chamberlain for appeasing nazi scum). its one of the only cities you are actually looking at the original structures and not some post war replica. glad you had a good time minus the sleep.
I have missed you.
I began to worry that you had gotten the London Swine Flu that I keep hearing about. Glad you have been off that flu infested island.
And thanks for the travelogue.
I have to admit that I didn’t know that gargoyles had to do with rainwater drainage. I thought they were just decorative figures.
I wonder if our modern word “gargle” is related to “gargoyle”?
Welcome back, girl. It’s been a long time looking at that plane on the front page.
Thank you, Rachel. You are taking me to places I’ll never see. I can look at pictures, even read books about these places. You make me feel them.
You have a gift for that and it’s a gift to us.
I kept checking in all day until I went home to see if you had posted, but nooo, you had to wait until I was busy changing diapers and giving baths and not sleeping and shit.
Actually, your trip looks like it was great. FWIW, I really dig Pilsner Urquell, although I’ve never been fortunate enough to have it newly born. By the time it gets to the States, it’s old, decrepit and smells like rancid urine. Still better by far than, say, Budweiser, but not good enough.
Welcome back. You have been missed.
As it happens it is. “Gargoyle” comes from the Old French gargouille or “throat” (because water passes through the throat and out the mouth of the gargoyle), which is in turn related to the Greek gargarizein, “to gargle” (imitating the sounds made in the throat). Or so says my laptop dictionary anyway.
City of golden…. beverages. You can get decent Pilsner Urquell in the US, just look for it in the half liter cans (sold in a 4-pack), not the green bottles which will be light-struck.
hooray for vacation pics!
welcome home, Rachel.
I can make a decent clone of it myself, so that’s the route I usually go. Besides, light stuck beer isn’t as big a problem as people make it out to be. Just put the beer back into a dark place for a few days and the isohumulone goes back into solution, thereby eliminating the skunky smell.
Welcome back. Thanks for sharing your travels, very much looking forward to the dog pics too.
Off topic, if you are ever in London on a weekday you might be interested in this:
I really like how you put that, about “Don’t lose track of the ‘narrative’.” Somehow it sums up the whole bizarro backwards modern …um… thing that’s going on. We’re supposed to believe that Europe is sophisticated and cultured and civilized, and the USA is crude, ugly, brutal, angry. Whether or not this is completely factually true doesn’t matter.
Something like that — only you captured it much more profoundly.
I’m so jealous.
i wants to travel too! and see loldogz n stuff!
Wow, so glad to see you’re back! Have been missing your updates… your Prague report with pix was outstanding… looking forward to seeing more… your Hillbilly Murican fans have missed you Rachel!
Welcome back! Now I want to see Prague. Badly.
Those are really good pics. Do you have an exceptional camera or do i have unexceptional eyes?
Wow, those buildings-at-night pictures are great. Now I want to go to Prague! And I can’t wait for the Poland installment. And the super international dog post.
That Kafka sculpture is ridiculous.
I’ve never wanted to go there before now, thanks to you it is now on my list of travels and things to see before I die.
And I would give money for a straight on picture of the two faced door.
At last! Herself is baaaack on teh interwebs!!
***happy dance***
Wonderful building photos Rachel! More please!
The really scary part of the imagery on gothic churches is that they were intended to be inspirational/instructional to the illiterate masses. They had some tough lives back in that day, eh?
I totally got into trompe-l’oeil church interiors too…some are so well done that it’s difficult to tell where real stops and faux begins. We stopped at a village along the Danube to have a bite to eat. After lunch while the car was being gassed and such I wandered over to the church across the square. It had a magnificent gilded marble interior. Wow! Then I realized that it was completely painted, the perspective alone was a work of art. Which always makes me wonder who they were fooling, God or the congregation?
btw-I think the rule is that any time you stay in old town during the summer in an European city you will a.) be in close proximity to a noisy bar and/or smelly kitchen and b.) no A/C; guaran-damn-teed. The pre-dawn garbage and delivery lorries are just icing on the cake. One summer we bought a big table fan and carted it from hotel to hotel. The front desk always rolled their eyes like the Joads were rolling up, but we didn’t give a shit, we slept much better.
I look forward to your post on Wien, one of my favoritest cities.
Great pictures! My son enjoyed them also, even if he didn’t really understand. He was disgruntled when I came to the end of the post and wanted to read the comments. He griped about seeing more pictures. More buildings!
A three-year-old’s commentary on the statue of the giant skull on a man’s back: Pirate! Argh!
Monkeyhumper: If you have the money or the power, then can’t you put your (ahem) staff to better use? Not to mention that if they were watching me, they’d get even more hot.
Fred2: “The systematic carpet bombing of Germany in WWII destroyed a lot.” That is indeed sad. But had I but the opportunity, I wouldn’t have hesitated a second about carpet bombing Germany with nuclear bombs. I say this advisedly.
Bad Penny: “That Kafka sculpture is ridiculous.” No no no, it’s sick!
If The Beatles song being played was “Eleanor Rigby”, then the cello adaptation would be forgiven. Anything else? Notsomuch.
Prague Dog is awesome. As are Prague buildings.
I know you’re working while you’re there, and that this isn’t just one long vacation, but damned if it doesn’t seem that way from where I’m sitting. :-)
Obecni dum is the public coffee house (a kavarna)just opposite the yellow tourist kiosks in the center of town (I forget the name of the street).
U Flecku is a 600 year old pivovar (microbrewery and restaurant).
U Kalicha (“The Chalice”) is the bar where Jaroslav Hasek wrote “The Good Soldier Svejk” while he sat next to the tiny wood stove. I have a photo of myself and my Czeck host at that table.
Konopiste was the summer chateau of Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sofie, before they were shot, starting WW1. It’s about 30 miles outside of Prague.
I sooooo wish I could make up words like those.
Nice pictures. Thanks for the travelogue. Now I know where the term “I’ll tear off your head and shit down your neck.” came from. Always wondered about that.
:-)
Joe
Fantastic post, Rachel! You make me want to go to there.
I don’t get symbolic art, so the disturbing sculpture above means nothing to me except, “Yuck!”.
However, I have to be irritating to some people:
Here in the Cincinnati area we are experiencing near-record-low daily High temps. It’s currently 77 F at the airport, and tomorrow’s high is predicted to only reach 70. I got yer Global Warming right here, bitches!
I’m so jealous. Prague is my favorite place in the whole world. We’re going to live there for a year in about 10.
I’m glad you got to visit. I left a piece of my heart there………..
Hi Rachel! Good to see you’re having fun. Keep at it!
I know what you mean about the dungeon deal. I Was at the one in Warwick Castle and just looking at those cage things and various other instruments made my blood run cold enough to make my whole body physically shiver. I learned a lesson from that: Don’t piss-off the King! Of course, waterboarding is much more brutal. I wonder if they used that ‘torture’ back then?
Did you happen to see the place where the guys who assassinated SS Gen. Heydrich in WW2 were finally cornered? I’ve always wanted to go there just to pay my respects. Those guys had some major brass ones.
Cheers!
Hog Whitman
Incredible! Thank you for sharing!
I would love to go visit the dungeon. I find them absolutely fascinating. Makes me long to visit Europe again.