Jon Searles' photos

This was another phone that I purchased well in advance of actually using it, more or less immediately after its launch in the summer of 2015. This photo is actually of the display model that convinced me, rather than my actual phone. I do know that I purchased it out of concern that good mobile phones with buttons would become hard to find, given the market dominance of phones with touchscreens. In any case, this phone didn't see any use until 2018, but like the Nokia 301 I liked it at first sight, and purchased it as a future insurance policy against a dead phone. It's camera has a resolution of 3.2mp, only marginally better than the Nokia 301, but the lense is larger. I've never been able to tell if this matters, as both of these cameraphones took better-than-expected pictures considering they were only phones, and sometimes the Nokia actually performed better.

I took this on New Year's Eve, after getting to Cardiff in the nick of time to meet my friends. I took several other cameraphone shots along the way, although nothing to speak of. I originally had hoped to get the number of this unit, but again I was using a cameraphone, so the exposure from the headlights was too much. This had been my first trip on Great Western after it reverted to its pre-1948 name, after having operated as "First Great Western" (in reference to First Bus) since privatization, and the creation of the train operating companies (TOC's) in 1996.

I've often visited Galaxie Pizzeria before a flight out of Prague's Ruzyne (now Havel) airport, and in this case it was a layover, as I had just flown in from Paris, and would take another flight out to Bristol the next day, ultimately trying to get to Cardiff in time for New Year's Eve. This restaurant has been renovated since I took this (I think during the closure for Covid), but when I last visited it a few months ago, it was still in business. It's called Galaxie for the complex of buildings it's a part of, including the Haje Metro station. The complex was supposed to have a space exploration theme, and because it was constructed under communism in 1980, the metro station was originally called Kosmonautu.

I'm fairly sure this was a 777-300ER, given what Air France usually flies, and given the apparent length of this aircraft. However, because I wasn't sure when I posted this, I didn't put it in the title. When I tried reviewing photos of 777-300's, versus 777-200's, I couldn't find an objective spotting feature to make it certain. If someone knows for sure, please let me know. I don't take too many photos of airliners that I've been on anymore, but for some reason I decided to take this shot before departing JFK for Paris Charles De Gaulle. Typically, flights from the U.S. to Europe take off from the U.S. East Coast in the evening, arriving the next morning to avoid losing a day.

Built in 1850, this viaduct spans 1.1 kilometers from Bubny to Masarykovo Nadrazi (southbound), meaning it actually traverses a large part of Prague, at this portion in Karlin (if I understand the boroughs correctly). The street under this arch of the viaduct is Sokolovska, although the viaduct crosses 5-6 streets along the way, depending on what you're counting. When facing west through the Sokolovska arch, it is often possible to get good sunset pictures, as the sun aligns quite well with the arch, without any buildings blocking the view. This is the second attempt posted from this shoot my Nokia 301 cameraphone.

Built in 1850, this viaduct spans 1.1 kilometers from Bubny to Masarykovo Nadrazi (southbound), meaning it actually traverses a large part of Prague, at this portion in Karlin (if I understand the boroughs correctly). The street under this arch of the viaduct is Sokolovska, although the viaduct crosses 5-6 streets along the way, depending on what you're counting. One of the most interesting streets, not seen here, is Rohanske nabrezi, which used to be a railway line, meaning that until the 2017-2021 reconstruction, coal soot from steam locomotives was still visible on the arches: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negrelli_Viaduct#/media/File:Northwestern_Railway_Negrelli_Viaduct_eastern_side.jpg In any case, getting back to my own photo, when facing west through the Sokolovska arch, it is often possible to get good sunset pictures, as the sun aligns quite well with the arch, without any buildings blocking the view. I still haven't been able to get a good camera to get this shot (I've been having technical problems with my cameras for a number of years, with a minimal budget to address the problem), but I have even been able to get the shot with my cameraphones, as you can see here. For this shot, I was using my Nokia 301.

I took this shot because, as far as I can remember, this was my first, or possibly second, visit to the Veleslavin Metro station. I had neglected to route bash this extension of Linka A when it had opened several months earlier, so this was my first meaningful chance to get some cameraphone shots of it. This extension actually extended Linka A from Dejvicka to Nemocnice Motol, with the Nadrazi Veleslavin and Petriny stations added in between. The original plan was to extend to the airport, but politics prevented this happening for the meantime. The project, as it was, took many years. The official date when the plan was finalized was April 15th, 2010, and the project was completed by the 6th of April, 2015. I seem to have memories of contruction dating back further, but this could be my imagination.

Like most "American" bars in Europe, this bar bore no resemblence to any bar I've been to in the United States. It's in the basement of the Obecni Dum, or Municipal House, and features a fake waterfall build in an Art Nouveau style. Indeed, the whole of this very-large, very ornate building is constructed in this style. The main reason I didn't include the large number of cameraphone shots I took on this day is that I knew that other people on iPernity would inevitably have better shots with "real" cameras, and in any case I had too much material to go through given that I'm trying to catch up on an 8-year backlog of photos right now. In any case, the anecdote from this visit that stands out in my memory was that the bar was playing Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind" over the sound system. I was travelling with one of my Greek friends, and she asked me "Jon, what is this crap?" I said "It's Bob Dylan," and she said "NO IT'S NOT!!," and wouldn't believe me that this was how Bob Dylan sounded.

I didn't end up buying this railroad-themed board game, but the name is obviously a reference both to "Mogul" meaning a rich business person, in this case a railroad tycoon, as well as to the 2-6-0 Mogul steam locomotive type under the Whyte classification system.

This is one of several board game shops that were operating in Prague in the early 2010's, where I would sometimes find useful teaching materials (I taught English at the time). This one was mostly of interest to an old friend who was travelling with me, so we stopped by to see if they were interested in anything. Pasaz Rokoko is actually connected directly to the complex of tunnels associated with Palac Lucerna, including Pasaz Lucerna, but for some reason is considered to be separate. What is true is that Lucerna is a much larger complex than is obvious from the street. It was actually designed by the architect Vaclav M. Havel (1897-1979), who was the father of future Czech President Vaclav Havel (1936-2011). According to Wikipedia, anyway, Palac Lucerna is still owned by the Havel family, specifically Dagmar Havlova, the younger Vaclav Havel's sister-in-law, rather than widow (they both have the same name).

Like most people who have lived in Prague, I've taken so many pictures of the Karluv Most, or Charles Bridge, that after a few years it becomes necessary to be selective. I thought this cameraphone shot was acceptably interesting to post because of the yellow paddle boats catching the eye at the bottom of the shot. I've actually rented paddle boats in Prague before, but they aren't any more notable than other paddle boats. The river is the Vltava, as I've written elsewhere, so you're able to paddle north of the Karluv Most, with the south end being made impractical by a lock that's generally only suitable for larger boats (as I understand it, someone correct me if I'm wrong). There are also paddle boat rentals for use south of the lock, and I seem to remember actually renting one of those, rather than one of these.

I've written a bit about the Tatra 603 elsewhere, but in summary, the Tatra 603 was introduced in 1956, after a design process that took 3 years, and borrowed a bit from earlier Tatra designs. It had a number of typically "American" features, including a HEMI V-8 engine, dual exhausts, and tailfins, while also having some distinctive Czech features such as a rear/rear layout and an air-cooled engine. The engine was also, in spite of being a HEMI, only 2.5L displacement, in contrast with the Mopar "Firepower" HEMI of the time, which came out to roughly 5.8L. The purpose of the Tatra 603 in the Czech "market," if that's the word, was to serve as a domestically-produced alternative to Soviet-built luxury cars issued to the Communist Party. The only users of the Tatra 603 who were not in the Communist Party elite were the Statna bezpecnost (StB), who were the Czech Communist secret police. Otherwise, the vast majority of Czechs (who qualified to have a car) were issued with whatever the current model of Skoda was. The Tatra 603 received two facelifts, in 1962 and 1968 although both had only a minor effect on its appearance. The more significant would have been the 1962 facelift, in which the original, unusual, three headlights were replaced with a more-conventional four. At least a few 1956-61 603's I've seen, though, have had five headlights, but I don't know if this was an original factory option. This is an example of the five-headlight configuration: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Tatra_603.jpg/1024px-Tatra_603.jpg Judging from the headlight design on the 603 in my photo, this appears to be a 1968-75 model, although I don't know the precise year.

As you can see, Nadrazi Mirosovice u Prahy was in very good condition as of 2015, and as far as I know it still is today. Mirosovice is two stops south of Strancice (with Mnichovice in the middle), and on this particular day, for whatever reason, I concluded my cameraphone shoot for the day. It may have been the battery, in hindsight, as I didn't want to be without a phone.

The Mnichovice station isn't visible in this shot, as it's out-of-frame to the right. What you can see is that interesting Baroque-style building, in the distance, with the bell tower. That's the Church of the Birth of the Virgin Mary, or the Kostel Narození Panny Marie, in Czech.

Nadrazi Strancice is actually two stops south of Ricany, as Svetice is in between. For some reason, I didn't get a shot of Svetice on this trip. Strancice is mostly notable for being where some of the locals from Prague terminate, rather than continuing on to Benesov u Prahy. Whenever I've had to go further south, I've had to be mindful of this. There's also a freight-only branchline to Velke Popovice from Strancice, but this was cut short in around 2013, so it may have been left mostly in place as insurance for the future. I'm not aware of any current services on it, although it still had some working signals the last time I saw it.

When southbound one Linka 220, Ricany is the first station outside of Prague. As you can vaguely see in this shot, as of 2015 it was in decent condition, and my understanding is that it's been maintained well since. It's notable for the spiral ramp for passengers, especially those with bikes, just barely visible behind the platform canopy. The station building is on the other side of the tracks, behind me in this shot. The building dates to the 1880's, if I'm not mistaken, although services began stopping here in November of 1871, in line with most other stops on Linka 220.

Kolovraty is the southernmost Prague station on Linka 220, the next station south being Ricany, which is technically outside of Prague. When I first started regularly traveling this route in 2005, Kolovraty still had a small concrete station, but this was removed around 2006 during the reconstruction. Judging from the shape of the building, there does appear to be an older station building, long since repurposed, further to the west on the north side of the tracks, although I can't confirm this. One way or another, Kolovraty has never been a major station, and only became a Prague station in 1976, after the city limits expanded to include Kolovraty in 1974.

This is the second station building to stand on this site, being built in 1915 to the same design as the 1882 station in Hostivar. This station's name is one of the hardest to pronounce by foreigners, with the correct Czech spelling being "Uhříněves." I usually omit the Czech diacritics on iPernity for the sake of full compatibility, but in reality Czech words make wide use of diacritics distinct to Czech and Slovak. In any case, as you can see, this is one of the stations in the best condition on this route, and has been for a number of years. I don't actually remember when it was in its pre-2005, heavily-vandalized state.