2008

Usti nad Labem also has a castle, Hrad Strekov, which dates to the beginning of the 14th Century. The bridge of sorts in the foreground is actually not the famous Usti nad Labem bridge, but a sluice gate on the River Labe called the Strekovska Zdymadla.

This was the view as I arrived in Prague. The train that I was on included stock from many different European railways, and the coach on the end (seen here on the left) was from Deutsche Bahn.

A few minutes later, a Czech Pendolino pulled in, and I took this shot with it on the left, and my train on the right (I turned 180 degrees around).

This will probably go into Green Idea Factory, if they'll let me post it. They're very much into stuff like this over there. It isn't true that the Prague police do nothing, actually, as this seems to be how they spend their time, taking cars like these and loading them onto flatbeds, but it never seems to be enough. Smichov and the Kampa end of the Mala Strana (near Ujezd) seem to be two of the worst areas. Don't even get me started about the inconvenience this causes people, plus the danger of accidents, obstructed ambulances, etc.

Or at least...I think this is technically Smichov. It's not too far from the Palackeho Most. The main reason I took this is that I like the building a lot. Smichov and the Mala Strana are full of these, of course, but you can also find a lot of them in Karlin.

Here's a panoramic view of sorts, even if it wasn't taken with a panoramic camera. You can see the River Vltava, the Jiraskuv Most over it, and then some of the more famouse buildings of the Nove Mesto, most notably the Zofin tower and Manes on the left, and the Tancici Dum (Dancing House), on the center-right.

Again I'm not sure if this is technically Smichov, or just Prague 5, but I took this from the Jiraskuv Most, with a clear view of the Tancici Dum (Dancing House) on the left.

This is the Palackeho Most, the next bridge south on the Vltava from the Jiraskuv Most, which connects Palackeho Namesti in the Nove Mesto with Smichov. Although you can't see it in this photo, it hosts trams as well as rubber-tire and foot traffic.

This is one of the most famous, if not the most famous, post-1989 building in Prague. This is what Wikipedia has to say about it: "The Dancing House (Czech: Tančící dům) is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building in downtown Prague, Czech Republic at Rašínovo nábřeží 80, 120 00 Praha 2. It was designed by Yugoslavian-born Czech architect Vlado Milunić in co-operation with Canadian architect Frank Gehry on a vacant riverfront plot (where the previous building had been destroyed during the Bombing of Prague in 1945). The building was designed in 1992 and completed in 1996.[1] side view The very non-traditional design was controversial at the time. Czech president Václav Havel, who lived for decades next to the site, had supported it, hoping that the building would become a center of cultural activity. Originally named Fred and Ginger (after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - the house vaguely resembles a pair of dancers) the house stands out among the Neo-Baroque, Neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau buildings for which Prague is famous. Others have nicknamed it "Drunk House". On the roof is a French restaurant with magnificent views of the city. The building's other tenants include several multinational firms. (The plans for a cultural center were not realized.)"

The sign on the bus stop appears to be a practical joke. "Praskovo Namesti" means something like "Pig's Square" in Czech, and this is actually Jiraskovo Namesti. In the distance you can see Smichov (or at least Prague 5), and the Malostranske Vodaren. Vez.

I'm still researching this tower, but it appears to be connected to the lock system on the Vltava. I snapped this shot just because I liked how it looked.

One of several St. Vaclav's churches in Prague, this one is considered to be Neo-Rennaissance in style. This is my second attempt at photographing it, and this time I think I got the exposure more spot on since the light was better distributed on this day, with winter weather playing a role, I think. It's also my first attempt at photographing it in black and white.

In 2008, Hlavni Nadrazi was undergoing a long and thorough renovation, which was already several months old, and continues as I write this a year later. When I took this, the tracks under the trainshed were being rebuilt, and most of this work is done now, the project having shifted to the station building. In 2007, the trainshed still looked almost steam-era, today it looks almost modern, although many of the historic features, like the trainshed itself, have been retained.

The City Tower also underwent a massive transformation in 2008 from a dormant abandoned Communist-era construction site, to a fully functioning office building with a shopping mall below it. When I took this, they were finally starting to enclose it in glass.

The Cafe Tramvaj 11 is a small coffee shop in a genuine, if retired, tram not unlike the ones used in the historic tram service #91. I've only had a coffee there once or twice, though, since you have a choice only of the crowded interior or the (in the winter) cold tent outside. Behind it, you can see Marks & Spencer on the left, the Wiehluv Dum in the center, and the Ligna building on the right.

Here's another, better shot M&K and the Wiehluv Dum.

Restaurance Trilobit is on Palackeho Ulice, off of Vodickova, and always struck me as an odd, very Prague-like place. The menu is as odd as the theme, and I found it summarized as follows on crest.cz: fishes, kus-kus dishes, pancakes, pastes, salads, steaks, vegetarian, venison dishes Hmmm....weird, or at least a weird combination.

I wish I could learn more about this building, as it seems like a very interesting early-20th-century building, but with no history that I could find on the internet. Unfortunately, I don't have a huge library of books on Prague architecture.