2012

I've taken a number of photos of the new Skoda 15t trams already, but this was one of the newest units at the time that I took this, and it was the first one that I caught substituting for a metro line, in this case Metro line A, hence the service number XA.

This was my latest shot of Prazky Hrad, and although I think it came out well I have no recollection of why I took it.

This arcade, or "pasaz" is also the entrance to Kino Svetozor, the cinema that gives its name to this pasaz, plus the ice cream shot here. The stain glass advertises Tesla, not the scientist but the later electronics company that now is becoming increasingly marginalized. It is, nevertheless, a classic Czech brand.

"Start" has been a brand name recently added to MAV, or Hungarian State Railways, trains, with the associated addition of logos, at least to Eurocity trains. This one was on a Eurocity that I was taking to Brno, but which would continue on to Budapest.

I've photographed Brno Hlavni Nadrazi before, but each time that I return I try again. It's a moderately interesting neo-classical building, built in 1839, making it even older than Masarykovo Nadrazi in Prague. However, photographing it well is difficult, both because of the lack of good vantage points, and the Communist-era frontage.

This is the frontage mentioned in my previous post. The original building is interesting, the frontage, less so.

Kino Art is a small independent cinema that also has regular art exhibitions, and a decent coffeeshop. Occassionally, it also hosts film festivals.

Not far from Kino art is this Communist-era (judging from the style) apartment block. The mosaic lacks a political theme, but it also has the "Communist" look, I think. Obviously, this doesn't necessarily have to do with the artist's taste, but rather what they were allowed to do.

Here's a closer look at the mosaic.

As this plaque explains, the Berglerova Vila was built in 1863, and designed by Heinrich Perst, with the addition of a coffeehouse in 1888 under the supervision of August Prokop. However, when I visited it didn't appear to be in use. However, prior to accidentally finding it on a walk, I had never heard of this building, and know little else about it.

Here's a view of Berglerova Vila, described in the last post.

This was the "Curry Bar," however bizarre that sounds, and however un-Indian it looks (actually, I've never been to India, so maybe I'm wrong), the food is good.

Here's an exterior view of the Curry Bar.

This is Brno Tram #1028, which is a tatra K2R. All of these units are rebuilds of the earlier K2 class built between 1967 and 1983. The original K2's were articulated trams based on the T3 (in spite of the number 2 in their model number). In turn the K2R's were based on the T3R, although the T3R's, it should be noted, were also built new. Both the T3R and the K2R (via rebuilds) were built from 1995-1998, with some additional K2R's being completed in 1999. Many of the tram classes used in Brno are not used in Prague, as most of Brno's trams are articulated, whereas only some of Prague's are, particularly those built recently.

Tram #1038 is a Tatra K2T. K2T trams were built originally as basic K2's (during the original 1967-1983 production run), but were partly modernized in 1999-2000.

Tram #1086 is a K2, but I've been unable to find out if it's been modernized, other than in the automated announcements, the ticket validators, and the digital destination boards. If one goes by the boards, it looks like it could be a P or a T.

The Church of St. Thomas is actually much older than it looks. The Baroque facades on it now are just that, facades, that were installed in the 17th Century to hide battle damage from the Thirty Years War. The original foundation (and presumably structure) of the church dates to 1356, having been consecrated in the presence of Holy Roman Emperor Karluv IV, although the church had been planned under his father, John of Luxembourg. Today the church is next to the entrance to Brno's system of catacombs.

Hrad Spilberk, in spite of its name "Hrad," or "castle," is really more an 18th-Century fort, as it was very gradually rebuilt in that century and to some extent the one preceding it. The original foundations, however, date to 1277, giving the site medieval heritage. It has actually had a number of uses over the years. Until 1959, it was a military base, and for the period of 1620-1855 it was also used as a prison, where a number of abuses were committed, especially against political prisoners. It reprised this role during World War I (1914-1918) and during the Nazi regime (1938-1945), when it also continued to serve as a barracks. Since 1959, the castle has been a museum. This is the main entrance to the walls, which surprisingly has a normal street number, visible on the right, property number in red and white, and street number (for orientation) in blue.