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Prague Nov 08
Last November, I went to Prague to attend the wedding of a good friend. I brought along my trusty Canon A630 (I think I'm the exception to the rule around here since I use a P&S) and a Canonet 19 for B&W film (Kodak Tri-X 400). I just recently got back into shooting film after a long hiatus.
The days in Prague alternated between foggy and sunny, providing an interesting assortment of shooting opportunities. The overcast, but not foggy, times weren't very exciting.
This was my third trip to Europe, but my first to Prague and the Czech Republic. This was also my first trip into Eastern Europe and it was interesting to see signs of the communist days, tributes to revolutionaries and the takeover of heavy capitalism (particularly in the tourist areas). I enjoyed the city and while the weather wasn't always pretty, it was nice to be visiting during the off season when things were a bit quieter (although a few sites were closed for the season).
Naturally, some of the first sites we saw were in the Old Town area, around the square:
Including the famous astronomical clock (detail on the calendar of saints)
Nearby is the ever-popular Charles Bridge and its statues. I didn't know the significance of the Hebrew on this one until I returned and read the history of the statue.
If you go, I highly recommend checking out the bridge at night too, particularly if it's foggy.
The center of revolution in Prague is Wenceslas Square (Vaclavske namesti) where Velvet Revolution protests occurred.
The wedding was held at St Ludmilla church at Namesti Miru. This is the groom entering the church before the wedding:
The reception was at the U Prince hotel in the old town square, including drinks on the roof providing a great dusk view of the old town area.
The days in Prague alternated between foggy and sunny, providing an interesting assortment of shooting opportunities. The overcast, but not foggy, times weren't very exciting.
This was my third trip to Europe, but my first to Prague and the Czech Republic. This was also my first trip into Eastern Europe and it was interesting to see signs of the communist days, tributes to revolutionaries and the takeover of heavy capitalism (particularly in the tourist areas). I enjoyed the city and while the weather wasn't always pretty, it was nice to be visiting during the off season when things were a bit quieter (although a few sites were closed for the season).
Naturally, some of the first sites we saw were in the Old Town area, around the square:
Including the famous astronomical clock (detail on the calendar of saints)
Nearby is the ever-popular Charles Bridge and its statues. I didn't know the significance of the Hebrew on this one until I returned and read the history of the statue.
If you go, I highly recommend checking out the bridge at night too, particularly if it's foggy.
The center of revolution in Prague is Wenceslas Square (Vaclavske namesti) where Velvet Revolution protests occurred.
The wedding was held at St Ludmilla church at Namesti Miru. This is the groom entering the church before the wedding:
The reception was at the U Prince hotel in the old town square, including drinks on the roof providing a great dusk view of the old town area.
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The doors to St Vitus:
The cathedral spires in the fog:
Inside are a number of beautiful items, including the Mucha stained glass window:
The guard at the main gate.
I also highly recommend visiting the old castle - Vysehrad. It's more of a 'walk in the park' type experience and while the main church isn't massive, it contains lovely art nouveau paintings of saints. The cemetary not only includes a few famous graves, but one of the more interesting collections of contemporary tombstones I've seen. Unfortunately, the weather didn't make for great photos that day.
I managed to find a few fun things while wandering out of the typical areas. I saw this very cool painting near the Vltavska metro stop:
We also went on one of the very popular side-trips to Kutna Hora and the Sedlec Ossuary (aka the bone church). Depending on your views of life and death, the ossuary is may seem disturbing or interesting - it hosts the bones from tens of thousands of dead from overflowing cemeteries.
Since it was an off-season weekend, Kutna Hora was extremely quiet. Many places were closed, but we had a nice walk through the town, a visit to the cathedral and the weather was great.
Really nice to see photos from the not so touristy areas also......that is my main goal as soon as I can get back....shoot the stuff off the beaten path from the toursity areas.....
Great job..well done and as I must say ......Makes me yearn to get back there............
I came across the mega-graffiti wall on a morning trek to the large flea market in town. The flea market itself wasn't too interesting, but the farmers market on the premises was neat.
I went to a couple of museums. I really enjoyed the Mucha museum, which I recommend to anyone who like Mucha, Art Nouveau, or art in general. It's small, but well done. On the other hand, the Communism Museum was mostly just a collection of items from the communist era of the country and wasn't very cohesive. There was a nice video about the revolution, but I'd skip it unless you're fascinated with communist items.
I certainly wouldn't mind going back, but we have a long list of places to see.
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