- Architecture - Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Art Nouveau and Art Deco, plus a good dose of 1950's communist neo deco revival..and a few Cubist buildings, too!
- Bridges
- Mosaics on the side of buildings
- Churches, churches everywhere
- Contemporary art on buildings and on the streets
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Impressions of Prague
Monday, September 29, 2008
Amy's Good Travel Karma Goes Bad
I have always considered that I have "good travel karma". I travel alot - in the first 6 months of this year, I travelled 62,000 miles - and I rarely am plagued by delays, lost luggage or cancellations. In fact, I was just talking to a colleague last week about my good travel luck, while she complained about hers.
So you can imagine how frustrated I was Thursday night as I tried to get to Prague.
My flight was scheduled from Heathrow's Terminal 5 at 6:20. I arrive in plenty of time and treat myself to Gordon Ramsey's Plane Food restaurant. After that I go into the nearest bookstore, for my usual supply of a magazine or book. At Heathrow, the gate is not assigned right away, it is published on a screen about a 1/2 hour before you need to go to the gate. At the time my gate should have been displayed, the message displayed instead is "See Airline for information". I make my way to the suggested area as an announcement declares that all flights between 5:00 and 6:30 have been cancelled! It turns out the central Air Traffic Control, which directs the flights for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stanstead has had a systems failure.
I make my way to the directed point for customer service to rebook my flight. I stand in line for 2 hours and move maybe 10 ft. We are finally given a sheet of paper that provides a phone number to call, which i take advantage of.
I have to make it to Prague that night. You see, my niece, Emma, was in transit by car pool from Dresden to Prague to meet me for the weekend. I had no way to contact her, she has no mobile phone to call me. I explain this to the reservations agent and eventually, after 1 hour, she manages to book me on a flight on another airline that might leave Heathrow that night. By this time, all flight sup to 8:00 p.m. have been cancelled - this flight is scheduled to leave at 9:30. I decide to take my chances and take it, knowing that if that flight is cancelled too, my chances of leaving before Friday afternoon for a weekend trip are slim.
I call the hotel and explain my situation - and tell them my overriding concern is to ensure that my niece is let into the room they have for me. I have to say, they were exceptional.
I have to make my way, in less then 1 hour, from Terminal 5 to Terminal 2, get my new boarding pass and find the gate. I didn't need to rush, however, because it turns out that flight is delayed by another hour and a half.
the flight finally takes off about 11:00 at night - which gets me into Prague at 2:00 a.m. This is bad, because all the public transport stops at 2:00 and taxis are notoriously bad in Prague. So I call my exceptional hotel and they send one of their staff to pick me up. By the time I check in, it is after 3:00 a.m. and I have been travelling for 11 hours for a trip that ordinarily takes 2 hours.
I've mentioned the hotel was exceptional. Turns out they booked me into a suite on the club floor, which provided us access to a free breakfast each morning in the stunning lounge. Now, I'm not talking presidential suite here, but it was two separate rooms - living and bedroom, as well as a bathroom bigger then the one I have at home (London or Ottawa), a king sized bed (unheard of in Europe!) plus views over the hillside. I have no idea if this is because they took pity on me or if it was just a part of the corporate plan I booked the hotel through. I've checked in though, and so my weekend is not ruined.
___________________
But does my bad travel karma end there? No - remember, I still have to get back to London at some point.
Due to a comedy of errors, I end up having no idea what airline or what time I am flying out on on Sunday. So Saturday night, I use the free Internet access to get the local number for the airline I think I am booked on, based on the last information I had. I ask the lounge concierge to help me, because I'm pretty sure the English on this airline's customer service might not be great and I expect to need an interpreter. She calls - and the airline says they have my name but no other information. I need to call the original airline. But here's the problem - it's a British airline, and has no local number in Prague on weekends, and the only number available on weekends is good only if you are in the UK - which is hardly helpful when you aren't in the UK on a weekend.
So I have a brainstorm - I'll call my husband in Ottawa - they are 6 hours behind, and surely there will be weekend service in North America for this airline. Colin agrees to call them, et voila! calls back to tell me my booking reference number and departure time. Which, considering it was three hours earlier then I had thought, was a good thing I managed to get it sorted out.
Of course, that flight ended up being delayed by an hour. And then - after the quickest trip ever through UK customs - I get on the Heathrow Express train into central London. Usually, this trip takes 20 minutes from Terminal 5. Tonight, of course, it took over 1 hour, due to a faulty train on the track in front of us.
__________________
I sincerely hope this ends my bad travel experiences for awhile....I much prefer my previous good travel karma - Come back! I miss you! I'll never take you for granted again!
So you can imagine how frustrated I was Thursday night as I tried to get to Prague.
My flight was scheduled from Heathrow's Terminal 5 at 6:20. I arrive in plenty of time and treat myself to Gordon Ramsey's Plane Food restaurant. After that I go into the nearest bookstore, for my usual supply of a magazine or book. At Heathrow, the gate is not assigned right away, it is published on a screen about a 1/2 hour before you need to go to the gate. At the time my gate should have been displayed, the message displayed instead is "See Airline for information". I make my way to the suggested area as an announcement declares that all flights between 5:00 and 6:30 have been cancelled! It turns out the central Air Traffic Control, which directs the flights for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stanstead has had a systems failure.
I make my way to the directed point for customer service to rebook my flight. I stand in line for 2 hours and move maybe 10 ft. We are finally given a sheet of paper that provides a phone number to call, which i take advantage of.
I have to make it to Prague that night. You see, my niece, Emma, was in transit by car pool from Dresden to Prague to meet me for the weekend. I had no way to contact her, she has no mobile phone to call me. I explain this to the reservations agent and eventually, after 1 hour, she manages to book me on a flight on another airline that might leave Heathrow that night. By this time, all flight sup to 8:00 p.m. have been cancelled - this flight is scheduled to leave at 9:30. I decide to take my chances and take it, knowing that if that flight is cancelled too, my chances of leaving before Friday afternoon for a weekend trip are slim.
I call the hotel and explain my situation - and tell them my overriding concern is to ensure that my niece is let into the room they have for me. I have to say, they were exceptional.
I have to make my way, in less then 1 hour, from Terminal 5 to Terminal 2, get my new boarding pass and find the gate. I didn't need to rush, however, because it turns out that flight is delayed by another hour and a half.
the flight finally takes off about 11:00 at night - which gets me into Prague at 2:00 a.m. This is bad, because all the public transport stops at 2:00 and taxis are notoriously bad in Prague. So I call my exceptional hotel and they send one of their staff to pick me up. By the time I check in, it is after 3:00 a.m. and I have been travelling for 11 hours for a trip that ordinarily takes 2 hours.
I've mentioned the hotel was exceptional. Turns out they booked me into a suite on the club floor, which provided us access to a free breakfast each morning in the stunning lounge. Now, I'm not talking presidential suite here, but it was two separate rooms - living and bedroom, as well as a bathroom bigger then the one I have at home (London or Ottawa), a king sized bed (unheard of in Europe!) plus views over the hillside. I have no idea if this is because they took pity on me or if it was just a part of the corporate plan I booked the hotel through. I've checked in though, and so my weekend is not ruined.
___________________
But does my bad travel karma end there? No - remember, I still have to get back to London at some point.
Due to a comedy of errors, I end up having no idea what airline or what time I am flying out on on Sunday. So Saturday night, I use the free Internet access to get the local number for the airline I think I am booked on, based on the last information I had. I ask the lounge concierge to help me, because I'm pretty sure the English on this airline's customer service might not be great and I expect to need an interpreter. She calls - and the airline says they have my name but no other information. I need to call the original airline. But here's the problem - it's a British airline, and has no local number in Prague on weekends, and the only number available on weekends is good only if you are in the UK - which is hardly helpful when you aren't in the UK on a weekend.
So I have a brainstorm - I'll call my husband in Ottawa - they are 6 hours behind, and surely there will be weekend service in North America for this airline. Colin agrees to call them, et voila! calls back to tell me my booking reference number and departure time. Which, considering it was three hours earlier then I had thought, was a good thing I managed to get it sorted out.
Of course, that flight ended up being delayed by an hour. And then - after the quickest trip ever through UK customs - I get on the Heathrow Express train into central London. Usually, this trip takes 20 minutes from Terminal 5. Tonight, of course, it took over 1 hour, due to a faulty train on the track in front of us.
__________________
I sincerely hope this ends my bad travel experiences for awhile....I much prefer my previous good travel karma - Come back! I miss you! I'll never take you for granted again!
Prague Day 1
I wake up about 9:00, despite my late arrival. But I want to get started and see this city. Emma & I get ready and go upstairs to the Sky Lounge, the special area for club members (I am one of these with the Holiday Inn chain). It is stunning, two levels at the top floors of the building, with panoramic views of the city. From here, we can see the hills nearby covered with the trees just starting to turn yellow and red. We have a good breakfast before we set out for the day.
A few words about the hotel. It is one of the Crowne Plaza hotels in Prague (not the one near the castle) and was built in the 1950's for the communist elite. So it is quite elegant, decorated with polished marble and tapestries. It is built in what I can only describe as a neo art deco, if such an architectural style exists. The roof of the tower is topped by a star budding from what looks like a lotus flower.
We walk down to the nearest metro station, Dejvica, which is about 10 minutes walk away. The day is sunny and warm. We take the very clean subway down to what ends up being Wenceslas Square, although it takes a couple of days to realize this. In case you are wondering, yes, this is the same Wenceslas referred to in the Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslas".
We head for the Old Town Square, walking through an old open air market filled with typical Czech crafts - wooden toys and marionettes, painted eggs, etc., until we reach the Old Town Square. The square is crowded and a feast for the eyes. I see buildings with exterior painted frescoes, sculptures and the famous Astronomical Clock. We wander around the square, into little side streets and stumble across one that is truly delightful. This street had the most incredible marionette shop in it. Each marionette was hand made by different artists and were stunning. See the photos I took inside the shop. Next was an artists shop, the major attraction of which was a Pinnoco marionette that the owner controlled so Pinnoco painted! It is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. The artist is also an art restorer, and he directed us down the street to the basilica he is involved with restoring. It is closed during this restoration work, but we could peek through the windows and are astounded by how beautiful the Baroque interior is. Next we wander up another street back towards the square and pop into an antiques store, where I buy a piece of jewelry - a copper art nouveau concoction that I know I'll never find a twin of.
I have to explain some of the typical Czech crafts that you are likely to find and Czech is known for: (1) Eggs - you may associate these with the Ukraine or Poland, but they are traditional across Eastern Europe. Truly traditional eggs are made of hollowed out eggs, but now you often find them made of lightweight wood. (2) Marionettes - I've mentioned these before, and if you only ever saw the toy ones made for kids, you wouldn't quite get it. But, as we saw in the artisans shop, when you see how they can be, you will be truly amazed as well. The ones used for collecting - and these can run into thousands of dollars, really are works of art in their self. (3) Crystal - all kinds. Colored, cut, traditional, modern art glass. (4) Glass beads - really lovely, you can find these in most bead stores anywhere now. (5) The nesting dolls - you know, the kind where one is inside of the other and so on and so forth. The average number is 5, but you can get some with as few as 3 or as large as 10 or higher. (6) Beech wood boxes, delicately carved so they almost look like lace. Apparently, these were traditional gifts to lovers.
So now that I've told you about the traditional crafts, you can imagine my delight to find the merging of some of these traditional crafts - eggs and nesting dolls - married with the art styles of Alfons Mucha and Gustav Klimt, both Prague sons (although Vienna likes to claim them both too). I debated and finally bought a wooden egg decorated with one of Klimt's iconic redheaded ladies. I probably spent more then I should have, but it is, after all, a special memory. I feel justified by my purchase as I never saw those particular decorations anywhere else at any other store.
Next, we walked into Joesfov. This is the traditional Jewish Quarter of Prague and is very important to the Jewish faith. It dates back to the 1200's. The oldest synagogue in Europe, the Old-New Synagogue, has been in use since 1275. There are several sites in this quarter, including the Old Jewish Cemetery. It was in use from 1439 to 1787, and has over 12,000 headstones and an estimated 100,000 graves, stacked sometimes 4 or 5 deep. The sad history of this quarter is that in WWII, Hitler planned to keep this quarter as evidence of the extinct Jewish race. The good news is that this has preserved the quarter and today it is still a moving and vibrant place.
After a long day of walking, Emma and I have an early dinner and go back to the hotel. I think we are both asleep by 9:00.
A few words about the hotel. It is one of the Crowne Plaza hotels in Prague (not the one near the castle) and was built in the 1950's for the communist elite. So it is quite elegant, decorated with polished marble and tapestries. It is built in what I can only describe as a neo art deco, if such an architectural style exists. The roof of the tower is topped by a star budding from what looks like a lotus flower.
We walk down to the nearest metro station, Dejvica, which is about 10 minutes walk away. The day is sunny and warm. We take the very clean subway down to what ends up being Wenceslas Square, although it takes a couple of days to realize this. In case you are wondering, yes, this is the same Wenceslas referred to in the Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslas".
We head for the Old Town Square, walking through an old open air market filled with typical Czech crafts - wooden toys and marionettes, painted eggs, etc., until we reach the Old Town Square. The square is crowded and a feast for the eyes. I see buildings with exterior painted frescoes, sculptures and the famous Astronomical Clock. We wander around the square, into little side streets and stumble across one that is truly delightful. This street had the most incredible marionette shop in it. Each marionette was hand made by different artists and were stunning. See the photos I took inside the shop. Next was an artists shop, the major attraction of which was a Pinnoco marionette that the owner controlled so Pinnoco painted! It is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. The artist is also an art restorer, and he directed us down the street to the basilica he is involved with restoring. It is closed during this restoration work, but we could peek through the windows and are astounded by how beautiful the Baroque interior is. Next we wander up another street back towards the square and pop into an antiques store, where I buy a piece of jewelry - a copper art nouveau concoction that I know I'll never find a twin of.
I have to explain some of the typical Czech crafts that you are likely to find and Czech is known for: (1) Eggs - you may associate these with the Ukraine or Poland, but they are traditional across Eastern Europe. Truly traditional eggs are made of hollowed out eggs, but now you often find them made of lightweight wood. (2) Marionettes - I've mentioned these before, and if you only ever saw the toy ones made for kids, you wouldn't quite get it. But, as we saw in the artisans shop, when you see how they can be, you will be truly amazed as well. The ones used for collecting - and these can run into thousands of dollars, really are works of art in their self. (3) Crystal - all kinds. Colored, cut, traditional, modern art glass. (4) Glass beads - really lovely, you can find these in most bead stores anywhere now. (5) The nesting dolls - you know, the kind where one is inside of the other and so on and so forth. The average number is 5, but you can get some with as few as 3 or as large as 10 or higher. (6) Beech wood boxes, delicately carved so they almost look like lace. Apparently, these were traditional gifts to lovers.
So now that I've told you about the traditional crafts, you can imagine my delight to find the merging of some of these traditional crafts - eggs and nesting dolls - married with the art styles of Alfons Mucha and Gustav Klimt, both Prague sons (although Vienna likes to claim them both too). I debated and finally bought a wooden egg decorated with one of Klimt's iconic redheaded ladies. I probably spent more then I should have, but it is, after all, a special memory. I feel justified by my purchase as I never saw those particular decorations anywhere else at any other store.
Next, we walked into Joesfov. This is the traditional Jewish Quarter of Prague and is very important to the Jewish faith. It dates back to the 1200's. The oldest synagogue in Europe, the Old-New Synagogue, has been in use since 1275. There are several sites in this quarter, including the Old Jewish Cemetery. It was in use from 1439 to 1787, and has over 12,000 headstones and an estimated 100,000 graves, stacked sometimes 4 or 5 deep. The sad history of this quarter is that in WWII, Hitler planned to keep this quarter as evidence of the extinct Jewish race. The good news is that this has preserved the quarter and today it is still a moving and vibrant place.
After a long day of walking, Emma and I have an early dinner and go back to the hotel. I think we are both asleep by 9:00.
Prague Day 2
Day 2. It is a sunny day and will be warm. Emma & I enjoy another great breakfast in the beautiful lounge at the hotel and map our day out.
We decide today we will go to Prague castle and Mala Strana (Lesser Town). I am well over the allure of metros, tubes and subways, especially when it so lovely out, so we decide to take one of the trams to the castle. We jump off (not literally) in Hradcany and walk through quite streets and leafy parks until we end up - quite by chance - at the Royal Gardens. This is a nice way to walk to the castle proper.
Prague castle is the largest castle grounds complex in Europe. It isn't really a "castle" as we would think of it - it is actually a complex of buildings, churches, palaces and nobles houses. It was built as a defensive fortress, as castles are (this is what defines a castle from a palace) as early as the 800's. The Old Royal Palace was built in the 1000's, originally as the home for the Bohemian Princesses. In the Great Hall of the Old Royal Palace, there is a painted date of 1029, but I don't know if that was the date it was built or a date commemorating something else.
Also in the castle grounds are two churches, the Church of St. Vitus and St. George's Basilica. One is Gothic and the other Romanesque. We visited both. St. Vitus has lovely stained glass, and when we were there, the sunlight was coming in at just the right angles to scatter the colors across the church walls. One thing Emma and I noted that the churches we visited all had clear glass towards the rooflines, so that more natural light could come in. I liked this feature.
Next, we wandered to Golden Lane. This has the original houses and looks outs of the 16th century castles servants and/or marksmen. The houses are tiny and all still host their original beam work and stairs. They were occupied as late as WWII. Now they host souvenir shops that are not too exciting, but at least it means you have a reason to wander in and get a sense of what it must have been like to live in one.
After we finished touring the castle and grounds - which took most of the day - we walked down to Mala Strana. We were pretty tired by this time, so we sat outside in a sunlit courtyard and had a drink....Czech beer, of course, light and flavorful. Czechs love their beer and are very, very proud of it. The average consumption in CZ is over 170 litres for every man, woman and child - by comparison, the Australians and Germans - considered to be the worlds most prolific beer drinkers - only average about 130 litres each, so clearly, the title rightfully belongs to the Czechs.
We wander towards the river again, and Emma gets very excited by the little tour boats on the rivers and the canals. So we decide since our feet hurt anyway, we'll take one of the boat tours. It was a pleasant way to see the city and even more so, since we weren't on one of the big boats. The canals are lovely, too. We would have loved to have taken dinner along the river, but it was out of our price range - the most expensive restaurant in the city, Kampapark, is located there and you would be lucky to get away with spending less then $150/per person for dinner there. So after the boat, we walk across the famous Charles Bridge back to mala Strana and look for a more reasonably priced restaurant which also suits Emma's vegetarian diet.
We decide today we will go to Prague castle and Mala Strana (Lesser Town). I am well over the allure of metros, tubes and subways, especially when it so lovely out, so we decide to take one of the trams to the castle. We jump off (not literally) in Hradcany and walk through quite streets and leafy parks until we end up - quite by chance - at the Royal Gardens. This is a nice way to walk to the castle proper.
Prague castle is the largest castle grounds complex in Europe. It isn't really a "castle" as we would think of it - it is actually a complex of buildings, churches, palaces and nobles houses. It was built as a defensive fortress, as castles are (this is what defines a castle from a palace) as early as the 800's. The Old Royal Palace was built in the 1000's, originally as the home for the Bohemian Princesses. In the Great Hall of the Old Royal Palace, there is a painted date of 1029, but I don't know if that was the date it was built or a date commemorating something else.
Also in the castle grounds are two churches, the Church of St. Vitus and St. George's Basilica. One is Gothic and the other Romanesque. We visited both. St. Vitus has lovely stained glass, and when we were there, the sunlight was coming in at just the right angles to scatter the colors across the church walls. One thing Emma and I noted that the churches we visited all had clear glass towards the rooflines, so that more natural light could come in. I liked this feature.
Next, we wandered to Golden Lane. This has the original houses and looks outs of the 16th century castles servants and/or marksmen. The houses are tiny and all still host their original beam work and stairs. They were occupied as late as WWII. Now they host souvenir shops that are not too exciting, but at least it means you have a reason to wander in and get a sense of what it must have been like to live in one.
After we finished touring the castle and grounds - which took most of the day - we walked down to Mala Strana. We were pretty tired by this time, so we sat outside in a sunlit courtyard and had a drink....Czech beer, of course, light and flavorful. Czechs love their beer and are very, very proud of it. The average consumption in CZ is over 170 litres for every man, woman and child - by comparison, the Australians and Germans - considered to be the worlds most prolific beer drinkers - only average about 130 litres each, so clearly, the title rightfully belongs to the Czechs.
We wander towards the river again, and Emma gets very excited by the little tour boats on the rivers and the canals. So we decide since our feet hurt anyway, we'll take one of the boat tours. It was a pleasant way to see the city and even more so, since we weren't on one of the big boats. The canals are lovely, too. We would have loved to have taken dinner along the river, but it was out of our price range - the most expensive restaurant in the city, Kampapark, is located there and you would be lucky to get away with spending less then $150/per person for dinner there. So after the boat, we walk across the famous Charles Bridge back to mala Strana and look for a more reasonably priced restaurant which also suits Emma's vegetarian diet.
Prague, Day 3
Today is day 3 in Prague - mine & Emma's last day in the old city. We decide that we will follow a walking tour in the Lonely Planet guide book of Prague. This walk will take us through the old fortress, Vysehrad.
It is another lovely day, sunny and warm. The leaves are just starting to turn. Emma, nature girl that she is, is in heaven, and I have to confess, so am I a little bit. After the hurry and crush of the crowds, it is wonderful to go off the beaten track and see lovely vistas of Prague along the Vlatava river and to see the old walls of the original fortress of Vysehrad. The walk takes us along the southern battlements and into an old cemetery by the Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul. The cemetery has been the resting place of many Czech composers, artists, sculptors, writers and intellectuals since 1869. It is filled with Art Nouveau tombstones and ringed by an absolutely lovely arched pantheon for the elite of the era. The mosaics on some of these are astounding. The best known Art Nouveau artist and Prague native, Alfons Mucha is buried here, but I didn't find his grave site.
We continue the walk to take a peek at the beautiful Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul. We couldn't go in, as they were setting up for a concert - or so it seemed - we couldn't quite make out what we were being told, but the exterior doors were lovely. Then we walked through some of the gardens and nature trails to go down to the river side. We walked by one of the few cubist villages, which really just looked like more angular buildings then normal (I guess I was expecting a building that looked like a Picasso or Braque painting). Then we continued along the river up to one of the best known of the old coffee houses in Prague, Karina Slavia, which has been home to writers and radicals (Vlaclav Havel was a frequenter of this coffee house before he became President of the Czech Republic). We enjoyed a great dessert with coffee. Then we had to part - I back to London, and Emma to wait for her share ride to Dresden.
So ends my weekend in Prague.
It is another lovely day, sunny and warm. The leaves are just starting to turn. Emma, nature girl that she is, is in heaven, and I have to confess, so am I a little bit. After the hurry and crush of the crowds, it is wonderful to go off the beaten track and see lovely vistas of Prague along the Vlatava river and to see the old walls of the original fortress of Vysehrad. The walk takes us along the southern battlements and into an old cemetery by the Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul. The cemetery has been the resting place of many Czech composers, artists, sculptors, writers and intellectuals since 1869. It is filled with Art Nouveau tombstones and ringed by an absolutely lovely arched pantheon for the elite of the era. The mosaics on some of these are astounding. The best known Art Nouveau artist and Prague native, Alfons Mucha is buried here, but I didn't find his grave site.
We continue the walk to take a peek at the beautiful Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul. We couldn't go in, as they were setting up for a concert - or so it seemed - we couldn't quite make out what we were being told, but the exterior doors were lovely. Then we walked through some of the gardens and nature trails to go down to the river side. We walked by one of the few cubist villages, which really just looked like more angular buildings then normal (I guess I was expecting a building that looked like a Picasso or Braque painting). Then we continued along the river up to one of the best known of the old coffee houses in Prague, Karina Slavia, which has been home to writers and radicals (Vlaclav Havel was a frequenter of this coffee house before he became President of the Czech Republic). We enjoyed a great dessert with coffee. Then we had to part - I back to London, and Emma to wait for her share ride to Dresden.
So ends my weekend in Prague.
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