I was taken to Europe by two of my lovely friends Lee and Phil. Lee was going to a conference with 3000 midwives in Prague and they invited me to go along. Can't begin to say how grateful I was to be on this trip. We went to Prague and Berlin. I am splitting my post in two so starting with Prague and it is mostly visuals but there are a lot of them divided into categories.
Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central
Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its 1,100-year existence. During world war 2 a lot of buildings escaped bombing so architecturally it is a wonderful place to visit. It is also the city with the most statues I have ever seen. They are in squares, parks and on almost every building. Also the music is amazing with concerts held in beautiful old palaces and government buildings.
my photographs from the most beautiful city!
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| Busking taken to another level! |
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| I went to a couple of classical concerts in old palaces. |
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| Who has two tubas in a band? |
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| I wish this was a video because they were amazing especially the violinist. |
GRAFFITI.....
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| An air vent. |
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| heart on a squat |
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| still a few squats around fighting the gentrification |
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| squat |
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| this was inside the old palace...not sure if it is old graffiti or what |
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| says it all! |
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| the sensitive anarchist |
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| restaurant embraced the grafitti |
BOATS.....
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| this boat had live jazz and went through the locks |
CAFES AND FOOD.....a lot of time in Europe is spent at cafes eating, drinking, resting and people watching...here are a few of my favourite...
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| Bar Prosecco! |
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| love this with the old fashioned swings |
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| Phil and I taking a break |
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| Arnt would love this one |
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| on the river at Bar Prosecco |
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| daily market with trinkets and food |
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| almost too beautiful to eat |
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| some kind of donut made over a charcoal fire |
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| potatos with a twist |
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| My appy on the Jazz boat...duck pate and yummy berries with prosecco of course! |
main course... chicken in a scrumptious sauce with potato tart
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| on the train to Berlin with our picnic |
JEWISH HISTORY......I learned a lot about the Jewish culture at this centre which had a cemetery, a memorial building, 3 synagogues and a museum.
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| the museum next to the cemetary |
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| the armband they had to wear |
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| the hamaca the men wear |
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| fell in love with these spice boxes |
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| this building is a synagogue and all the walls are a memorial to the lost |
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| detail of the wall to the lost |
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| this large art piece was actually in Berlin and you walk on it and the sound provokes thoughts |
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| this synagogue is all hand painted and so beautiful |
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| the dome |
The cemetary has 12,000 tombstones but over 100,000 people are buried here. It is a beautiful and haunting place.
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| Love the shrine |
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| detail of the shrine where people leave small stones and coins |
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| detail of the shrine where people leave messages for their loved ones stuffed into small cracks |
ARCHITECTURE.....one of my passions is looking at all kinds of architecture and this city is stuffed full of wonderful buildings...
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| Our apartment |
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| the painting on the top of our apartment |
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| lobby of our apartment |
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| entrance to the old town |
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| amazing bronze of the flag |
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| the old square |
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| old square |
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| the palace where I saw one of the concerts...it closed the next day for 5 years for renos |
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| view from the palace |
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| from the street you might not notice.... |
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| but up on top it is all decorated |
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| Grand Hotel receiving some renos and lovely paint job |
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| love the water feature for these buildings |
and then there are the cobblestone alley ways.....
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| this guy was dusting and washing the building |
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| this is the building...Ministry of Industry |
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| dome on top |
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| one of the more severe buildings |
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| this is a plain jane building but... |
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| it has statues |
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| a modern bulding on the edge of town |
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| squats are still around and fighting to stay |
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| just add an umbrella and presto...interesting! |
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| the old palace's cathedral |
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| love those roofs and arches |
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| the church where the nuns lived |
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| beautiful arches all painted up |
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| this was the grand hall in the palace |
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| cool roof on an out building |
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| abandoned abbey |
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| the abbey |
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| I just love the red tile roofs in Europe |
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| we saw this from the winery of the palace...a rock garden apparently |
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| castle on the way to Berlin |
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| new bridges |
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| old bridges (the dome on the left is a private home...if I had to live in Prague I am just saying! |
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| Frank Gehry's Fred and Ginger Dancing Building...I do stalk him a bit and try to see all his buildings. It is the first new building in Prague in 50 years...very controversial |
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| renderings for the building |
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| more renderings |
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| the restaurants lovely hand painted chairs |
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| the dome |
here I am on the patio enjoying a glass of prosecco
STATUES....
The Charles Bridge has 30 statues mounted on is rails
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| The Charles Bridge has 30 statues mounted on the rails |
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| below a statue...people touch it and say a prayer and it stays shin | y |
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| outside our apartment was a fountain with 6 statues |
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| also in the same tiny park |
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| crazy amount of statues in this square with 2 churches and a gate to a bridge |
these are at the old palace cathedral....
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| silver |
back in town....
back at the Ministry of Industry.....
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| the plainest statue we saw |
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| Phil and I could not resist... |
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| I can see us in stone or bronze... |
ART....
The Dancing Building has an art gallery and this is the show that was there..
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| these animal paintings are giant and very vibrant |
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| seeing this series is very powerful especially when you are a pacifist |
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| a cafe's mural with an extra person |
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| pissing contest??? |
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| small modern pieces of art are on buildings as well |
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| another art piece in the wall |
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| under restoration but I like it as is |
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| lovely painting of saint with a house in her arms |
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| this whole ante room in the palace cathedral was chock-o-block with paintings |
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| loved this artist's work...Ivan Lutterer work from the 70's to 2001 photoed on the classic wooden 18 x 24cm camera |
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| detail from above photo |
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| marketry on a table at the design museum |
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| art piece in the foyer of the library |
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| lovely litttle folk art piece |
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| art in our apartment |
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| the park outside our apartment |
MISC. STUFF......
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| YeeHaw! |
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| same same but different |
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| Prague is famous for its glass |
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| if I lived in the snow... |
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| Yep all the beer you can drink while you soak |
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| locks on the bridge |
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| how true |
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| Phil can almost put this van in his pocket |
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| just cause I love hands |
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| I been working on the..... |
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| you can take city tours in these wonderful old cars |
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| love this poster |
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| classy pepsi ad |
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| 3 midwives..Philippa (right) is from Holland and Lee trained with her many years ago and Muriam lives in Israel...great night of stories from the gals...Philippa worked in Africa as a midwife when she was a young woman |
she was just too perfect...had to take her pic
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| he is perfect too but in a different way |
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| changing of the guard parade |
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| changing of the guard |
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| protest at the palace gates |
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| ceramic heating system in the old palace |
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| wine at the palace winery |
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| electric trams |
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| the boot for illegal parking |
some advertising....
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| these work trucks can also go on the tram tracks |
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| view from the train to Berlin |
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| big crosses at the other cemetery |
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| postering in a different way |
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| wanted these shoes just for the novelty....no heels and lots of spikes |
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| it was just lying on the road |
the market....
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| thought about Arnt surfing off Odin on the west coast | | | |
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Thanks for sharing my trip....Berlin will be posted in a few weeks....Valerie
I so enjoyed my vicarious trip to Prague...and the prosecco. Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteOMG This is completely fabulous!! Gotta get there for sure now. Thanks for all the time and effort to put this together. You have a great eye and touch on all the things I would want to see.
ReplyDeleteAnnette