The Blague from Prague: Architecture

Showing posts with label Architecture. Show all posts

Monday, November 7, 2011

Národní muzeum (National Museum)

I'm uploading pictures of various outings and events. Perhaps I'll fill in the narrative at a later date. If you care to see the pictures in a larger, clearer format, click on one and you'll be taken to a slide show of the pictures in the post. This goes for any post on the blog. ~ Kate

Národní muzeum
June 12, 2011
Prague family outing

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Loreta and Nový svět

I'm uploading pictures of various outings and events and hope to fill in the narrative at a later date. If you care to see the pictures in a larger, clearer format, click on one and you'll be taken to a slide show of the pictures in the post. This goes for any post on the blog. ~ Kate

Loreta and Nový svět
May 6, 2011
Prague outing, Karl and Kate

Prague Portals

by Kate
(Karl's posting so much these days, I think we'll start adding by-lines routinely)

Prague's architecture offers an embarrassment of riches. Renaissance, neo-Classical, Baroque, Cubist, and more. I'm partial to the grand doorways that grace so many of the city's buildings. Here are some entryways that have caught my eye, with addresses and perhaps occupants, if I know them. They're grouped by neighborhood/district.

Staré Město (Old Town)

At the corner of Melantrichova Street and Kozna Street

This house, called Dům u Dvou Zlatých Medvědů (House at the Two Golden Bears) is one of the oldest houses in Prague.

Detail at the House of the Two Golden Bears

Staroměstská radnice (Old Town town hall)

Detail on the Old Town town hall

Celetná 8, U černého slunce (House at the Black Sun)

House of the Black Sun was the home of Mozart’s Prague hostess, Josepha Duskova. It's not far from the Estates Theater where Mozart conducted the premier of Don Giovanni.

Aunt Infestation!

Lauren and Mara

Question: What could be more delightful than having your doting aunties (in the case of Ben and Garrett), your beloved sisters (for Karl), or your yet-two-more-examples-of-how-you-really-lucked-into-this-family, super cool sisters-in-law (that's me speaking) come all the way from Boston to visit?

Answer: Precious little.

The Cathedral From the North

by Karl, pictures by Kate (mostly)

On the bus coming home from university, or with the boys in the afternoon after school, we get a glimpse of St. Vitus Cathedral in the distance.

When you’re in the tourist heart of Prague, on Charles Bridge heading from Staré město over to Malá strana, the Castle is right there over you to the north of the historic center of the city. There’s the picturesque jumble of baroque facades, rooftops, and church spires spilling up the hill. There’s the line of pastel-colored palaces sloping away to the east along the ridge that the castle occupies. And soaring above it all, the gothic-baroque-neo-Gothic splendor of the cathedral.

Montmartre, et plus

Part three in a series of posts on our trip to Paris. Took even more pics than usual as we were visiting friends. And, we were in Paris. Previous posts: part one, part two.

After our late night at the Eiffel Tower, we had a leisurely start to our Saturday morning before heading downtown again to explore the Montmartre neighborhood.

Weekend breakfast ~ croissants and pain au chocolat

On the subway we were serenaded by some strolling accordionists.

I thought it was charming. But not everyone was a fan.

City of Lines, er ... Lights

Part two in a series of posts on our trip to Paris. Took even more pics than usual as we were visiting friends. Part one here.

We left the Louvre on the metro. By the time we came back to street level, rain was softly falling and we began to question whether now was the time to go up the Parisian icon. Then we got to the Eiffel Tower to learn that the third (and highest) level was closed due to "congestion." Honestly, this was the lowest moment of our trip: we'd already put off the Louvre by a day because of the long, snake-y queue in the courtyard. We'd abandoned our effort to go up the Notre Dame belltower because of the wait and some drizzle. And the patience of our instant-gratification six- and eight-year-olds was thin and cracking.

Here's where our different experiences of Prague and Paris really hit home. Prague has roughly 4.5 million visitors per year, while Paris (a bigger city, to be sure) draws more than 30 million visitors annually. We realized that we just don't have to wait for much in Prague. With kids in tow, that's a bonus. Obviously we've had the luxury of seeing sights during the off-season, but still. We had to face the facts: we now were in the City of Lines.

Eiffel Tower queue

After a little pep talk resulting in a new if-you-can't-beat-the-line-join-it attitude, we queue'd up, loaded the boys with snacks, chatted with other tourists around us, and outlasted the rain. Forty-five minutes later we boarded our elevator to the second level of the tower, with sun rays streaming down around broken clouds.

Southeast-ish view: Parc du Champs-de-Mars, which extends all the way to the 18th-century École Militaire (Military Academy), Napoleon's alma mater.

Ben exhibited signs that he might actually have inherited some of my genetic material (in comparison to the overwhelming evidence that he's Karl's son) when he kept getting a queasy, vertiginous feeling looking straight up the tower.