After a week of overcast November days, the emergence of Rayleigh-scattered blue in the skies above Prague meant I hurried to the top of St. Vitus Cathedral to get the pictures of Old Town of which I’d been dreaming.
Tag: travel
Verticality in Prague
The compactness of European cities, particularly ones like Prague that are situated in valleys, leads to these kinds of spectacularly vertical spaces. Each street seems to be stacked nearly on top of the next.
On the hilltops above those city streets, inside Prague Castle, the space continues to be used efficiently.
Above the castle structures, the spires of St. Vitus Cathedral continue the verticality.
Square Building on Vltava
Bright stone buildings on the banks of Prague’s Vltava River contrast with the deep blues and greens of the surrounding nature.
Prague Mini
The city streets of Prague’s Old Town may be fairly narrow, but a Mini still looks small. Perhaps the enormous-looking man behind the wheel adds to the effect. Whatever the case, the connection to the original Italian Job makes me happy any time I see a Mini in a European city.
Finally a Sunny Day in Prague
So many of our days in Prague were gray and overcast; the rooftops were the main source of color.
On the second-to-last day of our week, however, blue skies and sunshine finally revealed a city of far more vibrant hues.
Around Prague Castle
St. Vitus Cathedral is at the heart of Prague Castle and just as grand as words like “cathedral” and “castle” imply.
Inside was thoroughly saturated with visitors.
By comparison, much of the rest of the castle seemed empty. Given that this was the winter “refresh and repair” season, we weren’t surprised.
Down the Stairs with Friends
Strolling down the stairs from Prague Castle at dinner time sure feels a lot easier than making the reverse trip earlier in the day.
Prague Castle at Night
Prague Castle stretches the length of a long, narrow hilltop above the city that has (archaeology shows) has basically been a fortress since prehistoric times.
Smetana Hotel
We were visiting Prague in the off-season—that’s what we heard from every cab driver and waiter. Though gentle spring breezes had been replaced with nascent winter gusts, there were numerous benefits; the relative sparsity of fellow tourists in Old Town made for easy access to the city’s sights. Two of the subtler benefits are captured in this image: (1) the bare branches opened new views of the skyline, and (2) the Smetana hotel (just across the river) where we stayed had a spectacular room overlooking the Vltava open for us.
Visiting the Jewish Quarter
Visiting Prague’s Jewish Quarter reveals a sobering history of limitations placed upon its residents.
The graves and their stones rise high above the pathways; no additional cemetery space was available, so generations of graves stacked upon each other slowly raised the ground level above its surroundings.
Petřín Glow
With the trees free of leaves, the orderly arrays of lights along Petřín reveal its nature as a lovely park space in the city.
Church of Our Lady before Týn
I associate the Bohemian architecture of Prague so closely with spy movies that I immediately imagine an agent rappelling down the side of every facade I photographed.
Reflecting on Vltava
The Vltava River turns every cityscape of Prague Castle into a dramatic set of reflections.
Looking onto the scene from the Charles Bridge, those reflections seem to be all around.
Tunnel Traffic
In Prague’s Old Town, streets weave together with buildings in a pattern that looks a bit like a malcoded simulation.
Dinner on the Water
Crisp late autumn nights are the perfect time to sit between a warm heater and a cold canal for some early supper.
Decaseconds 