Prague, City of Imagination...

Prague has such variety & life, distinction and imagination....

The architecture, as Ginger (Rogers) & Fred (Astair), sweeps you off your feet..



This building was the response of the architect to those two well-known dancers of the pre-war era...






AND Music... always music...


We enjoyed 3 concerts is the 3 nights of our stay...

String Quartet Chamber Music

Skiffle on the Charles Bridge..

Oh ! Did that skiffle board and those finger thimbles....   ring !

Wind Quintet

in a Hussite Church
(and that church itself has a story to tell, too !)

In the Old Town Square...

Jazz rang out...


beside,

on each hour....

The Astrological Trumpeter !

(above the astrological clock...)



And we could hear him from our room, too, which was not far away, at all !

It was in Havelska,

here (left)

which has had a market for 100s of years...

We were 92 steps above it...
on the top floor.. (no lifts this time... phew !)


With views...

Evening views...

and


Morning views...

of St Vitus & the Castle

above the city...


In the town...

Our Lady of Tyn...

her Twin Towers

are just wonderful.


Our lunch spot in the 1891 Pavilion, included this view up the river...

near..

St Vitus' flying buttresses...

On top of the hill

the music theme is continued...


with a giant metronome,

(Segways passing across the pedestrian crossing below)

Opposite the Opera House,
on the river bank,
is a famous meeting place
for artists...
intellectuals..
revolutionaries..

Cafe Slavia

Art Deco STYLE !!

Charles Bridge...

OF COURSE...

Wenceslas Square...

(actually an avenue)

Of course..

Prague,

a city that

thrives on...

Style....

even in its uniform...

The Transition of Borders includes.... (1) Language hurdles :

The name of the first station into the Czech Republic seemed to be a place for ...


"Horney Divocists", ...perhaps ...  ?

 !!! ..U stupid  (Doh !)  (e)cologists,
(with)...  Fred Astair values... ??

...with a feather in his hat, too...

and (2)  money transitions... :

That's our first 1000 crown note from the bank that Sandra is handing over -for two bus fares...
worth 2 Aussie dollars each...

(but a crown is worth...   5 cents)

Cesky Krumlov

where Jocelyn holidayed....  & what a place !!

Old town, largely preserved...
16th Century houses..
buildings.. castles...
everything...
even the brewery... (most modern ...19th Century)

This 3-tiered bridge allowed the Castle People to get across the ravine to the long garden, where a shady walk was like a day in the country.

We saw a nuthatch.

The river curls around. To appreciate its course, you will have to google earth it. Our Pension Barbakan was at the narrowest neck of land bridge.

A Castle courtyard, a very protected spot. The trick of the brickwork is that the flat stucco is painted in brick shapes. Above are pictures.

How the castle sees the town.

Boating is all the go. Definitely a town for the young and sporty, even in the rain. You go in at the top and paddle down to the bottom, all through the town, with lots of spectators.

Creative window grill

Voted most colourful rainware.
Good thunderstorms in the afternoon.
Hotel generous with loaning umbrellas.

Southern Germany Transit via Regensburg

Southern Germany Transit... via Regensburg..

Shares in Alex company have finally paid off !

The Danube at Regensburg is a little smaller than at Galati, Romania (where it is 1km wide), but there is a stone bridge & lots of people enjoying its waters, all the same.

Another take on David & Goliath - on the wall of an old building in the town.

We had heard that Regensburg, like Oxford in England, was one of the few cities in Germany largely unaffected by the bombing in WWII.
Unfortunately, it meant that the same stones that we stood before at the Synagogue, had witnessed many people taken away to death in Concentration Camps, too.  (We experienced the same in Budapest's largest synagogue in Europe.)

An unusual triangular entrance porch at the main door of the cathedral.

This is what the best dressed Bavarian girl is wearing for special occasions, so we thought all the girls might like to try them on.








Not to mention Isaac, Toby & William's options !

From one square to another,













...fresh revelations ....









But it was time to head for Czech Republic via Southern Germany's lovely countryside: