Thursday 24 November 2011

Prague

My life has changed fairly dramatically over the last couple of months.


A new job involves longer hours and lots of travel.


At one point I had over-lapping jet-lag, from both westerly and easterly directions. I had assumed these would cancel each other out but, alas, they simply multiplied.


Incidentally, these words bear no relationship to the images. Just in case you were trying to work it out.


No, the images are from a trip to Prague. My first, as it happens.


Throughout my time there Prague was grey and foggy, no glorious sunshine, alas.


But that didn't dampen my spirits. What a great city.


Unlike many eastern European places where the Communist regimes simply had no setting for Modern architecture other than "bombastic", Prague also has some rather interesting Modern buildings.


Being the geek you all know and love, I spent a happy few hours wandering around the museum of science and technology, where I developed a fascination with the "faces" of old cars...


...although obviously I did not neglect the older charms:


There's something extraordinarily contemporary about the best of the 1920s and 30s designs:


And Prague is fortunate to have a dense network of trams (as well as a tiny Underground system) which make getting about a doddle -- and a rather stylish one, too, in these yummy 1950s models:


Not everything is architecturally rosy. The glorious old railway station lies semi-derelict atop a rather hideous 1970s/80s overly flashy and anonymous Hell-hole. How could anyone have abandoned this:


And, to finish, here's a detail from the main window arch to one side of that dome:


I love those flying railway wheels. There is something almost Heavenly about them. And the same can be said of lovely Prague.

5 comments:

Trevor said...

Good luck with your new job. Have you tried the Imperial Hotel, Prague? Wonderful art-deco tiled interiors and glorious atmosphere. See it at http://www.hotel-imperial.cz

LeDuc said...

I had dinner in the wonderful Imperial Cafe that is part of the hotel -- just as you describe it, with delicious and not over-priced food. In fact it was so good that I had a second dinner there, later in the week!

Tips are *always* welcome!

Anonymous said...

What a huge pleasure to welcome you back and I hope the new job gives you plenty of scope for indulging all of our mutual interests and enough time to present them to us in your own inimitable style.
bg

No Endorheic Love said...

Gorgeous pix man. You make me want to travel and see the world too.

Niall said...

Good to have you back, and nice to see what you've been up to.
That station building is stunning!