Prague, 7-9 September 2024

We had been planning to visit Prague for a long time but only went this September, before Sonya left for Manchester.

Day one

We rented accommodation in the Žižkov district, a forty minute walk to the city centre. In the morning we went for a walk. A view of Prague from our hill from the Rajská zahrada park.

A fruit market in the city centre.

A soaring angel. Prague is very proud of its native David Černý. We saw several unusual monuments and installations in the city. They all turned out to be Černý's work.

Prague Castle.

View of the Waldstein Garden from the castle. The town is situated on hills, so everything can be seen from above.

A pedestrian alley that descends from the castle to the river.

Čertovka river separates the Kampa island from the main land.

The old town is paved with cobblestones. It is beautiful, but not so good for bicycles or scooters.

Karlův most.

On the other bank, the city is more modern: wide streets, tall houses, big shops. This is another of Černý's installations: butterfly aeroplanes. The monument is dedicated to the Czechs who flew Spitfire fighters as part of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War.

A plant-covered building (Pálac Národní) on Národni Street. The locals nicknamed it "Turf".

Pedalos on the Vltava River.

Towards the very evening we climbed the tower in Petrin Park to watch Prague at sunset. We lived on the other side of the river, not far from the TV tower.

Day two

Our flat had a veranda where we could have breakfast in the morning. It was entwined with climbing plants bearing fuzzy fruits that looked like giant cucumbers. Could it have been calabash or winter melon?

All other residents of this building had to share a different veranda.

Žižkov district. We really liked it.

Prague TV Tower. If you look closely, you can see "babies" crawling up it. This is also the work of David Černý.

We loved the painted wall of this house.	The famous head of Franz Kafka (also by Černý). The layers start rotating once every 30 min.

We came to watch this performance too.

We wandered into the neighbourhood of the Anežský klášter. It's quiet and peaceful, and there are no tourists here.

Another contemporary installation: the house is under renovation, so it has been filled with virtual tenants.

Jewish neighbourhood of Prague. A clock face with Jewish letters. We found a watch shop here and got Sonya's watch repaired in no time.

We rented scooters and went up the hill to the Loreta Monastery. The ride on the cobblestones wasn't very nice, but it was much faster than walking uphill. From there we had a magnificent view of the Prague Castle. Below us is the monastery orchard.

We're walking down one of the streets descending from the castle.

The houses here are all different, each with its own character.

The facade of this house is covered with patterns and dragons.

Museum of Alchemists. Prague has many different small museums.

A wine shop sign under the streetlight.	A sign for the gypsy restaurant Ambix.

The baroque Vrtba Garden. The entrance is well hidden, if you don't know, you won't find it.

Sonya is waking up the cat.

View of the city from the upper terrace of the garden.

We are finding our way.

By the end of our visit we had travelled all around Prague. In the last evening, Sonya took us to Vysehrad castle. It is a big castle with fortress walls, a park and the Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul. This is the nighttime view of Prague from the park.