October Miscellany

We are often asked what is the best month to visit.  For Paros, Greece we say September or June; for Ireland it is June or July; for Prague, we are still learning.  We have heard that July and August are bad because of the crowds at Charles Bridge and other tourist centers.  Therefore we were surprised in October to see crowds on Charles Bridge and Old Town!

Of course the good side of that is the city is alive and active the year around.  We found the beer garden nearly empty in October but on a sunny day the park paths are busy with strolling people.  So below are a few photos and comments to demonstrate October in Prague and environs.

 

hidden garden of Vojanovy in Malastrana, PragueThis is the secret garden Vojanovy surrounded by historical buildings in Malastrana.

Balloon rides over the Kafka Museum and Pissing Men

tethered balloon over Prague

 

 

 

 

raspberries at a farmer's market, PragueFarmer’s Markets two days per week!  The berries are about €1.35 or $1.88 per basket.

River dining (River cruises are active year around.)river boat dining on the Vltava, Prague

 

 

 

 

relaxing on the grass near beer garden, PragueKarin sun bathing at Riegrovy with Beer Garden in background.

 

 

enjoying Pilsner in beer garden, Prague

Me enjoying the beer and the garden.

coffee house struedel in PragueOn occasion it will be cold or rainy.  Then we enjoy the interiors of coffee shops.  More on coffee culture here, but please notice Coffee Heaven is now Costa Coffee

Cheers

National Museum and Wilson Revisited

O.K. Shoot me, I am negligently late in updating the previous post Re-dedication of Wilson station    We are just having too much fun going places to stay home and focus on blog presentation.  Oh Yes, I also have work to do hosting villas and workshops on Paros.  See my latest web page for a week of Art & Antiquities in Greece.

Karin, however, is quite disciplined at organizing and commenting on her photos in various albums.  I will catch you up with some of those soon, I hope.

Woodrow Wilson statue, PragueMeanwhile here is the unveiled Woodrow Wilson statue.  It is quite magnificent and well placed in front of the main railway station.  By the way, Karin has photos and comments on the station here

 

 

 

The ceremony was quite interesting Klaus, Albright and other dignateries at Wilson dedicationwith relatively short speeches by these dignitaries including President Vaclav Klaus (2nd from right).   However, it was on the long side because everything was said in both Czech and English.  The USA Ambassador was sooo american.

 

A few days later we decided to drop in on the advertised Wilson/Masaryk exhibition at the New Building of the National Museum.  Whoa, we got there mid-morning and it was closed tighter than a drum despite the open hours sign on the door indicating they should be open.  No explanation that we could see, nor could the other people trying to get in.  What makes this noteworthy is that this is the second time we have visited this building and the second time they were closed during announced open hours.  My message: Don’t trust the National Museum!

The saga continues.  In follow up research the New Building had nothing listed for Wilson but there was an exhibition at the National Memorial on Vitkov Hill.  Plus they too were going to unveil the newly refurbished statue of Jan Zizka, Czech general from the 15th century.  So we hiked up the steep hill for that ceremony.  The exhibition was disappointing because it was a series of sound recordings of political speeches and organised in no order that I could determine from the limited English included.  We did watch an entertaining presentation by three weapons enthusiasts of late medieval sword fighting and the first use of gunpowder.  The statue was certainly impressive; said to be the largest equestrian statue in the world.

                    Ziska equestrian statue Viskov, Prague

Technorati Tags: Wilson,Zizka,Vitkov,National Museum,equestrian

Pilsen: Brewery and City

Our major goal for this extended stay is to use Prague has a home base for side trips throughout the Czech Republic and neighbouring countries in central and eastern Europe.  The only things holding us back, of course, are the limitations of time and money.

Pilsen Brewery, Pilsen, CzechSo as soon as I had my Open Card endorsed for “Free Fare” –I will write about this separately– we planned a pilgrimage to the birth place of our favourite brew, Pilsner Urquell.  Pilsen is about one hour by public bus and just under two hours by train.  We chose the latter because trains are our favoured mode of travel.

Our pre-planning consisted of checking the train schedules –there is one every hour for most of the day– and the brewery tour schedules –in October 4 per day in English.  It made for my kind of day out; not leaving home until after 9 A.M. and being back in time for dinner –theoretically, as we usually eat out on this type of occasion.

In the photo above (click to enlarge) on the left side you can see the ultra modern building where beer is currently brewed by sophisticated computerized controls.  To its right is the old brew house that served for about a century.  To the right of that, the white building is the original brewery from 1842.

It turned out to be a rainy day which did not distract from thoroughly enjoying the expedition.  As always, Karin has done a much better job of detailing the sights than I ever could.  Here it is:

 

Trip to Pilsen and Brewery

 

Vrtbovska Garden

While the weather is sunny and dry we have the priority of visiting outdoor sites that are closed in the winter.  Last week we had a small beer at the Beer Garden in Riegrovy Park, a short walk from our home.  I won’t write about it now because it was quiet, just after opening for the day.

Malastrana rooftops from Vrtbovska garden, PragueThen we visited an entirely different kind of garden.  Vrtbovska is a baroque Italian style terrace garden on the slopes of Petrin Hill.  It was quite interesting but I especially enjoyed the view over the rooftops from its upper end.

To see the whole garden and buildings through Karin’s eyes here is the link to her photo album:  Vrtbovska Zharada

The garden is at Karmelitska 25 just around the corner from Mala Strana nameste.  There is a modest entry fee.

Technorati Tags: zahrada,garden