It is now December and we are coming to the end of our first month in Prague (but not the end of the posts). After we arrived Prague received its first light covering of snow with the promise of more to follow! Since we live in Greece, on an island, where snow is unheard of, this was such a treat! I was reared as a child in Washington State, USA and Michael in Portland, Oregon. Both of us remember the snowfalls of our childhood, so the snow in Prague was a delightful and welcome Christmas Gift! However, I understand it was not the feelings of most Czechs, as it was the worst winter in 40 years! We were as innocent of that as babes!
Since it is the end of the year, I thought I would show a few pictures taken at random during the month of December.
When Michael and I first got to Prague we went to the Prague Transportation Department where we filled out a form to get a Senior Discount Pass for 3 months – which comes out much less than having to spend money for each trip. This pass is good for buses, trams and the Metro (subway). We even found it good on the funicular from Mala Strana to the top of Petrin Hill!
One of the things we had to do was get photos of ourselves. We were told one of these foto booths (above) which could be found around the city would suffice. We had to giggle because the last time either of us had used them was when we were teenagers and took goofy pictures of ourselves with our friends! Notice how rigid Michael is this time! He even had his glasses off! And I had to make sure my hair looked just right! We found this booth in the Mustek Metro Station.
I mentioned in previous posts, that the Christmas markets had wonderful outside booths, many with mulled wine, hot sausage stands, etc. This particular barbecue stand, outside a little restaurant, was in the Namesti Republiky (Republic Square). I don’t know why we didn’t eat any, probably we were in a hurry to go elsewhere. It makes my mouth water just too look at it now!
I found myself taking lots of pictures of buildings. Nothing seemed ordinary to me. The white seemed as delicate as icing on a wedding cake. Prague has an enormous variety of styles: Romanesque, Baroque, Renaissance, even Cubism to the heaviness of the communist era. It is said Prague was practically untouched during WW ll so it is a wonderful place to study architecture. 
Over a doorway. . .
This looks like it should have been in one of the Harry Potter movies!
This particular painting over a doorway really intrigued me and I tried in every way I knew how to find out something about it. Also to know the significance of the arm holding the ball. I could not find any information about it. (If anyone knows, please tell me!) It was on a little side street, of which I am not sure now where, but think it was near Bethlehem Square.
We often walked miles, taking loads of pictures when suddenly one of us would call for time out and a coffee break! They always were a treat and really perked us up! Amazingly, I didn’t gain weight from all these beautiful desserts. . .but I practically wore out a pair of shoes!
And so ends December. And to think we have January and February ahead of us! We feel so lucky!
Technorati Tags: snow,bus pass,architecture,desserts,republic square
Olšany, the biggest cemetery in Prague, although not featured on our Favourites page, is, nevertheless, a place we visit often. We wrote about it here and Karin has a photo journal here.
“We would like to present Olšany Cemetery as a cultural site that is open to the living,” Červený said. “Such is progress,” I say. What say you? Please comment.
