Saturday 19 May 2012

Prague Spring

In Prague this week I'd hoped for warm spring weather as a break from the unrelieved awfulness that has been English weather for the last eternity. No such luck - I hit the week it all went chilly there too.
Here for a conference, my days were mostly tied up - annoying how work can get in the way of more interesting pursuits like exploring or shopping. 




Freed up in the evenings, with light until late, the tourists that throng the Charles Bridge and Old Town in large groups during the day seemed to have magically disappeared - sucked into restaurants and hotels? - and many parts of the city were strangely quiet and deserted. Where were the locals?




In the park on Kampa Island I saw a few Praguers walking their dogs ...




the only sounds coming from a group of students quietly playing guitars on the grass ...

the park benches empty, where you might sit and contemplate the nearly 700 years of history that this stone bridge (the Charles) has seen ...



The park on the bank of the Vitava river is also home to a museum (the Kampa) of central European modern art that I'd heard was worth visiting ...


though these were a bit of a surprise ...


The giant crawling babies are probably the tamest of Czech sculptor David Cerny's wacky creations. More of these slightly creepy faceless babies also crawl up the sides of Prague's television tower, and for his other weird installations see here


On the other side of the museum, Magdalena Jetelova's giant chair perches precariously on a low, narrow wall in the Vitava - a little precariously perhaps, since this is a replica of the original chair that washed away when the river flooded in 2002. 

and nearby a line of neon-yellow penguins (made of recycled plastic bottles by the Italian Cracking Art Group) marched along luminously ...



Just the start of many visual contrasts I saw in this beautiful city ...

9 comments:

  1. Gorgeous images and colours - we are quickly descending into a grey Sydney winter. Love the last photo. Have a good week Francesca

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    1. We seem to be in a permanent grey winter over here, Francesca :(

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  2. Karen, I am glad that your conference schedule did allow you some time to roam around Prague with your camera. The views you've posted here are beauties, and each one could be the beginning of a story. The circular design of the metal bench frames echos the shape of the nearby by bridge so well. Those luminous penguins make a lively parade. And yes, I could sense the quiet.

    I wonder if Prague residents stay home in the evening and connect with the internet? xo

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    1. Thanks, Frances - though It's literally beauty wherever you look in this city. Perhaps that is what they're up to in the evenings - it certainly was quiet.

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  3. The photos are appropriately quirky and charming --- because the Czechs bring such qualities to all their art. This is a wonderful assortment. Quite a change from South Africa, though!

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    1. It is quirky stuff, and I liked the contrast of it in the midst of this city of classical statues. Yes, it certainly is different!

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  4. Public art can be fun and often makes me smile. I like your new header - not sure if I've seen it before. I wonder where your next travels will take you.....

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    1. Thanks, BB - I've used the header pics in a post before. They're shots I took in an outdoor restaurant in Lisbon last summer (though they don't look typically Portuguese, for sure).

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  5. well I completely missed this..
    Love the penquins but all of it is so old world Europe..
    maybe that's the special charm of Prague..I've yet to visit
    But I WILL!

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