today i got up early and set out for a long walk around prague. here's the beautiful municipal house which lonely planet calls "Prague's most exuberant and sensual building". i didn't go in, but did admire the outside, and dodge the folks trying to sell me tickets to concerts that night. (but don't worry! i came back later! i was totally wrong to have skipped it!)
a gate in old town
and, in the heart of touristy old town - this picture is for corinna -
today was the anniversary, so there were live archival footage being screened in the square, as well as photos. there were lots of folks looking, but helen thinks (and she's probably right) that i was one of the few tourists.
now i wish i had more of these photos.i walked in the early morning through all these pretty squares with bright bright paint
found a delicious ricotta and raspberry danish for breakfast, after having overcome my fear of interacting with locals and my ignorance of czech (almost everyone spoke czech, english, and german, at least. that's a dissertation for you: how is it that the shopkeepers were almost always right in their language guess? and why were they wrong for me often? seriously - somebody go start interviewing them.)
i loved this curved-facade church
and this is the way prague does street signs (street name big, district small). also the way i remembered the location of the shop selling beautiful hand-painted plates and bowls that i wanted to go back to later on. (that worked beautifully, by the way, and was the moment i realized i could take pictures of things instead of writing them down or saving them and lugging them around.)
i found these amazing ceramic dolls in a window display - these pics are for mom! sorry i didn't get you one.
and this neat leaded glass window (also for mom)
i stopped by the incredibly helpful and friendly CzechTourism shop, where a very nice girl loaded me up with all the maps and train and bus schedules she could, and then wanted to chat about my trip. this was the first moment i really realized that biking alone for 300 km in the czech republic was out of the ordinary ...
the entrance to the charles bridge, which i got to much later than i hoped, due to all the neat things i saw on the way, and thus got to experience what lonely planet describes as being "in the front row of a Linkin Park concert for all the room you'll have to yourself".
and a view of the castle from the bridge
off to the other side, the pretty vltava, which was full of these little dams and also tons of kayakers and canoers and rafters who didn't seem to mind them.
on the bridge, believe it or not, a jazz band with a banjo! and they weren't bad, either. dad, this one's for you. sorry i didn't buy a cd - i went back to look for them later but they were gone.
a beautiful door:
and a beautiful statue on the entrance to a bridge
prague's TV tower, seen from the top of the hill overlooking the city, letna gardens.
also up here, on the path up, this super cool girl:
and once i finally got to the top, an amazing diy skate park. there were probably 20 teenage boys hanging out up here. what a view they have!
and in the spot where once stood the largest statue of stalin once stood, there is now a giant metronome. this apparently was also the site of prague's first rock club in the 90s. go reappropriation. and go skater boys.
the day is not done - next up is the castle - but this post is long enough, so i'll split it into 2.
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