day 25 - august 29th

i'm usually really good about waking up on time, so it never worried me not to have an alarm - until this morning. i wanted to get up at 7 to make my plane ... so of course i was awake every half hour from 4:30 until 6:30 when i threw the towel in. an uneventful subway and bus ride later, i was on the plane (where i finally got to weigh my suitcase - just over 5 kg!). transferred in paris where i bought a very expensive book (phillip roth's the plot against america), which i still haven't finished, so take that for what you will. sat next to a nice indian man who was going to the us for the first time, and gave me the window seat, and had excellent food on air france. AND! the plane had an amazing selection of movies such that i didn't sleep at all. AND! one of their channels was a live video looking down from the bottom of the plane. it was SO COOL! and they left it on for landing, although as we got very close they focused it ahead instead of down. customs was uneventful - the drug beagle didn't mind my sunflower seeds - and andrew and peter picked me up. whew.

day 24 - august 28th (municipal house)

the municipal house is gorgeous and intricate. each of its main rooms upstairs was designed/decorated by a famous czech artist, so each has a very different feel. i'll just put the pictures. the elevator:


the main hall, Smetana Hall:











a side salon for the ladies
check out that coffee maker







the woodworking was exquisite



these 3 panels ended up being very controversial


so we got this, from the same artist, for the ceiling

i loved the next room





the alfons mucha room was amazing.



yes, that's a heating vent.


this felt like the smoking room to me


one room was left unfinished when they ran out of money

a secondary concert hall which used to be the wine cellar, back down underground
well, mostly underground; it had half-windows to ground level
the other thing downstairs is the american bar, the first in the east, and where i got a "free" drink with my tour admission.

where even the hallways are amazingly intricate

worth visiting in person.