By Ricky, on January 19th, 2012
The west front of St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague © Ricky Yates
Last Monday evening, Sybille and I took the tram from Podbaba to Vozovna Strešovice and from there, walked through the back lanes to Hradcanské namestí, the large square lying immediately to the west of Prague Castle. As we did so, the only other people we saw were a young couple who were walking the same way as we were and whom we thought were probably Russian. Whilst we can tell when people aren’t speaking Czech, we have yet to be able to clearly distinguish between other Slavic languages!
In front of the west gates of the castle, there was a small group of Spaniards with a native Spanish speaker as their guide. But as we entered the first two quadrangles of the Prague Castle complex, we were surrounded by the amazing array of architecturally beautiful . . . → Read More: Prague – minus the tourists
By Ricky, on October 26th, 2011
Tábor with the spire of the Church of the Transfiguration of our Lord © Ricky Yates
As part of my two weeks of annual leave following my return from the Eastern Archdeaconry Synod in Bucharest, Sybille and I spent a long weekend at the beginning of October, staying in Tábor, exploring this fascinating historical town and parts of the surrounding area of South Bohemia. During the whole time we were there, we were blessed by some wonderful ‘Indian Summer’ weather as can be seen in the accompanying photographs featuring very clear blue skies.
Tábor lies about 100 kilometres south-east of Prague and it took us less than two hours to drive there. After walking around the historic centre of the town, we eventually found excellent accommodation in Penzion Modrá ruže which has a gated back yard where we were able to securely park . . . → Read More: Tábor
By Ricky, on October 7th, 2011
View along a side street in Central Bucharest © Ricky Yates
I spent a further 24 hours in Bucharest following our Archdeaconry Synod meeting, not least because flying back to Prague on Monday afternoon was far cheaper than flying back on Sunday evening! I used the time exploring the city centre by bus and on foot, and I hope that these photographs will give readers of my blog, some impression of what Bucharest is like.
Looking at the photograph on the left, it would be very easy to think that it was taken in Paris or another French city, rather than in Bucharest. And many of the most attractive buildings dating from the latter half of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century do display a French architectural style. This is because of the strong French-Romanian links during this time period . . . → Read More: Bucharest
By Ricky, on March 3rd, 2011
Samuel annointing David as King © Ricky Yates
Not all exterior art and sculpture on Prague buildings, as illustrated in my previous post about Prague architecture, is Greco-Roman in style and only featuring semi-naked figures. It is also possible to find many examples of religious art, usually featuring the Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, often accompanied by angels. However, the picture on the left shows an artistic relief on the outside of a building which had both Sybille and I mystified for some time as to what it was illustrating.
This relief is on the corner of a building in the heart of Prague which thousands of tourists, as well as city residents, walk past every day. It is in Na Mustku, a street that leads into the bottom of Václavské námestí / Wenceslas Square and adjacent to the major Metro station called . . . → Read More: Religious Art in Prague and judging by outward appearances
By Ricky, on February 20th, 2011
Artwork on the exterior of Obecní Dum / Prague’s Municipal House © Ricky Yates
In my first post of 2011, in which I wrote about ‘Why I like living in Prague’, I explained that one reason was the amazing architecture and buildings to be seen whenever walking around the city centre or inner suburbs of the city. I also promised to write a future blogpost to illustrate my point, so what follows is in part, to keep me true to my word. This subject is also inevitably better illustrated than written about. So, as many people who leave comments or write private emails to me say how much they like my photographs, this post will be more pictures than words.
The photograph on the left is of artwork on the exterior of Obecní Dum / Prague’s Municipal House. The building is . . . → Read More: Prague Architecture with its amazing variety of decoration
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