ROM ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

Prague

PRAGUE, May 28, 2006 - I arrived in Prague this morning bleary-eyed, after only a four-hour sleep in St. Petersburg.  But at least I had a non-stop flight, thus avoiding potential hassles and delays while having to change planes in Moscow.  The weather in Prague was the same as that in St. Petersburg - rainy and windy, only not as cold (around 11C - 52F here, versus the 40sF in St. Pete).

Only a few days before this trip, Karen and I were talking about all the yellow fields that I had seen around the Czech Republic countryside when I drove through it in May 2000.  At first, I thought they were dandelions, and was perplexed why the Czech farmers were so sloppy.  The Czechs are otherwise very neat.  So it was not like them to let their fields go to weed, I thought.  But I later found out that they were actually mustard fields, and that the Czech Republic is one of the biggest producers of it.  And since Karen loves mustard and has been to Prague with me two years ago, that prompted the "mustard story"...

Well, now you can all see how pretty the Czech landscape is at this time of the year, with green rolling hills and neatly plowed meadows intermingled with golden mustard fields.

As for the rest of Prague, especially the touristy part, I have never been very enamored of it.  I think it is grossly overrated, but well marketed.  Which is why one can hear more American accents here than in south Phoenix, for example (where Spanish is the dominant language).  And since this is the city visited the most by Americans in Eastern Europe, I only took a few pictures for those of you who may not have as yet succumbed to its click marketing and made a pilgrimage to it.  

So here they are... without much narration.

"Dark and foreboding," that's what the typical Prague architecture has always looked like to me.  And scary.  Like that tower in the above picture...

Or like these famous steeples in Prague's main square...

...which looked a little "friendlier" in afternoon sunshine.

The next four pictures that follow were all taken at the square...

A close-up of an ancient kuku clock that's always a tourist Mecca in Prague...

...especially when the clock puts on a show at a full hour.

A street approaching the main square...

...a pretty 19th century building that deviates from the old "dark and foreboding" style.  This is actually the Municipal Hall that's used for classical music concerts by the Prague Symphony.

I just happened to have lucked out with getting the tickets for this one tonight (above).  Hope I manage to keep my eyes open... J (not because of the music; because of my four-hour sleep).  [CLICK HERE to see the Epilogue of what actually happened].

This ornate 102-year old building - Hotel Paris - is just around the corner.  Its "Sarah Bernard" restaurant is also charming, in the "old world" Toulouse Lautrec-style.

One of the things I always did enjoy and admire in Prague is the Czech glass-making artistry.  They are arguably the world's best porcelain and crystal designers and makers.  As I salivated looking at the beautiful designs in this shop window, I almost went in and bought some, as I had done once before.

"Nah..." I told myself.  "That would be impulse shopping."  And besides, I could never collect all the beautiful pieces anyway.

So I did the next best thing; a much cheaper move - I took a picture of the entire shop window...

...and of another one right next to it.  So now you can drool yourselves... J

From man-made, to natural beauty...

...as I was walking through the Old Town of Prague, I came across this magnificent lone locust tree.  I remember those from my childhood in Serbia, but I have never seen one as beautiful as this one.  It seems to embrace and protect the entire church (behind it).

Perhaps it would be fitting to end the Prague episode with this shot of the Prague Castle and the city's famous river (Vltava) that Dvoržak and Smetana, among the Czech composers, celebrated and memorialized. 

Epilogue

The concert was held in a delightful art deco setting of the Municipal Hall.  Falling asleep?  Not a chance.  It was one of the best concerts I have heard in a long time.  Unlike the classical music performed in the States these days, there were no sound enhancements (microphones, speakers...).  The sound you heard was what Bach, Mozart, Beethoven or Dvoržak heard when they composed their great music.  And it was lovely, especially the Beethoven and Dvoržak pieces.

The musician who stole the show was a young cellist (shown above performing a Dvoržak piece), the youngest member of the orchestra.  This lady, only in her early 20s, got a standing ovation and was called back for three bows and encores.  The entire orchestra applauded her, not just the audience.

On my way back from the concert, I stuck my head inside a Prague pub, though this art deco beer hall looks classier than most.  It was still busy even though it was late on Sunday night.

New Prague

PRAGUE, May 29 - My speech this morning took place in a new office park in the Prague neighborhood called Choda.

And what a lovely office park it is...

...including many of the global IT companies.  So it's a rather incestuous neighborhood. Here, IBM and Dell, for example, even share a building.

The office park even has its own fitness club, though I did not see anyone using it when I walked by.

As for the underground parking, it's the cleanest I have ever seen.  You can practically eat from the floor, as you can see.

A short walk from the office park takes you to an ultra modern American-style indoor shopping mall, the largest in the Czech Republic, I was told. 

I am not sure if that constitutes progress, especially relative to Prague's Old Town, but it certainly does demonstrate the breadth and the depth of globalization in this country.

Speaking of the Old Town, here it is again today basking in afternoon sunshine...

This amazing building, home to a crystal-making company, located not far from the old clock, has its entire facade painted as a fresco.  "It looks like a giant painting," I remarked to a business friend who was walking with me.

This friend also took the above shots of me in the main square.

Finally, when Karen and I were last here in 2004, Prague was full of life-size cow sculptures.  The art exhibit was a part of some promotion.  A few days before my current trip, Karen and I were talking about these cows.  I said, "I wonder if I'd still see some?"  Well, Karen was right... most of them are gone.  But I did find a stray... hiding in this Prague doorway.  Her herd must have left her behind when they left town...  J 

And that's all she wrote from this trip... (I think).

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