Prague travelogue - Instalment 2!

[rosie55.livejournal.com]

This is cross-posted to my LJ!!
Day 2 and our local guide Ivana took us on a walk round the Old Town. 

We started by walking down to the river bank,  where this was the view of yet another structure under renovation - this one  is a water tower   . Water was, centuries ago,  pumped from the top of the hill down to water towers like this and then piped to communal wells in the city. The hoarding on this one is not so pretty as the one I showed you last time but it is still more colourful than plain scaffolding.
The embankment has some of the finest Art Nouveau buildings in the city so I was enjoying sights like these - and on almost every building on one side of the road and the river on the other. Which way to look? It was difficult to decide at times and there was so much to see (and photograph, of course) that I was constantly in danger of falling behind the rest of the party! The imposing building in the centre of the picture above is the National Theatre, also having restoration work done on the roof.
What appears to be the other side of the river here is actually an island with a bridge from the bank and this very elegant house,   now used as a restaurant and a park where we sat in the shade later that day when our feet got tired!  Looking back from this point, the way we had come,  you can see the range of elegant AN buildings  along the embankment.
This is the view   looking the other way along the River Vltava towards the Charles Bridge, Prague Cathedral and the Castle complex on the top of the hill on the other bank.
Throughout  the city we noticed that even the street furniture was stylish - the railings  along the river bank, lampposts  and these  tree surrounds, made of cast  iron and round every tree along the enbankment and similar ones round many other trees in the city centre. There were plenty of seats, too so that people could sit and enjoy the views.  Not all of the buildings are old, by the way. Here, a modern building at the back of the National Theatre reflects the baroque theatre in polished glass.
There was plenty of activity on the river, too - this is the only river I have ever seen with parking direction signs for boats! Lots of ducks   (you may have to view large to see these!), swans (real and boats!)
 (yes, look closely, that swan is a boat!),  fishing  and general opportunities  for messing about on the river! We liked the look of this restaurant over on the other bank  but never actually found out how to get there! Next time, maybe! And then the view opened out into this -   Stunning, isn't it?
Not that I'd want you to think that we were in some tranquil haven, miles from the bustle of city life. Oh,  no. If I turned round, this is what I saw - trams  old and new, and traffic  all around us! But somehow it didn't spoil our enjoyment!

Well, I think that's enough for another instalment. I see from my camera details that that takes me up to 9.30  on our first morning. A few more to come then!

Comments

[nakeisha.livejournal.com]

Stunning indeed.

And all so very interesting.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Pretty. Looks like you had such a good time!

[shaw012145.livejournal.com]

The Trams ... give me old style any day ... so much character.

[mav-fan.livejournal.com]

Wow, those are some gorgeous buildings! I am amazed to find that I didn't object too much to the modern building, probably because of the way it reflected the gorgeous building next to it.
I've never seen a river with parking directions either, very unique. My favorites were the ornate railing and the gorgeous tree surrounds. I look forward to more of the trip!