farmer's market and Wallenstein Palace - 20.10

On Wednesday I went with my art and architecture class to the Wallenstein Palace, originally built as a home by a duke and currently where the senate meets. The destination was chosen to exemplify Renaissance architecture (what we learned in class that day:note the shape of the windows, the arcade). 

owls!

After class, my friend Veronica took me to the weekly farmer's market that is right across the street from her apartment. There was fresh some kind of fish grilling on a flat top. It looked so delicious and fresh we had to get it; a perfect lunch:

Her neighborhood, Vinohrady (Wine-castle) is really cute also. An intense church is located in the same square as the farmer's market:

And it's right by the enormous tower that can be seen in almost every skyline shot of Prague:

The babies crawling up the tower are another sculpture by David Černy.

a visitor! and the design expo

The weekend that I returned from Paris, my friend Luke visited me. He is currently teaching English in a school in Dortmund (he's a Fulbright Scholar!) Him being in town reminded me of all the things that I fell in love with about Prague in the first place. All the streets are cobble-stoned! The beer is so cheap! Everything is really old and pretty!

Many of the Americans in my group were out of town for the weekend so we were able to freely enjoy the common room. Since then, it has been a disgusting mess--the garbage can overflowing with beer bottles, the sink overflowing with dishes. The excuse that I've heard for people not cleaning up after themselves: "there's no soap." Nevermind the fact that pretty much everyone has soap in their own kitchenette in their suite.


Here are photos of the very nice room that the program constructed for us:

(note the flat-screen)

Or the photos on the dorm's website (in which I am featured).

As you can see this room has a lot of potential, but it is rendered almost unusable by those few who destroy it for everyone else. Sorry, I'm a bit bitter.

Back to Luke--I took him to all the old haunts. The Hanging Cup (the cafe that we went to on our first night in Praha) provided us with sustenance for our walk around the city. We went to the castle and saw the main attractions while of course drinking lots of beer. I was able to introduce Luke to burčák also, which is a young wine that is only available in September and October, although wiki says it can be sold from 1 August to 30 November. 

burčák

Some more photos of St. Vitus:

site of the defenestration of prague

sgraffito on the Ball Game Hall

The next day we went to the Design Expo in Prague 7, an area where there are lots of galleries (like DOX). 


They chose a venue that is used for concerts. It's called the Kulturní Centrum Vltavská. 

It's enormous, with many floors--a former enormous administration building. Each company had a room to themselves, most of which were former offices. Of course the nature of the expo lends itself to inventive use of the space:

 There were definitely varying levels of effort put into the presentation. But I think the space made up for it. It flowed very conveniently but also in a way that at every awkward turn or dead end served as a reminder of how effectively bureaucracy can dictate the atmosphere . 

a stool--solid rock on the bottom, wood on the top

all made out of pulp

plate

definitely the best room

"bloody mary"

Later that night we went out, again, for more beer and some dinner. We found pretty cheap food fairly easily... we are in Prague.


Got some pictures of Saint Wenceslas (Václav) at the top of his square, and compared them with David Černý's Wenceslas Riding a Dead Horse (I'm not sure if that's the correct title).

I was so glad to have Luke here and look forward to my visits from Vicki and Danielle!

Letná

One fine day the week I returned from Paris I accompanied my friends Neil and Jana to the park at Letná. It is beautiful and enormous with sweeping views of the city. 

At head of the Čechův Most (bridge) there is a metronome at the site of the former Stalin Monument. It was apparently very impressive, as shown from this photo:

Destroyed in 1962, this statue must have created quite an impact on the city. Standing 22 feet high, at that spot which is visible from many parts of Old Town and the river, one couldn't have helped but get the feeling they were being watched.

Wikipedia tells me: "In 1990, pirate radio station Radio Stalin operated from a bomb shelter beneath the statue's plinth. The same shelter was also the home of Prague's first rock club in the early 1990s."


Here's the entrance: 

And some nice graffiti: 

When they took down the Stalin statue, they obviously left the pedestal. It has been replaced by a metronome by sculptor Vratislav Karel Novák.

Made a little video--find it here.