Famous Czechs – Olbram Zoubek Olbram Zoubek is not a name that will crop up in many guidebooks. He has certainly left his mark on the country and one town specifically (and it’s not Prague) but tourists will wander past at least two of his public works in Prague without realising. Olbram Zoubek was born … Read More
Prague Cubism Museum – House at the Black Madonna When you buy your ticket at the ground floor office you’ll be told to go directly to the 4th floor and work your way down to third and second. You should really have some background knowledge of Czech Cubism before coming here at least to understand … Read More
Mucha Museum – Alfons Mucha Anybody that knows me will be aware of my interests in art and architecture. On the “art” side I’ve written about Alfons Mucha as a person, his impact on the Municipal House, a 5-post breakdown of his most famous work, the Slav Epic. I’ve seen the entire Slav Epic exhibited … Read More
Spitfire Butterflies On August 20th 1940 when Winston Churchill said “never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few” he was of course referring to all of those pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain the same year. Strange how, 84 years later, I stood outside … Read More
The Winged Lion On one side of the Lesser Town is an area called Klárov. It has a small open area of ground with two monuments dedicated to World War Two. One of them is the Winged Lion. The Winged Lion is specifically dedicated to 2513 Czechs and Slovaks who fought as pilots and air … Read More
Museum of Decorative Arts The Museum of Decorative Arts is currently made up of four different locations, three of which are in Prague. On this post I’ll describe the main building at the address “17 listopadu 2”. If you have an interest in design then the Museum of Decorative Arts should be in your top … Read More
The Darth Vader Statue Long before George Lucas (1976 Star Wars director) was born, actually even before his father was born, a statue was erected in Prague and it looks a lot like Darth Vader so what’s going on? It’s another example of a mixture of fact and legend for which Prague is famous. To … Read More
Prague Cafes – Cafe Savoy As you approach Cafe Savoy in Prague you should pay attention to the extra words on the main signage which say “Restaurant – Vinotheque – Patisserie” so this is going to be a lot more than your regular coffee and cake stop. Note: This place has nothing to do with … Read More
Exploring Prague’s Vyšehrad Cemetery It’s not normally on many people’s top ten list of things to do in Prague unless 1) you like cemeteries, 2) you like art/design and 3) you know something of Czech culture. But for some people a trip to the Vyšehrad Cemetery will be an interesting and rewarding experience. I’ll show … Read More
Prague Streets – Národní Národní or “National Street” was formed almost by accident. Back in the mid-13th Century a fortified wall surrounded the Old Town with a moat in front of the wall. Later the New Town would be defined as the area on the opposite side of that moat. The fortified wall stands there … Read More