Saturday, October 1, 2022

Prague Out-Takes, 2

In the sculpture garden of the St. Agnes Convent

The convent building itself, 13th century; houses a collection of
Medieval Bohemian religious art (not Bohemian in the sense 
you're thinking); we took a pass

Economy version of the Ten Commandments on the Maisel
Synagogue; also a pass, since we did the synagogues in 2010

Oops! Major Oops!! Outside the Municipal House

It had to happen; and it certainly had to happen
here

Five floors of the Palladium shopping center a
block or two from our apartment

Sea Scouts...in the land-locked Czech Republic 

Not art nouveau

At the sign of the flying elk

Bar near us

Best model car store ever...but they didn't have the Volkswagen
1500S Notchback we've been looking for; our first car

The European fascination with Native Americans
is alive and well

Pencil sculpture at the Koh-I-Noor store

Ah, the classics are alive and well in Prague's vibrant theater scene

Ever interesting Prague sculpture...Meriweather Poppins?

Sir Mark (at another ironmongery DIY store)

Off-duty pigeon rest station


Professional food blogger in action

Kafka-esque?



Prague Out-Takes, 1

As always, click to enlarge...
We have a rare talent for wandering onto movie
sets, this one on the 3rd or 4th floor of the building
we are walking past in New Town...an even better
one is coming up in a sequel

By the central station, why a monument to Woodrow
Wilson?!

Washington Street? Did he sleep here?

Outside our apartment building; in one of the
booziest towns on the planet

No comment

"Shire...Baggins..."

Not pigeon-proof

Cycling in style

What you'll be wearing, or aspiring to wear, next year

Birds respect nothing

Wicked Witch of the East?

Not a great year to start a hotel

Swan House

We were sitting on a bench nearby; half a dozen
tourists wandered into the alcove looking for the
toilet...

At a hair-pin turn...the sign on the right says "A Void Left by a
Saint...to whom should we turn when they are no longer there for
us? To ourselves"
A traffic mirror, of course
iPhone repair store...
iPhone mausoleum

Neighborhood blacksmith

More of an ironmongery artisan and DIY studio 

And if you're not into ironmongery, you can always
take basket-weaving lessons down the street



Best Rondo Cubist Interior Ever, So Far

I'm not entirely sure whether Rondo Cubism is a specific genre or just what art deco was called in Czechoslovakia. In any case, instances of it are found only here, mostly in Prague. In a previous post, we have already seen the Cubist House of the Black Madonna (resto and bar), and, it turns out, also the Palac Adria. The World War I facade I ended the last post with turns out to be Rondo Cubist, and its building, the Palac Archa, perhaps its most famous instance. The building was closed when I photographed the possible caryatids and telamons, but yesterday, as we were walking to and through New Town to the Dancing House, we boldly wandered into the Palac Archa and had one of the more memorable art/architectural experiences ever. Truly stunning...

The caryatids and telamons, sort of, and scenes from WWI on the
Palac Archa; then Czechoslovakia (?) would have been fighting
on the Austria-Hungary side, mostly on the Russian and Italian
fronts, presumably; though the Czechs were on the losing side, they
were really the winners, since the demise of the Hapsburgs meant
the independence and freedom of a new Czechoslovakia; until the
Germans marched in in 1938...

Full frontal of Palac Archa, built in 1923

Interior entrance

Elevator

Reception area

Entrance to the bank

In the bank hall; avoiding pix of individual banking-type personnes


Among the decorative bits

Rondo Cubist planter

Teller

Cafe in the arcade