Strolling

I am behind on my posts. It seems nearly every thing I see I want to write about or take pictures of. In less than a week, I have managed to take about 500 pictures. If a picture is worth a thousand words...than I am screwed.

Let's start on Wednesday morning.
This morning I went on some decent wandering in southern Nove Mesto (New Town (Praha 1--where I live) and Vysehrad, which is south and in Praha 2. I was only out for couple hours and stumbled upon some amazing sights. Here is a small taste of my wandering in pictures.

First, I set out down the Vltava river heading south. This was my beautiful view. It is flanked by trees, pretty gates, and old buildings. Every now and then there is a small courtyard or park to stop and sit. I found a gallery of paintings by Vaclav Kiml and stopped in to look.



After leaving the gallery, I continued south until I came across what I had been looking for--Tancici Dum. Or, the Dancing/Fred and Ginger Building. Built in 1996, it was designed by Vlado Milunic and Frank O Gehry. Set against a background of older architecture, this building sticks out in the best way. It reminds me of something from a cartoon. Inside of it is a pretty swanky restaurant. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_Building)



Not knowing what to do next, I got out my map and walked south because I knew there were a few large churches there. I wandered down an alley on the side of this church and kind of snuck in. I didn't get many pictures, because it was right after mass and I knew I shouldn't have been there. When I walked to the back I ran into the two fathers (?) and quickly scooted along as he closed the door. It was attached to the Emmaus Monastery, and had an immensely large sanctuary, however, only a small block of pews in the middle. The alter was very elaborate---yet it felt so open. A strange combination of ornate and sparse.



After that, I saw a few more churches and stopped in a very randomly placed botanical garden. The oldest in the country, apparently, Botanicka Zahrada Univerzity Karlovy has greenhouses and several tiered gardens. I think I will go back to read in the future. Here are a few pictures.

As I was by myself, I had to be my own photographer at times. Notice the small daisy in the hair.

There was a whole garden just of marigolds.

And beautiful tall pink flowers...

Gorgeous winding vines...

And a headless statue?


Then I went to a park and helped this adorable young guy fish a paper he threw into the fountain out. I love hearing children who speak a different language.



Before noon hit, I ran into the Novamestka Radnice (New Town Hall) and decided to stop in. Nearly two-hundred and fifty steps later I was at the top of a tower getting my first (of many) beautiful views of Prague from above.



And then, I had lunch.
It is amazing how much exploring you can do in one morning.