Prague, Czech Republic, 13.10.2000-23.10.2000

click on any image for a larger version (the thumbnails don't do them justice.)

when i saw this at the airport in brussels, i knew it was going to be a good trip:

(the painting in the tip of the wing is a copy of a magritte -- my favorite painter.)

gryphons! there were cool gryphons in prague.

these were on the outside of the benetton store, of all places.

these were some random statues in the same square as the lampost with the gryphons, above:

gravestones in the old jewish cemetary

the "ritual house" where the dead were prepared, next to the graveyard

a window in the ritual house

these were from the daytrip to kutna hora and sedlec, and the ossuary there. the bones of 40,000 people were made into a very goth chapel. the chandelier has at least one of every bone in the human body.
the chapel was totally awe-inspiring.

i'd never seen a spire with a skull and cross bones on it before...

or a real skull and cross bones...

these were from a small art-nouveau-style chapel in the old mint in kutna hora.
notice the mining tools on the wall next to the angels -- all the churches and buildings in kutna hora hadecorative mining-motifs, since it was such an important mining town.

this is the national museum

from the inside of the cathedral a block form our hotel

this was a children's ride in the grocery store we went to.
the expression on his face just scares me.

me, on charles bridge, showing off my new barrette.

eric and i on a terrace at the castle

a view from the castle walls

st. vitus' cathedral, at the castle.

two images from the stained glass, inside -- these are by the czech art nouveau artist mucha, whose work i totally fell in love with.

me in a windowledge in the charles-bridge tower -- a tower fortification on the end of charles bridge, one of the main tourist attractions.

the bridge itself, from above.

view from the top (they don't call it city of a hundred spires for nothing...)

more spires!

an architectural model and the stained glass inside the tower.

more stained glass in the tower.

some stained glass on the outside of the "municiple house" -- a concert hall decorated in amazing art nouveau style, which also had a great cafe and an "internet salon" where we checked our mail :-)

a statue in the hall where we saw an amazing string quartet play for under $5 -- they were handling flyers out in the street for the performances.

the old town hall astrological clock