Partie du Champagne.,.+*

Upon landing on the land of Czech national music composers from a long flight, the first sounds we heard was the plucked bass with winds followed by the lush string orchestration playing the introduction of the famous movement  from Smetana's nationalistic symphononic poem "My Vlast" (My Country), which immitate the sound of water flow & currents of the river "The Moldau" that runs through the heart of the place. No other music was more than suitable for introducing visitors to Czech Republic & you'll immediately recognize the tune once you hear it as it's so often featured at other mediums.


I've returned to Smetana & Dvorak's Prague  (Praha) a bit more than 2 years after my first visit. Europe is much colder than I imagined for July. When it's sunny, it feels like summer. When the sun is nowhere to be seen, it suddenly becomes freezing cold. We stayed at the Hotel Imperial near Namesti Republicky for 3 nights. It was a piece of historial gem in terms of Prague Art Deco. Prauge in July blossomed so did something else on my face. I was pretty jolly for the first 2 days until I started some unpreceeded allergic reaction to something and...

my face blew up in red patches. So, I pretty much had to be in hiding in our hotel after receiving an injection & some medicine prescription from a Czech doctor whom I could not really understand what she was saying about 35% of the time when she spoke Anglaise. But as long as I lived & recovered, all's well that ends well. I spent about 1.5 full day in the hotel & not exposing to sunlight. Then we checked out to catch our train to my favourite city - Wien.



My artsy photo of the Cafe in the Hotel Imperial in Prague where we had our breakfast for the 3 mornings. Hotel Imperial was built in 1913 "as a luxury hotel and its geometric Art Deco exterior with cubism components conceals an interior embellished by precious late-Art Nouveau mosaic."

The real colors of the ceramic mosaic tiles in the cafe of the hotel.

The tall and impressive ceilings with all the mosaic tiles.
Hotel website: http://www.hotel-imperial.cz/



Fantastic photography exhibition outdoor in the Namesti Republicky plaza a block away from our hotel. This is one giant jelly fish in this photo.



The Old Town Square (布拉格廣場) is forever filled with tourists pretty much all-year round. You simply don't get a break from tourists in Prague.



At every hour, people (tourists mostly) gather in front of the centuries-hold astronomical clock in the Old Town Square to see its "performance", which did not include any singing or dancing on the clocks' part but the skeletal figure (Death) with an hour glass in one hand and the string that tolls the "fatal" bell on the other hand ringing the actual  bell while the 2 windows in the middle of 2 clocks open and reveals the rotating appearance of the 12 apothetless (excuse my spelling. ;P).



Walking down the streets in Prague, you'll often come across little surprises. What makes Prague so attractive is how intact everything (buildings, cobbled-stone streets, alley-ways,etc) seems to be even having gone through many centuries of political instability & wars.



A cute wooden-craft store (that apparently has a branch in Vienna too) named after a fairy tale figure.



There are a lot of cute hidden "treasures" on the winding streets of Prague. It certainly takes time and keen eyes to spot them. So don't rush through Prague like any other tourist groups. The best way to enjoy a place is to see it with close proximity and immurse yourself.



Souvenir shops on the street leading from the old town square to the Charles Bridge. Although viewed more like a "tourist trap" with all the souvenir shops lined up all the way, you can still find a lot of interesting works that you might enjoy.


Part II summary yet to come.
For photos uploaded so far, please go to My Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/perladipace/sets/72157606119146541/