Prague: A morning meander

Prague has twisty streets.  I know this and yet try to wander without much reference to a map.  I intended to cross the Vltava River and explore Petrin hill and some of its gardens.  The street is was walking I knew started west and turned south so I cut over at the point I could catch a more direct route.  But I didn't, I ended up on another street the veered south.  I recognized where I was headed pulled out the map and corrected my error.  "I'll just cross a little more south than I planned", I thought.  My error yielded such lovely rewards.

The first sight I came to was the "Dancing House".   It was designed by 2 architects, Vlado Milunic and Frank Gehry and done 1992-96.  Gehry originally called it 'Fred and Ginger' after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers because of its resemblance to a dancing couple.  Now it is called the Dancing House; most would not understand the Fred and Ginger reference.

Dancing House

After that I got sidelined by the river itself.  Unlike the Thames where you see barges along with the boat tours I've only seen paddle boats and tour boats but no ships or barges of commerce.  Lots and lots of paddle boats.  Boats shaped like swans and cars and some just like, well, paddle boats.  

All of these are paddle boats, trust me.

The views as always were spectacular looking out in any direction.  As I stood there leaning on the bridge I felt my blood pressure drop. Well maybe it was my bp meds kicking in, but regardless I felt relaxed.

St. Vitus in background, swan paddle boat foreground

Nove Mesto (new town) from Vltava

Looking towards Smichov there were more beautiful baroque buildings to be seen. Smichov is just south of Mala Strana.  This was right along the 'border'.

Smichov/Mala Strana from Vltava

After crossing the bridge I turned north along the river and walked gradually inland until I reached Petrin Hill.  Of course by the time I reached it I had already walked a fair piece. 

View of Petrin Hill from the bridge I crossed

Petrin Hill is a large complex of parks, gardens, playgrounds, with a restaurant, observatory and Petrin Tower which is somewhat smaller replica of the Eiffel Tower at the top. 

Petrin Tower

One of the newer sculptures as you walk into the park is of a more serious nature. It is a memorial to the Victims of  Communism.  This moving memorial is a series of sculptured figures with each one more eroded than the last. 

Memorial to Victims of Communism

I walked over to take a look at the funicular but of course there was a line. The funicular is used by many families and those that might not want to or are able to walk up.   

Here

comes

the funicular!!

I walked a bit of the way up, but realized time was moving on and I still needed to walk back to the apartment.  It was a good morning.