Prague - Our neighborhood

Our apartment is on Jungmannova which leads out of (or into) Jungmannovo namesti (which is Czech for square).  Josef Jungmann translated many English and German classics into Czech during the 19c National Revival.  He also worked on a 5 volume Czech-German dictionary.  There is a statue of him in the square surrounded by flowers.  This is often a first 'rest stop' for Alan when we use the metro stop here.

Josef Jungmannov Tribute

Mustek B metro (you can tell the Mustek A&B lines apart by the color)

On the corner is the Palac Adria built in the rondo-cubist style.  What the heck is that, I ask myself?  Thanks Wikipedia for this brief explanation: "Czech Cubists distinguish their work through the construction of sharp points, slicing planes, and crystalline shapes in their art works.... They believed that objects carried their own inter energy which could only be released by splitting the horizontal and vertical surfaces that restrain the conservative design and “ignore the needs of the human soul.”  Not that I think this makes it any clearer, but I do love the design of this building.

Palac Adria

If you follow a cut through you come out onto Wenceslas Sq.  This large area is really more of a divided boulevard with a really large center area.  It began life as a horse market.  You've come a long way baby!  At the end is the huge National Museum with a statue of Wenceslas himself astride a horse.  And in the 20th c. the center of Prague activity moved here from Old Town Sq. architects designed buildings spanning a wide spectrum of styles.  There are also street vendors that sell grilled sausages which we have frequented more than once. 

Cut through to Wenceslas Sq.

National Museum at end of square

Our sausage street vendor

One other interesting neighborhood feature is the 'rotating metallic head' that sits in a small square.  We pass this on our way to the tram stops (our favorite form of transport) and I pass this every time I go to the local Tesco to grocery shop.  One improvement I made in grocery shopping this year; I brought along a rolling carry-on for the first time which I am using as a rolling shopping bag to carry the large bottle of water and juice drinks.  Makes shopping so much easier.

Trams!!!