Sunday, March 8, 2009
Prague in the past and today - Charles Bridge
Welcome back to our new part of Prague in the past and today by Prague City Apartments. Today, we are going to explore Charles Bridge.
Charles Bridge is a famous historical bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of 15th century. As the only means of crossing the river Vltava (Moldau), the Charles Bridge used to be the most important connection between the Old Town, Prague Castle and adjacent areas until 1841. Also this 'solid-land' connection made Prague important as a trade route between east and west Europe. The bridge was originally called the Stone Bridge (Kamenný most) or the Prague Bridge (Pražský most) but has been the "Charles Bridge" since 1870.
The bridge is 516 meters long and nearly 10 meters wide, resting on 16 arches shielded by ice guards. It is protected by three bridge towers, two of them on the Lesser Quarter side and the third one on the Old Town side. The Old Town bridge tower is often considered to be one of the most astonishing civil gothic-style buildings in the world. The bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 statues and statuaries, most of them baroque-style, erected around 1700. (wikipedia.org, 2009).
The first picture was drawn by Simon in 1908, called: "Ice Rink under the Stone Bridge". Picture represents right-bottom view to Charles Bridge. One of the bridge tower is visible at the end of Charles Bridge. Interesting point is, that it is no change to see frozen Vltava river for last several decades, because of built system of dams on Vltava river. Photos were taken by Zbyněk Svoboda in 2007.
Following pictures show the difference of Old Town tower on Charles Bridge. Picture was draw by Simon in 1914. Present picture demonstrates the features of modren times with regards to electric lamp and many of street artists.
Next picture by Simon is called "Charles Bridge and Hradcany in Winter" from 1917. However, these pictures by Novak usually represent earlier times than the beginning of 20th century. Again, you can see street artists and note, that there is no tram on bridge.
In the beginning of the 20th century, Charles Bridge saw a steep rise of heavy traffic. The 15 May 1905 was the last day of the horse-line on the bridge, as it was replaced with an electric tram until 1908 and with buses afterward.
On 2-5 September 1890, disastrous flood struck Prague and severely damaged the Charles Bridge. Thousands of rafts, logs and other floating material that escaped from places upstream gradually formed a huge barrier leaning against the bridge.
Three arches were torn down from the great pressure and two pillars collapsed from being undermined by the water, while others were partly damaged. With the fifth pillar, two statues - St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Xavier, both by Ferdinand Brokoff - also fell into the river (the former statue was replaced by a statuary of Cyril and Methodius by Karel Dvořák, the latter was replaced by a replica of the original). Repair works lasted for two years (the bridge was reopened on 19 November 1892) and cost 665,000 crowns.
From Charles Bridge visitors enjoy fairytale views of the Prague skyline. The wide expanse of the river flows beneath it, flanked on both sides by elegant buildings. Prague Castle towers above in its eminent position. Here you are truly in the centre of the city. Charles Bridge throngs with people during the day. Street artists sketch and musicians play; look out for the jazz band, who are particularly entertaining. But for a truly romantic and less crowded stroll, try early morning or any time in the evening.
I hope you have enjoyed our tour to Charles Bridge and its past and stay tunned for next batch of pictures Prague in the past and today.
References:
Friday, March 6, 2009
Culture during EU presidency, vol.1
Czech EU presidency is backgrounded by many interesting culture events. Therefore, I would like to present one of them. In these days Musical Theatre Festival in Prague is running.The OPERA Musical Theatre Festival is a festival of representative performances of Czech and Moravian professional opera ensembles complemented by independent opera projects. Once in two years, Prague becomes the place where one can see the best of the Czech opera theatres – the performances take place in particular on prestigious Prague opera stages (historical building of the National Theatre, the Estates Theatre, the Prague State Opera). The festival confronts on a regular basis both the direction of and level of individual ensembles and extends the range of opera offer in Prague - offering plays that have not been performed in Prague for decades (or even not performed at all) and also a different view of the plays that are currently staged in Prague theatres. It also presents remarkable personalities (directors, conductors, performers) from regional theatres.
- Date: 21.2.2009 — 17.3.2009
- Venue: Prague/Czech Republic
- Category: Music
- Website: www.eu2009.cz
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Report - travel industry in 2008
Finally Czech Statistical Office has released complete data from 2008. Many countries, many travellers and many travel companies have been affected by financial crisis. Especially industry of tourism has to challenge the crisis on the first place because the first personal budget constrains were imposed on family trips as well as on business trips.Please for the report (Prague and Czech Republic in 2008) follow our links:
Friday, February 13, 2009
Guide of Prague's Best Restaurants
There is no doubt that choosing an appropriate restaurant in Prague could be a very tough task and therefore we are coming with a chart of Prague's restaurants. The aim is not to present all restaurants in Prague. We checked for your the most famous restaurant and travel charts and come up with recommendations. The first chart is from tripadvisor.com, the second comes from frommers.com and the last one is grand-restaurant.cz. We believe that these three sites represent unbiased sources of restaurant evaluation; each of them is unique by its system of evaluation. Now, let's introduce these charts a little bit closer:- Tripadvisor.com represents set of traveller’s reviews of the “best” restaurant. The reviewers are typical travellers who were overall impressed by restaurant and rightly evaluated it on tripadvisor. (813 reviewed Prague restaurants)
- Frommers.com is using its Frommer's Star Ratings. Frommer's ranks every restaurant reviews for quality, value, service, amenities, and special features using a star-rating scale, an expression of the strong compare-and-contrast opinions that are a brand hallmark. (Top 56 reviewed Prague restaurants)
- Grand-restaurant.cz is an independent guide of Czech restaurants. The observation is based on opinions, visits and rates of independent and secret reviewers. (Top 10 reviewed restaurants)
BELLEAVUE
Tripadvisor: 3rd place
Frommers: 1st place
Grand-restaurant: 6th place
Hours: Daily noon-3pm and 5:30-11pm; Sun brunch 11am-3pm
Adress:
Average Spending:
Kitchen: International (via Grand-restaurant)
Frommers review: With its excellent view of Prague Castle, the Bellevue is my perennial top
Tripadvisor: 26th place
Frommers: 2nd place
Grand-restaurant: 2nd place
Hours: Mon-Sat 5pm-midnight
Adress:
Average Spending:
Kitchen: International (via Grand-restaurant)
Frommers review: Without a doubt, this is one of the city's best dining spots. It is housed in an Old Town corner building and has a minimalist interior. Three different seven-course menus are served, with a focus on diners' sampling an array of both food and wine. The Boheme Bourgoisie menu provides a spin on classic and modern European food, while the Boheme Continentale offers a tasting of smaller and simpler dishes. The Boheme Traditionnelle menu finds inspiration in old Czech cookbooks, and successfully raises, by miles, the level of Czech classic cuisine served in restaurants here. Each dish is accompanied by an excellent selection of wines served by experienced sommeliers. This unique experience is simply worth the money.
Chosen Tripadvisor review: Best meal I have ever had. I love tasting menus, but sometimes there is a compromise between the look and the taste of a dish. This restaurant has it all: ambience, style and substance. We chose different menus with accompanying wines and took three hours to savour everything that was put before us. I think they also do a shorter pre-theatre menu. The staff were delightful and very knowledgeable. I would go back to Prague just for the pleasure of eating at la Degustation again.
V ZATISI
Tripadvisor: 5th place
Frommers: 10th place
Grand-restaurant: 5th place
Hours: Daily noon-3pm and 5:30-11pm
Adress:
Average Spending:
Kitchen: International (via Grand-restaurant)
Frommers review: Best described as "Bellevue Light," this laid-back version of our riverfront favorite provides the same quality and similar ingredients, with a few lighter choices such as the vegetarian dish gratinéed tagliatelle with broad beans. There are some fish choices as well. V zátisí ("still life") has a casual elegance, like the living room of a beachfront Mediterranean villa, with cushy upholstered wrought-iron chairs and plenty of artfully arranged flora.
Chosen Tripadvisor review: Amazing food, very nice restaurant with very helpful and friendly staff. It is a bit upper scale, so its a bit expensive, but still food was amazing, tried the bohemian sampler (Duck, deer and beef) which was delicious, especially the deer, although the portions were quite small with the price high (695 Kr). They do have meal combos for 3 course meal running at about 999 and they have wine coupling as well. Overall good, but a bit price.
FRANCOUZSKA RESTAURACE V OBECNIM DOME
Tripadvisor: Non-sufficient data (only 1 review)
Frommers: 6th place
Grand-restaurant: 3th place
Hours: Daily 7:30am-11pm
Adress:
Kitchen: International (via Grand-restaurant)
Frommers review: An afternoon here feels like a trip back to the time when Art Nouveau was the newest fashion, not history. The reopening of the entire Municipal House in the spring of 1997 was a treat for those who love this style of architecture, and the restaurant and kavarna might be its most spectacular public room. Witness the lofty ceilings, marble wall accents and tables, altarlike mantle at the far end, and huge windows and period chandeliers. Coffee, tea, and other drinks come with pastries and light sandwiches (for kavarna).
Chosen Tripadvisor review: The restaurant has a fantastic setting in a beautiful room. The meal was ok to good, BUT....You are offered a glace of champagne before getting settled at the table and before seeing the wine list. BEWARE, at 500 crown (nearly £20) per glass!! The wine menu is not offered until after you've ordered your food. When you see the prices, you'll know why! Also, check your bill, as they tried to add an extra 700 crowns to an already large bill. Good food, but be warned.
Hidden Gem:
AMBIENTE - PASTA FRESCA
Tripadvisor: 2nd place
Frommers: listed, but not rated
Grand-restaurant: not in TOP 2009, but very well rated overall
Hours: Daily 11am-midnight
Adress:
Kitchen: Italian (via Grand-restaurant)
Frommers review: This pasta joint on the Royal Route, just off Old Town Square, is one of the best of the Ambiente family of "living restaurants." While Ambiente's Vinohrady locations once warranted the trip out of the city center for what used to be the only ribs and Tex-Mex in town, other joints have since caught on to ethnic menus, which go beyond the basic Czech fare. What this outlet on Celetná offers is location, location, location, and usually enough tables to satisfy the endless tourist rush hour. In a candlelit basement trattoria, the menu is limited to pastas -- albeit served about 50 different ways -- salads, a few meaty entrees, and garlic bread if you're still hungry.
Chosen Tripadvisor review: Was back in Prague for second time in October and booked this restaurant for almost every night of our stay! The food is amazing and so reasonable! Homemade pasta-pasta will never taste the same after! Cannot recommend this highly enough and would advise booking ahead.
