Saturday morning work talk

Well, if bus drivers weren't working on Saturday morning I would have a really long and tough walk. Here they are, having their morning schift talk, coffee and cigarette.

Smichovske nadrazi station.

Zbraslav castle

This is the first thing you see when you arrive at Zbraslav.

And we skate here in winter :)

Orchard opposite to Zbraslav castle

Opposite to Zbraslav castle, over the blind stream branch, there's an orchard full of apple trees. Nicest in the morning when the sun is low.

Picturesque place to work at Zbraslav Castle

I think they do renovations here. Well, it really suits this place. It is at Zbraslav Castle. Its history goes to the 13th century and in this view, Zbraslav is part of Prague only for a while, it's been 33 years now.

End of writing...

... or, maybe, start of blogging :)

Guess you haven't seen cars like this

Those funny cars are at Smichov. I don't know anything more about them. But, aren't they fantastic? :)

The Environment - Blog Action Day

Prague DP's contribution to the Blog Action Day's theme: The Environment

There's one big thing in Prague when speaking about the environment. It is something that was unthinkable few years ago and is a common practice today: garbage separation. You can find those dustbins for various materials everywhere and people are actually using them. We had an informative campaign in Prague and also a TV spots - with people making excuses they don't want to separate garbage because it is so far to those dustbins... and then the camera slides to the side showing those dustbins just steps away, and so on. They don't air those ads now, they are not needed. Now, Prague can move on to another environmentalish challenge.

See who else is writing about the enviroment.

Help me find the best

It was a sunny weekend in Prague. Vltava river was full of those boats. And I decided to start preparing a Christmas gift... a calendar with photos from this blog. My only difficulty is to choose the photos. So if you have a tip on a photo on your mind, please let me know. You can comment here or at that photo post. I would really appreciate it :)

Camaro at Prague's Autogallery

Old Camaro at Prague's vintage cars gallery at Smichov. This is an older photo and the camaro is gone by now (or maybe only in deposit, who knows). They have a various old cars here and all of them are timeless. My personal favourite for today would be a Porsche 911 from the seventies :)

... and there is a great view at Vltava river behind the Gallery. It is very close to this picture.

... and the Gallery is almost facing a building with new studio type of flats. They are amazing! You can see them here.

Svandovo theatre at Smichov

At Kinskych square again. This is Svandovo theatre I wrote about yesterday. It is facing this amazing fountain.

Fountain at Kinskych square - the square with that pink tank

There was a Soviet tank at Kinskych square for many years. Then, in 1991 it was painted pink overnight. And then they took it away. The new dominant of Kinskych square is this fountain. Sometimes with a couple in love.

This is just a three tram stops from Charles bridge and two from Andel metro station. There is Svandovo theatre at Kinskych square, too. Actually both the tram and bus stations here were renamed from Kinskych square to Svandovo theatre.

Prague - Smichov

Tree behind the fence at Smichov. There is an old factory complex inside. Abandoned and waiting only for a demolition. I wonder why anybody haven't started any development project here yet. This place has a great position in Prague, very close to all kinds of mass transportation and very close to city circle road.

Smichovske nadrazi train station in Prague

Although I had my way through Smichovske nadrazi station (bus and metro) every day since my 5th class at elementary school today was my first time seeing it from this perspective. Sure, it was a total coincidence. Actually, this isn't the main part of Smichovske nadrazi train station. The platforms are to the left where there's a bunch of other rails. And more to the left is the bus station and metro entrance. Even more to the left is Smichov's McDonald and just a little even more left is Vltava river. On the other side there's the new highway. It really speeds up driving through Prague. But you must be careful about your speed. They are evaluating the average speed you have over the whole section of this road and if you go faster you get the ticket. (FYI the speed limit is 70 km/h in here, that's about 44 mph ... isn't it interesting that conversion between km and miles is the same as the 1.6 crop factor on Canon cameras :)

Tax office for Prague 5

I scheduled an hour just to wait for registration at Prague 5's tax office but what a big surprise. I was done in 15 minutes.

Canon 40D at 3200 iso - Prague bus night shot

While waiting for a bus at Smichovske nadrazi bus station. As I've said before, Smichovske nadrazi is a station where people from Prague outskirt change from bus and train to metro and tram to go further inside Prague. And this is the actual bus I was waiting for.

I took this picture to try 3200 iso on my new Canon 40D :) You can see the big picture at Flickr (click on "All sizes" to view the 9 MB file). Time 1/20 and aperture 2.2 ... it was really pretty dark here.

Novy Smichov - Prague's best shopping center in the center

Backstreet look at the shopping center Novy Smichov. It is probably the best "in the Prague center" shopping center in Prague :) ... considering people going to and actually shopping here. The shopping center at Flora (also a metro station) may be as popular as Novy Smichov. Chodov (also a metro station :) would follow. Novodvorska Plaza and Eden would be on the other end - they are definitely not successful. Then there are "on the outskirts" shopping centers, but I won't bother you with them.

We will have a new shopping center very close to Old Town. But not as close to ruin the historical feel of Prague. It is called Palladium and is located at Namesti Republiky square (also a metro station). Opening of Palladium will be a big event. A lot of new brands entering the Czech market will have their first shops here. Palladium is at a very lucrative place - it is just a minute from Prague's shopping street Na Prikopech. Palladium opens on October 25.

PS: Abbreviation for shopping center in Czech language is OC ("obchodni centrum"). Do you know anything else named OC? Maybe a TV serie? :)

PPS: Lindex is one of the new brands in Czech republic. Actually they opened their first shop in Brno just a week ago and will be at Palladium, too. If you are from Norway/Sweden/Finland - do you know Lindex? What do you think?

Splendid place to park your car in Prague

If I was an Audi wagoon I wouldn't park anywhere else but here. This part of Prague is called Smichov and Smichov is usually known just as a big bus and train station where people from Prague outskirts change to metro or tram. But it has its beauty, too. It is hidden in the hills. And you can see the depth in front of the car. The buildings are amazing here. Lot of them looks like a little mansions, almost non of them is repaired. So you can literally feel the history here. It was well worth not taking the bus and having a short walk here.

Summer in Prague is over

Summer is officially over. Tomorrow is the last sunny day in Prague. Then the rains will come.

Jan Hus Statue in Prague (the lesser famous one)

Jan Hus Statue in Zbraslav, at the southern part of Prague. Jan Hus is one of the great men in Czech history as you can find out at this Wikipedia page by yourself.

This statue was build in 1935. Forty years after the first idea of Jan Hus' statue emerged. It was almost melted during the second world war, but some people hid it and so we can have it here in Zbraslav nowadays.

Girl we saw in the Prague streets

A photo from a photo shooting of well dressed people in the streets of Prague. We saw her going from the supermarket carrying a whole lot more bags than one person can carry. She was just after grocery shopping. And she looked like this. She would go straight to the pages of a fashion magazine :)