On my last afternoon in Prague, I walked up Petrin Hill to look out over the red roofs and gold-topped spires of the city aglow in the light of waning sun. As I made my way to the top, I found the views I was searching for and so much more:
It’s amazing how easily you can find calm spaces in crowded summertime Prague. Aside from the Charles Bridge area, it was much quieter on the other side of River Vltava. Just a little way up Petrin Hill I found even more serenity.
Pears and view.
The path less traveled.
Down below, the crowded Charles Bridge.
Broken ornaments decorated the outside of the fantastical Reon Argondian Gallery.
Through some iron gates I came across this garden where a woman was painting the scene.
This garden was pure joy.
As if the first garden wasn’t amazing enough, around the corner I found another garden full of vibrant roses.
More fantastic views of Prague.
A nice spot for music making.
Coming from the street art and graffiti covered Berlin, Prague had initially seemed wholesome in comparison. My first sighting of anything street art related was a clean up crew painting over a graffitied wall in the Old Town Square.
I get it — Prague’s scenery has so much character already embedded in it. Compared to some other European cities in the region, much more of its historical architecture survived the destruction of World War II. A really visible street art scene would be incongruous there.
What I did find in Prague was a thriving government sanctioned yet often eccentric public art scene. In parks, squares, and along the Vltava river, I spotted fantastic sculpture art that ranged from quirky to perplexing to bizarre:
Understanding the popularity of Prague took only a matter of moments as I set out see the city on my first full day there. With all of its fanciful buildings and bridges, I felt like I’d entered a fairytale land — the kind of place you see in a movie, but you don’t think actually exists.
Whether I was in a touristy part of town or on an obscure side street, in all directions there were always wonderful aesthetic touches to capture in Prague — a great use of color, architectural details, flowers, and many gold-topped spires:
A statue of John of Nepomuk on the Charles Bridge.
Ornamental iron work on the side of a building.
Colorful buildings.
Park benches.
Blooming flowers surround the Jan Hus Memorial in Old Town Square.
The spires of Tyn Church in Old Town Square.
Detail on a building in the Jewish Quarter.
Detail on the Basilica of St. James.
Ornate buildings.
A sculpture at the Old Jewish Cemetery.
Old architecture reflected on a rare modern building.
A bit of Prague architecture embedded on the base of a lamp post.
The detail on this building was unreal.
An ornate lamp post on the Legii Bridge.
The spires of St. Nicolas Church.
