Berlin’s HauptBahnhof is pretty impressive, with 3 floors, and all the shopping amenites, including supermarkets and clothing stores. We had a rather inauspicious start to our leg to Berlin. At first, all was relatively smooth, from apartment to Metro to Prague’s main train station . . . with much lugging of very weighty suitcases (what…
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It’s goodbye Prague and hello Berlin. Which brings on some musing and introspection into our week-long stay in this city. Firstly, the really excellent choice (well done, Hirsh!) of the area we’re staying in, Karlín, just to the right of the Old Town, Staré Mĕsto, and on the south side of the river. Although filled…
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Sun-gilded buildings on the Old Town Square at around 8 p.m. One day left in Prague — we have explored it on foot from top to bottom, taken trams and the metro, and feel we’ve done it justice — but I can’t leave without taking another look at the astounding architecture. Every time you turn…
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Prague’s architecture goes all the way from Gothic and Baroque to Renaissance and Art Nouveau, so the wealth of detailing is astounding. I spend most of my time with a craned neck, looking upwards. A post dedicated to the details … Imagine stepping out onto your balcony and there are these gorgeous sculpted figures. An…
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From Prague’s Vltava River, which divides the city into two, you need only look up the hill to see the huge, sprawling Castle complex. By the time you get there (you can take buses, trams or do a long, winding, uphill walk — which like madmen we did), it’s a bewildering maze of leafy shaded…
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It’s interesting being in a country where the language is so foreign you can’t get anywhere close to understanding the street signs, and just getting to say “Good morning” is a major challenge. The weird accents on the letters don’t help with deciphering the language either. The closest we’ve got to understanding any words are…
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How fortuitous that we chanced upon an exhibition featuring a 3-in-1 … the crazy Spaniard painter Salvador Dalí, American Pop artist Andy Warhol, and Art Nouveau illustrator Alphonse Mucha. Granted, it was mainly posters, illustrations, postcards, calendars and so on, but we were excited nonetheless. Andy Warhol’s silkscreens of famous personalities (where he introduced the…
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I can’t remember when last I’ve ever been so tired. We were awake for 22 consecutive hours (you can’t count one and a half hours in the plane … and those are over and above the said 22). But we’re here, and our studio apartment is amazing … and thank you, Hirsh, for basing us…
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So … our last day in the Big Apple! That said, we really feel that we’ve done this city justice … our feet could give you a story or two, for sure. A run this morning around the many pier fingers to the Brooklyn Bridge and then the Manhattan Bridge in cool cloudy weather was…
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We are very privileged to have (a couple of) friends in high places and it didn’t take much to be persuaded to stay in the “spare downstairs apartment” of one of our friend’s quite substantial abode in Brooklyn Heights, overlooking the East River. It’s just a jump to the right (where have you heard that…
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