Midnight benches

Hope you had nice holidays and are ready for New Year's celebration :)

So, I have this very non-Christmassy photo of benches at Jana Palacha square for you. I took it a midnight before Christmas Eve. And as it was absolutely empty then, it will be absolutely crowded tomorrow midnight.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Prague

I wish you all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
... and thanks for stopping by and for your comments :)

Christmas tree at Jana Palacha square

One of the most beautiful Christmas trees in Prague. Located at Jana Palacha square.
I can compare, I've seen and shot dozens of them in last few days. They are everywhere :)

Just wondering, do you know movie called Once?

Something strange in our library

I really like our library. They just do things the right way.
This is the latest exhibition. It is a heart with many interesting things inside - it works almost like a big tent. It occupies the children section and I believe it's very popular among the children. At least I liked it :)

Christmas tree at Novy Smichov shopping center

Christmas tree at Novy Smichov shopping center. I spoke with the guy in black a moment after taking the photo. He asked, very politely, to shoot only the tree and nothing else.

We were shooting in Vankovka shopping center in Brno last weekend - and nobody cared. (it was crowded)
We were shooting in Palladium shopping center few weeks ago - and nobody cared. (we got a few shots like this and this, none of them were Czech)

Adidas store

Adidas store front at Andel. I can't tell you if they're good. I was there only once, few years ago. But they are facing the Village cinemas multiplex which - I can tell you - is good :) And it works kind of like a see all you can. They check the tickets only at one place. After that nobody knows which of some 15 cinemas you went in. And then you can go to another cinema and so on. Well, there's one disadvantage: it is not legal.

There's a second multiplex cinema just over the street. They have some 10 cinemas in here. So Andel is quite a good place to be if you want to go to a cinema.

In other news: Prague's traffic was absolutely terribly jammed today and Tesco store at Narodni trida street is opened till midnight during Christmas (usual is till 10pm). A thing you really appreciate after spending several unplanned hours in above mentioned Prague's traffic.

Night walk on the river bank

Hotel at Zitna and Pricna streets corner

Once again photo with a Christmas tree. This time in a hotel at the corner of Zitna and Pricna streets.

It's getting cold in Prague

It's getting cold in Prague these days. And I'm talking about that freezy-windy cold. Still, the thermometer reads only -3 degrees.

Christmas trees

Christmas trees on the streets.
Christmas parties.
Now it's time for some Christmas shopping.

Prague ZOO's Guerrilla in action

I just found this image from summer and I think it perfectly illustrates how most of the guerrilla campaigns in Prague looks like (this one with parrots being for Prague ZOO). The agencies use tram stops. Well, if I have to spend money on advertising in Prague, I would use tram stops too. The second step would be the ads on trams.

Bila labut department store

Bila labut department store is one of the three big-old-well-known Prague department stores. It's at Na Porici street, near Florenc station and in seeing distance from Palladium. "Bila labut" means "white swan" and I think you can locate the store in the picture very well right now :) There's also a book store called Cerna labut ("Black swan") at Bila labut ground floor. I was visiting it quite often to find textbooks for school and I bought my Berlin guide book here, too :)

Post office's cars

Cars that deliver post in Prague. Parked near Florenc and Masarykovo train station.

And this is how Old Town square looks during the day

Old Town square getting ready for Christmas

This is from the last week when Old Town square was getting ready for Christmas. It's full of lights, stands and people now. And it's quite pretty :)

I was in Zilina, which is in Slovakia, from Friday and I have to tell you that it is an amazing city. Even though I actually spent only about an hour in the city itself. I will definitely visit it again, this time just as a tourists to enjoy it :)

Kotva store at night

Kotva store can look so old. When you're facing the brand new Palladium shopping center there is actually no choice but to look old.

Being fast at the crossing

A real snapshot :)
Dlouha street to the right. Old Town square to the left.

Sometimes it's almost like not in winter

This close to Christmas one would expect a whole another weather in Central Europe.

Senzor gallery and Samaya Endowment Fund

Senzor Gallery and shop of Samaya Endowment Fund opened today.
You can find out more about Samaya here.
You can see more about that head here.
And you can visit this place while you'll be in Prague :) It's just a few steps from Old Town square and they have a lot of paintings, photos and other interesting stuff here.

Friday night post office queue

Isn't it great that you can spend your Friday night waiting in a queue in front of a post office? I bet the last man has at least an hour of waiting ahead. Maybe two. I've been through this too.

Theme day: Bridges

We have amazing Charles bridge in Prague. But for us there are some more important bridges. Such as Hlavkuv bridge which is one of the main veins of Prague traffic. Empty only at night.

You can go and see other 127 bridges all over the world now:
Boston (MA), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - New York City (NY), USA - Portland (OR), USA - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Inverness (IL), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Stockholm, Sweden - Setúbal, Portugal - Brussels, Belgium - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Hyde, UK - Manila, Philippines - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - London, England - Austin (TX), USA - Toulouse, France - Weston (FL), USA - Sesimbra, Portugal - Selma (AL), USA - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Cleveland (OH), USA - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - American Fork (UT), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - North Bay (ON), Canada - Arradon, France - Paderborn, Germany - Durban, South Africa - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Portland (OR), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Wichita (Ks), USA - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Grenoble, France - New York City (NY), USA - Nottingham, UK - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Arlington (VA), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Miami (FL), USA - Cheltenham, UK - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Saratoga Spgs. (NY), USA - Las Vegas (NV), USA - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Nashville (TN), USA - Toruń, Poland - New Orleans (LA), USA - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Melbourne, Australia - Moscow, Russia - Trujillo, Peru - Château-Gontier, France - Quincy (MA), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Joplin (MO), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Brookville (OH), USA - Chateaubriant, France - Chandler (AZ), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Baziège, France - Auckland, New Zealand - Wellington, New Zealand - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Subang Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Detroit (MI), USA - Riga, Latvia - Nelson, New Zealand - Budapest, Hungary - Cape Town, South Africa - Sydney, Australia - Dunedin (FL), USA - Sofia, Bulgaria - Radonvilliers, France - Turin, Italy - Montpellier, France - Kansas City (MO), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Wailea (HI), USA - Lubbock (TX), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Terrell (TX), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Budapest, Hungary - Montréal (QC), Canada - Sharon (CT), USA - Le Guilvinec, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - London, UK - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Orlando (FL), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Paris, France - Mainz, Germany - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Darmstadt, Germany - Naples (FL), USA - Torino, Italy - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Bogor, Indonesia - The Hague, Netherlands - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - Melbourne (VIC), Australia - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Christchurch, New Zealand