Last Prague Post: From Roots to Cobblestones

Last post from Prague so some photos that reminded me of my roots, some interesting street scenes and other 'odds and sods' photos I wanted you to see.

Do they still have Bata stores in Canada? I remember them from my early years. The Bata Store and the English store, Marks and Spencer,are just a block apart on one of the main strrets in Prague.


Homage to my mother and her English roots.


And to my Canadian roots.

Nina honey, I would have gone in if it had been open!

In a storefront - who could resist taking this photo!

Saw oodles of these very old cars with dapper drivers
and obviously rich tourists in the backseats.

Anybody want to paint?

My new best friend!

Never seen so many marionettes,aka stick puppets, as in Prague.

Havelska Market: Colorful open-air market that sells crafts and produce; surprised this was the only one we found or even heard about as we love going to markets. 

Having just a wee sweet tooth (!!), I tried the extremely popular Czech pastry Trdlica; looked yummier than it was, as I thought it rather dry. Perhaps I needed to add the Nutella that most others seemed to like with it.

Cobblestone Streets: Amazing all the patterns you can come up with using cobblestones. There were even other photos of them I haven't included of cobblestones!

Maj Department Store: Located a half block from our hostel, it was built in the 1970’s, the building’s ‘love it or hate it’ Brutalist architecture was hailed as a high point of Communist era design, i.e. a style that emphasized exposing the inner workings like the pipes and ducts on the outside. Critics later derided Brutalism as hideously ugly and the current owner, British retailer Tesco, announced plans to knock down the building. Fans of Communist architecture complained and now the building, much like the Charles Bridge and the Astronomical Clock, is an officially protected cultural landmark.

The Tesco store and its Brutalist Architecture;
we shopped for groceries there daily as it was just a block away from our hostel.

Narodni trida 16: Directly across the street fromour hostel; we had no idea it was located in the middle of such a crucial part of Czech history. The address marks the spot in November of 1989 where the Velvet Revolution began and Czecholslovak Communism was finally defeated. Students and activists, tired of 40 years of repressive Communist rule, marched up Narodni trida, one of the city’s major arteries, from the nearby Vtlava River on their way to a major square. They only got as far as this building at #16 before they were confronted by police. A simple plaque memorializes the spot.