Another European odyssey....!

[gerarddwatts]

Over the Liberty Bridge, watching tour boats going through the ...many....locks on the Vlitava...



Past an art installation, astonished to find that even here they celebrate that famous Yorkshire man, Micky, with a representation of him searching for a 20p piece in a field in Dentdale..



Either that or someone stole the statue of Margaret right from underneath him...

Down to the(?) oldest bridge in Europe...a real honeypot site.
Very smart, but made it more special was my sighting of a nutria...



More familiar to some of our older members from east angular as a coypu.
Native to South America they were bought to Europe for meat and fur just as the market disappeared. They escaped/let free and became established in Norfolk and Suffolk. They are quite destructive and the government set about trapping and eradication ...the last one got in Norfolk in 1989. Not so successful here and they are established in here and Germany.
I doubt eradication would work now .. some half witted rewilder would doubtless interfere...

 

[gerarddwatts]

Proper view of the Charles Bridge...

 

[Posh Pete]

Over the Liberty Bridge, watching tour boats going through the ...many....locks on the Vlitava...

View attachment 395932

Past an art installation, astonished to find that even here they celebrate that famous Yorkshire man, Micky, with a representation of him searching for a 20p piece in a field in Dentdale..

View attachment 395933

Either that or someone stole the statue of Margaret right from underneath him...

Down to the(?) oldest bridge in Europe...a real honeypot site.
Very smart, but made it more special was my sighting of a nutria...

View attachment 395934

More familiar to some of our older members from east angular as a coypu.
Native to South America they were bought to Europe for meat and fur just as the market disappeared. They escaped/let free and became established in Norfolk and Suffolk. They are quite destructive and the government set about trapping and eradication ...the last one got in Norfolk in 1989. Not so successful here and they are established in here and Germany.
I doubt eradication would work now .. some half witted rewilder would doubtless interfere...

First LOL of the day! Thanks Gerry. I expect you can guess which bit prompted the chortle!

 

[gerarddwatts]

Always something to gawp at...old....



And new




The wings flap and the propellers spin!

 

[Northern jock]

To catch up...
A donder through the city, which is completely walkable...magnificent architecture at every turn.
This part of Europe seems to have been a major part in every civilisation there's been!
Culminating in the German Invasion(Heydrich etc), the post war carve up, the Russian Invasion(Prague Spring) and then booting out the soviets...(Velvet revolution).
It's now a modern democratic Republic, and it shows.
But all these influences have left their mark in stunning skylines!

View attachment 395907

We found a very historic cafe for a break..this is one of the few nations..as well as France and the UK..that hasn't banned Absinthe, and this cafe, once the haunt of Kafka etc, regards itself as the epicentre of Absinthe in Prague, hence the artwork..

View attachment 395909⁶

View attachment 395910

Great painting

 

[Northern jock]

Over the Liberty Bridge, watching tour boats going through the ...many....locks on the Vlitava...

View attachment 395932

Past an art installation, astonished to find that even here they celebrate that famous Yorkshire man, Micky, with a representation of him searching for a 20p piece in a field in Dentdale..

View attachment 395933

Either that or someone stole the statue of Margaret right from underneath him...

Down to the(?) oldest bridge in Europe...a real honeypot site.
Very smart, but made it more special was my sighting of a nutria...

View attachment 395934

More familiar to some of our older members from east angular as a coypu.
Native to South America they were bought to Europe for meat and fur just as the market disappeared. They escaped/let free and became established in Norfolk and Suffolk. They are quite destructive and the government set about trapping and eradication ...the last one got in Norfolk in 1989. Not so successful here and they are established in here and Germany.
I doubt eradication would work now .. some half witted rewilder would doubtless interfere...

I was going to ask if you’d managed to see any local beaver, looks like you did. Very lucky.

 

[gerarddwatts]

Another fine day, crisp and sunny, all day wearing just a shirt and jumper on top.
Wandered into the old town...





to discover that the 'new' town was developed in the 14th century. Coffee and crap in a fine coffee house..



Saw the famous clock ,which processes the apostles every hour..

 

[gerarddwatts]

Then onto the river, and a boat ride with incredible views of the castle...



More coypu action..



Comparing beavers clearly...

 

[gerarddwatts]

And then into the Jewish quarter...I wished I hadn't, but glad I did....an exhibition with a series of photographs of a journey with no return....German troops...sorry Nazis,....rounding up men women and children from their homes, herding them onto transport, many going to extermination camps, other being casually murdered en route.
I saw men and women sobbing as they followed the photos.
Just beyond evil...no words.

 

[gerarddwatts]

Then into the Jewish cemetery, the largest in Europe, contains 12000 graves, 12 deep and going back centuries...

 

[gerarddwatts]

An odd depiction of Franz Kafka...

 

[gerarddwatts]

Out for our tea...how could you resist any menu that has 'Piglet Knee' on it




I had duck, Cherry a pork chop.

 

[gerarddwatts]

We were given wee shots of slivovic on the house....not sure I could manage a bottle though.




Helped wash down the creme caramel...

 

[wessie]

your duck appears to have been served with a dog chew

 

[Northern jock]

I imagine piglet knee to be like a lamb shank joint, worth a go

 

[gerarddwatts]

your duck appears to have been served with a dog chew

The famous dumpling...not a frantic fan...

 

[gerarddwatts]

What a fabulous day for ninjawifes birthday!
She's 69, and I can't tell you how much she's looking forward to a whole year of poor taste jokes, such as I think she's 96, but I get everything arse about face etc etc...
Totally cloudless all day, so braved the metro...free for oldies...and then clambered up to Prague Castle....

 

[gerarddwatts]

Lovely views across the river..



The castle is the seat of power really, presidential palace etc and also the magnificent St. Vitus Cathedral..



The presidential guard rock about..



Not quite Horse Guards but

 

[gerarddwatts]

Donder back via the tube...I'd left strategically placed birthday cards in the room and there was a note inviting Cherry to see the manager at the front desk, where she was given a box of chocolates to mark the day..



Works every time!

 

[Arsey]

Looks good .
Just watching Michael Portillo in Switzerland and he’s on the Golden Pass Express from Interlaken to Gstaad.

Have you done that one ? Looks great