Crowds gather hourly below the old town hall to watch the Astronomical Clock and its automatons chime the time.

Agh! Kill it! Kill it!

These metal monsters appear outside of the Prague’s Museum Kampa, a modern art gallery on the banks of the Vlatava River.

The sculptures are the work of David Černý, a Czech sculptor whose giant, soul-consuming babies also climb the exterior of the Žižkov Television Tower in Prague. I didn’t see the TV Tower up close, but I imagine it’s harrowing to watch a massive tower being consumed by these evil creatures. ]]> http://dsphotographic.com/2009/11/potd-terrifying-baby-sculptures/feed/ 0 http://dsphotographic.com/2009/11/photo-strahov-monastery-theological-hall/ http://dsphotographic.com/2009/11/photo-strahov-monastery-theological-hall/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:00:42 +0000 dsawchuk http://dsphotographic.com/?p=895

This is the magnificent Theological Hall at the Strahov Monatery in Prague. It’s one of two library hall sin the monastery, but, unfortunately for me, the larger of the two, the Philosophical Hall, was under restoration during my visit and it’s shelves were obscured by scaffolding.

The Theological Hall was still worth the trip. The precious tomes lining the walls and displayed on lecterns, the ancient-looking globes and the ornate ceiling fill the room with wonder.

I love libraries and it would be a dream come true to have a proper library as a room in my home. I won’t be so bold as to realistically hope of having a room this grand, but if I ever had more money than I could hope to spend, I might give this photo and a good collection of stories (some Borges, some Eco) to an architect and see what he or she could do.

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, one of the possible activities to engage in while in Prague is stair climbing. The effort is always rewarded as in this case where I climbed the steps of the Old Town Bridge Tower at dusk to be granted this view of Knights of the Cross Square.

up on those ramparts, this photo depicts the view to the East, but the view West is even more impressive. The tower watches over the Charles Bridge and its crossing of the Vlatava river. Rising steeply on the other side is the crag on which Prague Castle cuts into the sky with its jagged outline.

A photo or two of the castle will come later. For now, I’ve given you the shot to the East, where the dusk light seemed to bathe the buildings a warm glow as a blue night descended on the steeples.

This shot, obviously, involved the use of a tripod which wasn’t exactly a piece of cake to use in the narrow passage that surrounds the top of the tower. If you’re going to use one, make sure it’s relatively small and adaptable, but reasonably sturdy as well (I was lucky, but I imagine it can get a bit windy up on the tops of the towers).

The next big batch of photos of the day will be from a recent trip to one of my favourite cities, Prague. It’s often dubbed the city of a hundred spires for the huge number of gothic towers that rise above the red roofs to pierce the sky.

Visitors are constantly drawn up spiral stairways or surrounding hills to gaze down at the city and across the hundreds of spires shooting upwards.

Each new tower rewards the climb with a new vantage on Prague’s endless architectural wonders. In this shot, the principle spires on display include (clockwise, from top left) the Tyn Church, the Powder Tower, the Old Town Hall, and one of the Charles Bridge Guard Towers, most of which can be ascended by the public (all except the Tyn Church).

This clock near the entrance of Ripon Cathedral caught my eye on my way out. This was one of those instances where the light worked perfectly in the setting. It highlighted all the right places and left enough shadow to create some mystery.

By all accounts, I should expect a diverse range of environments: deserts, mountains, oases, coastlines, and of course labyrinthine cities. I look forward to them all and to having some new adventures to share.

Until I arrive back with gigs of photos in tow, I have scheduled a photo of the day post to occur for every weekday. Starting this Tuesday, every weekday will see a new image from my last trip to Prague will pop up in the morning. Constant photoblog freshness and I don’t even have to be here!

Once back, I’m sure I’ll be spoilt for choice for what photos to share from Morocco. Until then, enjoy the daily photos of Prague!

A panoramic view of the choir of Ripon Cathedral.

In addition to being a sucker for massive buildings, I have a soft spot for ancient ones as well. Maybe it’s because, in my home city of Calgary, a building qualifies as old if it has a mere few decades under its belt. Maybe it’s because I grew up reading Tolkien and subconsciously romanticized every stone building I would ever see. Maybe it’s the echoes of a past life. Or maybe just simple nostalgia.

Whatever the reason, I can’t get enough of England’s centuries-old cathedrals. Ripon Cathedral has gone through a number of iterations, but it was begun in 672. I’d say that qualifies as sufficiently aged for me to get giddy at the sight of it.

I can’t pinpoint why, but for some reason, this shot of Fountains Abbey reminds me of some of the ruined temples I saw in South East Asia. The architecture, of course, is entirely different, but there’s just something about it…