The Dancing House was originally nicknamed “Fred and Ginger.”  The glass tower leaning inward like a woman in motion and the stone tower standing tall as her partner.  This is one of Prague’s most iconic modern landmarks, standing gracefully on the banks of the Vltava River.  This unique building houses offices, a gallery and a rooftop restaurant, none of which I visited.  I was happy to see it at blue hour from the street.  It was all part of the unique and ornate buildings of Prague.

Ornate Buildings of Prague, Czech Republic

Many European cities have a deep and rich history.  Buildings are often hundreds of years old, built at a time when craftsmen showed off their skills for those who could afford it.  Walking down the street one sees building after building that is more beautifully adorned than most anything one sees in the US.  The ornate buildings of Prague are captivating, inside and out.

 

 

 

The outside of the buildings are also impressive.  Below is a random building across from a bus stop.  Each of the five floors were decorated with beautiful ornate designs that most people walk by and never see, unless they are waiting  20 minutes for an overdue bus.  How many people reading this blog have matching cherubs on their balcony or the family coat of arm above their doorway carved in stone?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caryatids

I’m always so proud that I can always think of the word caryatids.  Other words like bougainvillea seem to always escape me.  But writing this post, I learned something.  I thought any figure, man or woman,  used as a column support for a building was a caryatid.  Turns out only women are the caryatids.  The men are called atlantids or telamones.  So when shopping for a residence in Prague, you can specifically request caryatids or telamones or, as in this building, both.

 

 

Lennon Wall

The Charles Bridge in Prague is one of the most famous and visited tourist destinations.  It has 30 statues on it and was build in the 1840s.  I asked for directions to the Lennon Wall and was pointed in the correct direction so off I went to the Lennon Wall.

 

The Lennon Wall in Prague became a powerful symbol of resistance during the years of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. After John Lennon’s death in 1980, young people began painting his image, lyrics of Beatle songs and calls for peace and freedom on this otherwise ordinary wall. Despite repeated attempts by Communist authorities to paint it over, new layers of messages reappeared overnight, turning the wall into an evolving voice of the people. Unlike a modern graffiti space such as Freak Alley in Boise, Idaho, which is largely artistic self-expression, the Lennon Wall carried real political weight—each brushstroke was an act of defiance. For many, it represented hope, individuality, and the dream of a freer society. Today, after the Velvet Revolution of 1989, in the free Czech Republic, the wall remains a living canvas, reminding visitors of Prague’s struggle against censorship and its embrace of liberty.

 

With the collapse of communism, the wall continues to change daily, reflecting contemporary causes and global movements. It serves as both a memorial to the struggle for freedom and an open canvas where visitors from around the world add their own messages of peace, love, and solidarity.

 

Memorial to the Victims of Communism

The Memorial to the Victims of Communism in Prague was  created in 2002.  It consists of six haunting, bronze figures descending a staircase. Each figure appears more decayed than the last, symbolizing how communist rule eroded the lives and spirits of its people. The memorial is a somber space of reflection and a lasting warning never to take freedom for granted. Photographing this site is not just about documenting its striking bronze figures, but about capturing the silence, absence, and loss they represent.

On our tours, we have visited a large statue of Lenin in Petropavlovsk, Russia and seen another communism memorial in Romania.  Romania Museum of Communism  Both museums  featured life sized disfigured bronze sculptures of people.

A nearby plaque records the staggering toll: 205,486 political convictions, 248 executions, 4,500 deaths in prison, 327 shot attempting escape, and 170,938 forced into exile. These numbers give weight to the fractured bodies, reminding visitors of the human cost of communism.

Prague Astronomical Clock

The Prague Astronomical Clock is one of the city’s most treasured landmarks, mounted on the Old Town Hall in the heart of the main square. First installed in 1410, it is the oldest one still in operation. Its fame comes not only from its age but also from its extraordinary complexity and beauty.  The clock’s central dial shows the position of the sun and moon, the phases of the moon and the signs of the zodiac alongside modern 24-hour time. It has functioned as both a civic timekeeper and a medieval planetarium.

The blue streaks are of a vendor walking through the photo selling illuminated balloons.  He did not speak English and I do not speak Czechoslovakian, so I would give him a dollar, point to my camera, try to indicate where I would be standing with my tripod and that I wanted him to walk slowly through the photo.  I would get back to the place where I was to take the time lapse photo and he had already walked part of the way and turned around.  Another dollar and I tried to explain it again.  I waited, no walking whatsoever.  Another dollar and another attempt.  Six bucks later I got a very average photo and quite a bit of exercise.

 

 

Every hour, the clock stages the “Walk of the Apostles,” where small wooden figures of the twelve apostles parade past tiny windows above the dial, while other carved figures, like Death with his hourglass, remind onlookers of life’s brevity. Crowds still gather in the square to watch this animated spectacle, just as they have for centuries

 

Light bulb Staircase

Tucked away inside Prague’s House of the Black Madonna is a staircase that surprises many visitors. When you look up through the spiral from below, the steps curve around an overhead window in the unmistakable shape of a light bulb. This clever play of architectural design and perspective merges geometry, design and imagination. While most people flock to Prague’s Old Town Square for the Astronomical Clock, this nearby hidden spot offers photographers a chance to capture something unexpected and modern.

The best time to visit is in the daytime when the top light bulb is fully illuminated.  I visited at night…  I had forgotten about this building and only recalled it late in our last evening in Prague.  One of these photos is a single cell phone photo and the other is a complex stitching together of 15 photos focused at different distances to get everything into focus.

 

So our first ever river cruise soon begins.  Tomorrow we head toward Budapest, Hungary.