Mucha Window of St Vitus Cathedral, Prague

Mucha Stained Glass Window of St Vitus Cathedral, Prague

The windows in St Vitus are amazing. Below are pictures of the exquisite Alfons Mucha window.
Alfons Mucha was one of the founders of what was originally called the Mucha Style and later became known as Art Nouveau. This Mucha window was designed in the early 1930's.

Czech Crown Jewels and The Story of Prague Castle

From the Pictured Brochure:

The Story of Prague Castle

The Thousand Year History of the Place where Czech Statehood Unfolded

The Story of Prague Castle - The Exhibition

Old Royal Palace (Gothic Floor)
April - October (Summer Season) 9am to 6pm
November - March (Winter Season) 9am to 4pm
Duration of visit about 1 hour 30 minutes

The exhibition is divided into two parts.

The first of these chronologically presents the major representatives of the Czech state, the key events and building development of the Prague Castle complex from prehistory to the present. This also includes interactive programmes with visualizations of the building development of the castle complex in nine stages and a wealth of information about the given periods, including brief summaries of well-known historical events in Europe, the Bohemian lands and Prague Castle itself.

The second part the Stories, develop certain themes linked with Prague Castle: The Story of Bohemian Patrons, The Story of the Church and Cathedral, The Story of Burials, The Story of Residences, The Story of Heating, The Story of Banquets, The Story of Coronations.

The Story of Prague Castle - The Film

There is also a Film: Prague Castle Through The Ages which shows daily in both Czech and English. The documentary presents the hidden corners of the castle in a montage of unusual perspectives on architecture, artworks and old prints. The mindsets of those who built and ruled the castle are presented through quotations from historical chronicles and manuscripts.

Screening Times (as of October 2008)
Czech Version: 9:00am, 10:30am, noon, 1:30pm, 3pm
Additional summer screening: 4:30pm
English Version: 9:45am, 11:15am, 12:45pm, 2:15pm
Additional summer screenings: 3:45pm and 5:15pm

The film is shown in the room above the Gothic floor - access from the Riders' Staircase, running time of 40 minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I loved this exhibition, although I did not see the documentary. Prague castle is littered with history and it was grand to have it all laid out so comprehensively in one place. Of course, my main fascination is always with the crown jewels. So I particularly enjoyed seeing the Bohemian crown jewels. Recommended. Especially if you like bling. Stop by the official Story of Prague Castle website for more info.

Prague Budapest Cesky Krumlov Vienna London and Austrian keyboard differences

Traveling is never what I expect and always a treasure. This is the first European trip I've had in a really long long time that didnt involve constant internet access. So the grand plan of bloggin my way around eastern europe dissolved into the mist. So instead, I've gone old skool and written it all down in pen and ink. Ok, so I didnt really write it all down. I scribbled notes and a log of sights I saw and ideas and future ramblings to share with you.

The first of which is the fact that on Austrian keyboards the y and the z are reversed. So if zou see some funkz spelling then please forgive me as I have not properlz adapted. :) There's also a few new keys: Ö Ä Ü and of course the very necessary €. Also for those of you who would like to use the @ to write out an email addy.... its conveniently located on the Q key and you will need to use the Alt Gr key.

So originally we had grand plans for Lisbon on the front end of this trip and I dont even remember what else. Oh yes, rail passes.. I was surprised how cheap rail tickets are over here. I think we saved money by not getting passes. And then there was the bus - cheap cheap cheap but not so good over 3 hours I'd say. Anyhoo its the middle of the night and I'm rambling.

Just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know all sorts of fun and useful information is coming your way. The majority of the goods will be about Prague, Budapest, Cesky Krumlov and Vienna. Off to London tomorrow for a whole whopping 20 hours so I'm not sure what kind of goods I will dig up for you there.

So stay tuned for your handy eastern europe update. Happy Travels!