My Czech Republic Blog

Blog written by two Prague residents about life in the Czech Republic.

Restoration Completed on Astronomical Clock in Prague

By Leave a Comment

The scaffolding has come down and the restored astronomical clock in Prague can now be seen. Once again, groups with gather and stare up at the revolving apostles on the hour. According to the City of Prague website, the work included overhauling the Mánes Calendar, repairing the astrolabe’s pointer mechanism and restoring the wooden sculptures. The total cost was estimated to run close to 2.5 million Czech crowns (100,000 USD – 85,000 EUR).

As I promised in a previous post, I have included before and after photos. I also show a close-up picture of one section of the orloj. The lighting in the photos it different, but it is still possible to see what a difference the restoration work has done to the appearance of the orloj.

Orloj Before
Before		 Orloj After
After
Orloj Before
Before		 Orloj Before
After

First Snow in Prague

By 1 Comment

We had our first snow of the season here in Prague. As the day wore on, most of the snow melted and it could just be seen in parks, on cars and on rooftops. More snow is in the forecast for the next few days. As a photographer, I hope there are a lot of snow days this winter, so I have a good opportunity to capture the beauty of Prague and elsewhere in the Czech Republic under snow. As a Prague resident (and a former Californian), I hope the winter is not too harsh.

      

World Cup Bound!

By 1 Comment

The Czech Republic beat Norway 1-0 in the second leg of the football play-off match in Prague and advanced to the World Cup in Germany, which begins in June 2006. This is the first time the Czech Republic has qualified since the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993. The official FIFA World Cup website is a great source for World Cup news.

After the game, the Czech team donned t-shirts which said “Odjíždíme! A vy? – Germany 205 dní”, which means “We’re leaving! And you? – Germany 205 days”. We can hear fireworks going off in the distance.