Renaissance in Prague (June 30)

Hello to my fellow travelers ... virtual travelers that is.


Today was to be my News class and an A+A homework visit to the Granovsky Palace, which is just over the line (the old wall that is) from Old Town into New Town.


In News class we chose our final project topic - which I will not share here, because I would like everyone's opinion about whether we hit the mark or not. The project will be a 2-minute video of a current soft news story here in Prague. There are three of us in the class, and it is a group effort. We (Natasha, Aray and I) are required to script it, shoot it (including man-on-the-street and expert interviews), produce it, edit it, narrate it and do stands-up in it ... whew, there it is a LOT to do - - but I think we've got it covered, and both girls are eager and interested to do a good job.


Natasha is from Russia, and is at AAU (my school) full-time for Journalism ... so she is the only one who is taking this class as a non-elective. Aray is also full-time, I forget for what, and is from Kazakhstan. Aray is also in my A+A class.


And so ... let's move on to the good stuff ... the pics!!


On my way to school, I stopped off (or tried to) at the Granovsky Palace just outside Old Town Sq. I now know, from my experience with the Church of the Virgin Mary of the Snows, that my A+A teach likes to give vague directions ... to ... let's say 'encourage our exploration of the city' - - which is fine with me! It gets a little frustrating at times, but hey - I am ALL for exploration. And honestly, I probably don't do more than a cursory look of where the place is before I head off ... because I love to wander!


So, the building that I thought was Granovsky Palace - was not. I ran into Chris (A+A teach) on my way out of News class and told him I had difficulty finding the Palace and showed him the pics. It was immediately apparent that I was at the wrong place when his face showed no recognition, and then my fears were confirmed when he said "where is that" ... nice! Sooooo ... I got better directions and went back the next day. However, I will combine both days Granovsky events into one entry here.


I did see some cool things trying to find the Palace on Wednesday (30th) ...

A gorgeous building, with a swallow tail gable on top and some fabulous fresco work as well as what looks like sgrafitto on the sides. These elements are all Renaissance in style, but I'm thinking this building is too new for that Era and therefore is Neo-Renaissance.

This one's for my momma!!! And I just LOVE LOVE the beautiful blouse in the center.

I've left the vicinity of the Granovsky Palace and am making my way to school. I'm now in the Jewish Quarter. I liked the look of this palatial building, but I do not know what it is ... I suspect however that it is a hotel. It is on the main square of the Jewish Quarter.

This is another neat building on the main square of the Jewish Quarter. I really liked the green and gold designs on the exterior.

This is a walled-off statue in the main square of the Jewish Quarter (with the above green gold building behind it, and the palatial one before that to the right of it). I was so moved by it ... check out the close-up ...

So evocative of hopelessness and defeat and being utterly downtrodden. It didn't have a plaque, so I do not know what it represents ... I suspect it is about the oppression of the Jews, or maybe just the general oppression of people of a different religion than the current ruling class. Sigh.

This is the Jewish Museum ... gorgeous! It is actually in a Neo-Romanesque style.

This is a FABULOUS building on the other side of the river (Castle side) ... I don't know WHAT it is, but I would kill to live there! OK OK, so I wouldn't KILL - but I might maim. Colleen and I actually walked by it, on that side of the river, when we were walking from the Castle to the Jewish Quarter to rent the car and head out to Kutna Hora ... but this is a better picture than that one.

This is in Hradcany (Castle District) and therefore I assume government related ... as it LOOKS government related. But, I do not technically know what it is ... however, it is FABULOUS and I got a good shot from the opposite side of the river!

This is a sweet little island that almost touches the eastern side of the Vltava River (my side), at the end of the Charles Bridge ... you can see the tops of the Bridge Tower just over the trees.

One more view of Hradcany before I cross the river and head into my News class. Here you can see the Queen's Summer Palace (from yesterday's entry) in the upper right of the image, and the Castle on the left - - that tower is the water tower. Looks like some vineyards, as well as a lovely step-terraced building in the center. Beautiful!

OK ... so I made it to my News class, and from there went to Hlavni Nadrazi (Main Railway Station) to buy my ticket to Budapest - - - woo hoo!! I leave the day after tomorrow.

From there is was home to do some homework and prepping for Budapest.

The next day I did actually LOCATE the Granovsky Palace, and here is what I found.

I'm in Old Town Sq (note the Tyn Church on the left of this image) and happened to look up and notice this gable ... which we learned about in today's A+A class! This is a semi-circle gable. Neat!

And THERE it is ... Granovsky Palace!! Note the Renaissance features of a rusticated portal, a lunette gable and much sgrafitto work.

A wide-shot of Granovsky, showing the extensive geometric sgrafitto work.

This is also part of Granovsky, and it is gorgeous! But my picture wasn't clear enough for me to tell if this is fresco or sgrafitto work, or perhaps both.

This is the courtyard of the Granovsky Palace. You can also see the Renaissance elements here; with the repetition of the arched arcade (to give a sense of rhythm and horizontal orientation), the Tuscan columns used in the arcade, the rounded arched windows, and the fresco work on the top story.

More of the courtyard view. The frescoes are of biblical scenes; like Cain and Able, Adam and Eve, Samson and Delilah, and Lot and his daughters.

A little of the courtyard itself, you can see Granovsky Palace (1560's) on the left.

A close-up of the cool statue in the courtyard. I love the animal companions that the two humans have ... a feline for the woman and a bird-of-prey for the man. Nice!

A close-up of the beautiful fresco work on Granovsky Palace.

And that would be IT ladies and gents.

Tune in tomorrow for a visit to the Church of Our Lady Victorious (and the doll that goes with it, yes - I said doll), as well as the magnificent Valdstejn Palace.

Thanks for reading along with me on my Czech travels.

Here is a link to the day's photos on my Picasa page ... Granovsky ... no wait, where is that? and of course Ah ha! Now THAT is Granovsky Palace