Petrin Tower and Charles Bridge last evening in Prague 7th Jan 2015

The last day in Prague continues , Jan is feeling better so we are heading for Petrin Tower which is over near the castle.

Our final afternoon in Prague , a selfy on Charles Bridge  lol

Someone is feeding the birds , hundreds of gulls circling around us .

Near the end of the bridge we cross over "Devils Stream" and the waterwheel next to an old mill I presume.

Its starting to get dark now, still some snow falling but we are going to find the funicular railway that goes up to Petrin Tower.     But first we need to find a cafe for a drink & Cake :)

We have come across a really nice little cafe with loads of Cake :D       SO its hot chocolate with creme and chocolate caramel fudge brownie :)     we are the only ones in here, which is odd , but we have come away from the busy castle area.

 

CAKE!

We managed to find the Funicular station, through a big stone arch entering a park.  our 3 day transport tickets cover this railway which is good. This is the station half way up , plenty of snow up here.

Having reached the top station we come out in a big park, with lots of snow!  yay          we can see the tower a few hundred meters away , so make our way through the dark snowy evening light towards the illuminated Petrin Tower.

It is stunning!    blue lights near the top with yellow lights inside the lower sections and white on the outer frame.       the trees look good silhouetted against the lights.

                                                      Here i am shooting the tower :)

                                                           The resulting image .

Time to go up the tower now, it costs 1,200cz to go up, and an extra 60cz to take the lift!  as its 299 steps, Jan has decided its the lift!    lol

                               We come out of the tiny metal clad elevator  and.............   Jan exclaims
                     
                                    why have frosted glass to prevent us seeing out?????



Don't i look peed off!      thick fog has come down & we can't see anything!!!!!  11 quid it cost to come up here   Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh.

                                                     the view looking down............... :(

                                                        the spiral stairs and The Lift door!

After waiting to see if the fog might clear we have given up and come back down, only to find a sign has been put up saying       "reduced visibility"          they must have known when we paid that it was foggy up there!     tossers!


                                    Any how , time to get some good atmospheric images

 

Fog really thick now !

                                                            Jan snapped me again!

     Kneeling in the snow to get this image with all the foreground grass covered in snow,

 

its wonderful here with the fog swirling around the tree tops, snow on the ground   magical!

                                                   I think this is my favourite image :)

We make our way through the park back to the railway, where we get off at the middle station for a look around .

       Using long lens to shoot St Vitus cathedral through the fog, which is clearing a little down lower.

After walking from the Funicular back to Charles Bridge its time to try to take a few images of the bridge ,  there are still quite a few people on the bridge but taking long exposures the moving people disappear , mostly ......

                                                         Lesser town bridge  Tower.

                                             Shot from near the Lesser town tower end

                       
                               Managed to get some light illuminating the statues in this one :)

                     A few different images shot towards Old Town Tower end of the bridge.

                Have tried a few different white balance settings on camera, quite like this colour.

                             Last pics from Metro station on our way back to the hotel.

                              The end of our time in Prague, what a fantastic city.

Prague in the snow Jan 7th 2015

Its our last full day in Prague , and Jan is not feeling too well :(     so i am going out on my own this morning.  Will stop off at the two Metro stations i haven't shot yet with the different colours then head to the "Dancing house" down by the river.

 I have taken the Metro to the next station "Muzeum" which is at the top of Wenceslas square , taken this shot and the hopped on the next train to "Mustek"

                                                           Beautiful gold colours at "Mustek" 
  I have to  change over to "B" line to go to "Karlova namesti" which is nearest station to the river and the" Dancing House"

 I have come out of the station into a Blizzard!!!    snow is coming down hard at the moment  , as i walk down the river the air is thick with snow flakes :)

                    My coat is now white with snow as i continue to walk along the river .

                                       Here is the "Dancing House"     how strange!

 Just down the river i have come to an Island "Slovansky Ostrov"   with a beautiful building which has "Zafin" a garden restaurant and caters for functions , weddings ect i think.

Crossing onto the small island i have a walk around the gardens and views towards Prague castle. well its there somewhere  lol.

                                    The Castle is just visible through the snow filled sky.

                                           Looking back to the bridge over to the island :)

I can just about make out "Petrin Tower" over on the hill opposite , will be going up there later today hopefully.

 This is "Legion bridge"  think i will cross the river here and walk right around to" Charles bridge"

Crossing the bridge now, there is an island "Strelecky Ostvo" in the centre of the river with access from this bridge , i would go down for a look around but want to get back to see how Jan is, so better keep moving.

                          The snow has stopped now and getting better views of the castle now.

            I have shot a panorama looking towards Charles bridge and the castle over to the far left, 
                                       
                                                                   view Large HERE

                                                            Great views from this bridge :)

                                                                    Trees on the island

On the other side of the river now and walking towards Kamara island ,  "Devils stream" separating 
it from the Lesser town side of the river.
The trees on the right are on another small island "Detsky Ostrov" the boats go through this channel bypassing  the 2 weirs.

                                          Leaving the river and heading across the park now

                    its a bit dull , but the colours on all the buildings would look great in the sun i bet

                        Back across Charles bridge now , its quite busy even in these conditions :)

                          Snow covered Red rooftops :) and  all different colours across the Palaces

                                              Taking a few images as i cross the bridge

                                                      One of the many statues on the bridge!

Now i must quickly get the Metro from "Staromestka"  to "Namestri Miru" which takes about 10 minutes  and then just a 4 min walk to the hotel.

                                Almost at the hotel now  , snow melting now unfortunately

                                                                      Hotel "ANNA"

 

                                                     We will be back out soon if Jan is ok