Prague, Czech - Praha 1 Street Scenes

[Street scenes from the bus window on ride from airport to our hotel in Prague]  We are traveling across the bridge in the upper left corner, twist and turn on streets, and end at the Art Deco Imperial Hotel in the lower right section of the map.

Restaurants line the river on boats.

As we cross Vitava River on the the Stefanikuv Most (Stefanik Bridge, formerly Franz Joseph Bridge) and enter Praha 1, the first building is a large and impressive one with a dome on the top.  It is Ministerstvo průmyslu a obchodu České republiky (Ministry of Industry and Trade Czech Republic).  This department handles business support, foreign trade, consumer protection, EU and Internal Markets, Energy and Raw Materials, Industry and Construction, e-commerce and post.

 Art along the way.

Streets and graffiti that decorates the walls.

I start to process things that are "the same" and "different".  Crosswalks are clearly marked.

Same: A place to eat.

Different: ahhh, interesting text on the menu.  But the chalk board (not a pre-printed menu) tells me that the food is fresh and the menu likely prepared daily.

Crosswalks are clearly marked, but I notice that some of these crosswalks don't have traffic signals.  It's me against the cars!

Person vs cars in the crosswalks.  I will need to be wide awake for these street journeys!

Hmmm, if I need audio and video, I know what to do.  But what are the other words?  A quick check on Google Translate tells me that EL. Spotrebice deals with electrical appliances.  Small sense is "components" and larger scale for appliances that run on electricity.    The larger words near the store front Ceske Klenotnictvi are for the name of the jewelry store.  SOOO, the electrical words are part of the larger building occupants?  Must be.

The tour guide pointed out that these little "change" stores are located throughout the city.  She also points out that rates may vary and while Czeck Republic is part of the EU, the euro is not used.  The country uses its own currency: Czech crown or Koruna.  The website "Virtual Tourist" lists several comments about exchanging currency.  There is a posted rate outside and a "zero commission" fee.  One woman exchanged for a lesser rate. When she asked why, it was because the transaction was "small".  Buyer beware!