Mr. Puppet Guy!

Well, here he is! His face will look more complete once I've painted on his eyes, and he needs a set of clothing, but I think he looks pretty snazzy! :) Now I just need a name, as catchy as "Mr. Puppet Guy" is...

Done! Me and Martin

Martin and I posing with our puppets! I had just "finished" mine - I still don't have the painting or clothing done, like on his, but the carving is complete, so this is our victory photo. :)

Hard at Work

This is me in Martin's studio, on the 7th floor of an apartment building in Zizkov. He took this photo today, just as I was putting some finishing touches on my puppet... I wonder how much time I actually spent sitting like that (after I figured out that the floor was much more comfy for your neck than bending over a table from a chair)!

Me in Fairytale Land

I'm sitting on the wall on the way up from the main castle to the castle gardens - they were closed the day it was raining, but we decided to go back up the next day to try again... It was definitely worth the climb!

Night Spirals

Streetlamps playing with shadows just as we left the restaurant...

SUCH a good dinner...

After wandering the castle, Ken, Steve and I had the most wonderful dinner at a place called Krcma v Satlavske. We'd actually met a guide at the castle who was just finishing a tour, but let us tag along for free, and then we ran into her again down in the town while we were looking for a restaurant. She sent us to this place - no wonder she's a guide! You can't see it too well, but right behind me is the open fireplace where they cook all the meat... We topped it off with some hot flavoured wine - wonderful! If I go back to Cesky Krumlov, I'll definitely be returning here too!

Beautiful Sculptures... ?

This is Steve and I pretending to be fountains in the first courtyard of Cesky Krumlov castle... We thought it looked like it was lacking one, so we did our best to oblige!

Through the Peep Hole

This is the beautiful little town of Cesky Krumlov, about 3 hours south of Prague, as seen through one of the ramparts on the town's castle. It was pouring this day (more umbrella holding), but gorgeous nonetheless... We weren't going to melt, so we didn't let the rain stop us from seeing the sights!

The Old Jewish Cemetery

This is a shot of the Old Jewish Cemetery in the oldest part of Prague - the Jews all lived in this one little ghetto, and they used this cemetery for so many years that the ground level is actually over a meter higher than the surrounding land in some places from the layers! It was raining, so I kept making my friend Ken hold my umbrella over the camera while I took my shots... I don't think he'd have minded so much if my umbrella wasn't bright purple! :) Oh well...still keeps the rain off!

Toes again!

Here's one of my feet, completed this time! You have to attach the feet before you carve the legs to make sure that they'll go together. It's coming along!

Toes-ies

The starts of a foot... You just draw it on the outside like this, and then start hacking away! The little one on the right is one that Martin gave me as an example to work from. I was going for a little different look with mine, but it was nice to have the guide there!

Communist Architecture at it's Finest

This is the Zizkov TV Tower that the communists built starting in 1984. Some Czechs think it's futuristic, but many just find it ugly... It's apparently got some great views, though, and the little things crawling on the outside are a piece of art by David Cerny called "Babies" - they're creepy, slot-faced metal babies crawling up and down the sides of it. I walked past this every day to go to Martin's studio to do my carving - interesting, at least!

St. Vitus ceiling

A less common view of the cathedral - standing just south of the cross (transept?), looking straight up.

More at St. Vitus

This is actually from the first time I visited Prague Castle, on a guided tour I joined through town. It was just me, the guide, and two cute little English ladies called Sue and Jill. We didn't actually go through the interior on this day, but I thought I would show you the exterior view here as well. This is the oldest Gothic end, seen from the west as you pass St. George's Basilica.

Come a little closer...

Here's a closer look at his face. The eyes will be painted on (when I get to that part, likely when I get home), but you can see him in little more detail here! Can't wait to see it finished!

My carving!

I forgot to take a shot at the very beginning before I started carving, but this is still a pretty early stage. You can see the round little body, and the head is mostly carved as well - still details to go. You can see my design and tools in the foreground, and on the back of the table are the cutouts for the hands, feet and legs. Martin pre-cuts them to the dimensions of the design, but they come out squared off, as you can see, and then the carver has to go from there. I'm really enjoying it so far - sharp things make fun toys! :)

St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle

This was my first interior view of a big, classic cathedral - beautiful! The cathedral itself is the biggest and most impressive part of Prague castle, as far as I'm concerned. It was built mainly in three stages - the rear section was begun in the Gothic era, the middle continued in the Renaissance, and then the end of it was finished in the 19th century in Neo-Gothic style. Quite the span, huh?

Living it up in Karlstejn

This is me with Steve (my Australian friend, on the left), and the crazy, fun Swiss guys we met on the train to Karlstejn. They had left their wives at home and gone for a "man's weekend" in the Czech Republic! Left to right are Heinz, Rene, Michael and Martin. We had a lovely dinner after walking up the huge hill and seeing the castle, and then decided we had time for one more beer in this little pub before catching out return train home. We made it with minutes to spare! :)

Karlstejn Castle

More of a fairytale-type castle than Prague Castle (which is really more like a big fancy cathedral in a complex - still amazing, but not a castle in my traditional sense!). It was one big long hill on the way up, getting steeper and steeper until you finally reached the top - what a climb! I had to take my jacket off since I was dying from the heat, but during our tour through the old stone rooms inside, I was sure glad to have it again. The wind was blowing it's fiercest on the way back down, too - the four Swiss guys we were with were envious that the Canadian girl was well prepared with her gloves!

St. Barbara Cathedral in Kutna Hora

The other main sight in town - after the gory fascination at the Ossuary - is St. Barbara Cathedral, seen here from across the valley. They're doing some restoration work on it, hence the scaffolding, but still beautiful - an impressive example of Gothic architecture in the Czech Republic.

The Chandelier at Sedlec Ossuary

Oops - here's the chandelier! I'm still getting the hang of this blogging thing...

How about a little atmosphere?

This is a little intro shot to the Sedlec Ossuary in Kutna Hora - the second pic is the chandelier that apparently contains every bone in the human body, plus at least one or two duplicates, as far as I could see!
The "Bone Church", as it's known, had piles of bones just sitting around after they were dug up to make room for plague victims - until an artist decided to get "creative" with them in the 1800's. There were all kinds of delightful creations in there, including a family crest of the sponsoring family...just the thing to get for the person who has everything!

My first carving!

I carved the hand on the left - Martin's is the one on the right I was working from. Not bad for my first time out, I thought, and I only ended up with a couple of nicks for my trouble...

Oh, the 72 Stairs...

Yes, I counted - 72. These are the stairs I had to carry my suitcase up on the day I arrived, since my hostel was on the other side of the railroad tracks from the metro station. I now go up them at least once a day, as well - plus the metro stairs and the inevitable hills on which every attraction seems to be located! At least I'm working off those Czech beers...

Sunset on Charles Bridge

A view of Charles Bridge at sunset - so far, the most sunlight I've seen at this locale! I've been on the bridge three times now, but all after dark - it's beautiful and enchanting, but I'd still like to see it during the day when all the vendors and buskers are out. It's on the "to do" list!

The Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square - the windows open at the top and some guys come out and scroll by, and the figures beside the face all move as well It was built during the 14th and 15th centuries - pretty fancy for it's time! (haha...no pun intended!)