Elegant Elbe: Prague 3e Charles Bridge S (5/22/2018)

Tuesday, May 22, 2018 (continued)
We returned to Charles Bridge to start across before exiting to Kampa Island.

St Wenceslas (1858, by Karel Böhm) (KSS)

Sts John de Matha, Felix de Valois and Blessed Ivan
 (1714, by Ferdinand Brokoff) 

Sts John de Matha and Felix de Valois were founders of the Trinitarian Order of mendicants who collected money to free Christians enslaved by infidels/the Turks as shown at the foot of the sculpture.

View of Grand Priory Mill waterwheel

View of Grand Priory Mill (12/24/1981)
without the waterwheel

St Vojtěch/Adalbert (1709, by Michael and
Ferdinand Brokoff) with Judith Tower (12C) and
the Lesser Town Bridge Tower (1464)

Judith Tower and Lesser Town
Bridge Tower from Charles Bridge (12/24/1981)

St Luitgard (1710, by Matthias Braun at age 26),
depicting the blind Cisterian nun's vision of Christ
appearing and her kissing the wounds

Now on Kampa Island.

Crawling Babies/Miminka (2008, David Černý) at the
Kampa Museum of Modern Art, with slot machine faces

Tamiko with a Crawling Baby (KSS)

Crossing the bridge at the Grand Priory Mill waterwheel,
a "Lovers' Bridge" with locks left by couples

Lennon Wall/Lennonova zeď (1980) was a place for fans to demonstrate
their grief, painting pictures and slogans, but has become a graffiti wall

The former seat (1720s) of the Grand Prior of the
 Knights of Malta with decorative stone work
from the workshop of Matthias Braun

Church of Our Lady Beneath the Chain/Pann Marie
pod řetězem (founded in 12C), the oldest church
in Lesser Town; currently we see the 13C
presbytery, and an open courtyard
where the nave was meant to be

In the 12C King Vladislav II presented the church to the Knights of St John, who became known as Knights of Malta.

A modern gate in the 13C portal (KSS)

At the White and Golden Unicorn/Dům U bílého a zlatého jednorožce,
with plaque stating that Beethoven stayed here in 1796
(and also Mozart stayed here in 1789)

Now to Maltese Square/Maltézské náměstí.

Nostitz Palace/Nostický palác (1662-1675, balustrade added 1720)
with Classical vases and statues of emperors

Turba Palace/Palác Turbů (1767, by Joseph Jäger
in Rococo style) houses Japanese Embassy

We stopped for dinner at Bistro de France in Maltese Square.

Kent thought this guy at a rental place across the street looked familiar (KSS)

Back to Charles Bridge.

Coming towards us on the bridge was a
demonstration led by the police

It was a protest against the current prime minister, Andrej Babiš,
who has not responded to charges of an EU subsidy fraud

Andrej Babiš apparently "speaks in a way that people can understand; he is perceived as a good businessman who has claimed credit for good economic results in the country, while claiming former administrations were incompetent." He is the second richest man in the Czech Republic, and there have been allegations that he avoided paying taxes as CEO of the conglomerate Agrofert. In 2017 he was forced to transfer ownership of company to trust funds controlled by his family and lawyers in order to comply with the new conflict of interest legislation passed by the Parliament.
Sound familiar?

St Nicholas Tolentino (1708, by Jan Bedřich Kohl)

One sculpture group had been removed for cleaning, of Sts Vincent Ferrer and Procopius (1712, by Ferdinand Brokoff).

St Francis of Assisi with two angels
(1855, by Emanuel Max) (KSS)

St Ludmilla with Little Václav (1720 or 1730,
attributed to Matthias Braun) (KSS)

St Francis Borgia (1710, by Ferdinand Brokoff) (KSS)

(Brokoff seems to be an unfortunate name for a sculptor!)

Charles Bridge selfie (KSS)

St Christopher (1857, by Emanuel Max)

View from the Charles Bridge toward the National Theater
and Legions Bridge, with the weir in the foreground

View from the Charles Bridge (12/24/1981)

St Francis Xavier (1711, by Ferdinand Brokoff),
supported by a Moor in chains and a Tatar,
while baptizing an Indian and a Japanese prince (KSS)

The former Old Town Waterworks/
Staroměstské vodárny, now the Bedřich Smetana
Museum/Muzeum Bedřicha Smetany

St Joseph with Jesus (1854, by Josef Max) (KSS)

Pietà (1858-1859, by Emanuel Max) (KSS)

Sts Barbara, Margaret, and Elizabeth (1707,
by Ferdinand Brokoff) (KSS)

Old Town Bridge Tower's west side showing
damage done by the Swedes in 1648
during the Thirty Years' War

St Ivo (1711, by Matthias Braun) (KSS)

Back in the Old Town, we headed south to meet Peter & Beth at the Glass Bar in the Dancing House.

Embryo (1996, by David Černý)

Dog poop bags (KSS)

Kranner Fountain/Krannerova kašna (1845-1850,
by architect Josef Ondřej Kranner, with
allegorical statues by Josef Max), the statues
represent Prague and 16 Czech regions

National Theater/Národní divadlo (1868-1881, by Josef Zítek,
then after a fire in 1881, enough money was collected in six weeks
to rebuild by 1883), which has three ensembles: opera, ballet, and drama

Memorial to Václav Havel (2016, by Kurt Gebauer),
Havel used to draw a small heart with his signature

A 2010 sculpture by Josef Malejovsky is covered by
a knitted Marilyn Monroe (by Eva Blahova)

Art Nouveau Hlahol Choir/Pražský hlahol (1905, by
 Josef Fanta) at Masarykovo nábřežíe #16, is embellished
with mosaics and sculptures by Karl Mottl & Josef Pekárek

Once again, the Dancing House/Tančící dům

We waited in the Glass Bar for Peter & Beth,
while texting them that we had arrived

But they were already out on the deck, without their cell phones! Managed to find each other for cocktails.

I had a local ginger-flavored lemonade,
while Kent had the Pilsener Urquell

We watched the sun set behind Petřín Hill (KSS)

We took the tram back to our hotel. Today the high temperature was 75 degrees F.
Next: Prague 4a.