Europe
weekly photo challenge: texture
Recently while in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic, we visited the Marionette Museum. Looking at all the different puppets on display, this entire room is full of texture.
For other interpretations of texture, visit The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge
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Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
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the statue of chopin
Frederic Chopin was a Polish composer and pianist. In Lazienki Park, Warsaw, there is a statue dedicated to him.
During World War II, it was the first monument that the Germans bombed in Warsaw. Fortunately, the original mould was still available. And the replica statue, what we see today, replaced the original one in 1958.
But, it’s no ordinary statue. Depending on which angle it is admired, it is possible to see different things.
So looking at it slightly from the right side, it is Chopin sitting underneath a weeping willow tree.
Walk behind the statue and around to the other side, the weeping willow branch, now looks like a hand, with fingers curled over… curled over a piano possibly??
And then stand square in front of the statue, and the weeping willow looks like the head of an eagle from its neck, which is the national symbol of Poland. Can you see its eye?
By the statue, during summer, every Sunday there is a free Chopin recital. We would’ve liked to have done this but unfortunately we missed it this time.
Wise Monkeys Piece of Trivia: Chopin’s music was banned in Poland by the Nazis during World War II as it was believed he represented “everything Polish”. His music united the Polish people.
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a guide to prague’s astronomical clock
The Astronomical Clock of Prague is the oldest astronomical clock in the world that is still working! It dates back to the 15th Century. It is such an interesting and clever piece of engineering!
Have you ever seen such a complicated-looking clock?
So here is a quick guide to the clock.
The Top Circle
On the outside of the clock, you can see each hour of a normal 24-hour day which shows the “Old Czech Time”. The Roman Numerals on the next inner circle is for the current central European time while the Arabic numerals indicates Babylonian time. There is also a circle with the zodiac symbols indicating which zodiac sign currently reigns.
On the arms of the clock, there is a sun and a moon. During the day, the sun on that clock arm will be in the blue section (the top half) of the clock face. During the night, it would be in the black section (the bottom black circle). The sun moves along the clock arm and depending on the distance from the centre, it indicates sunrise and sunset time.
The black ball that can be seen represents the moon on during its lunar phase. With a new moon, it starts as a black ball and as the month progresses, the ball will slowly turn revealing a bit of silver each day. By the time it is a full moon, the ball will be silver.
You will see on either side of the clock, there are two characters. The first on the left is a man holding a mirror, he represents vanity. The second man is holding a moneybag, he represents greed. The first one on the right is a skeleton, representing death and the last one is a Turkish man holding an instrument representing entertainment and pleasure.
Every hour, the clock performs a little show. Death turns the hourglass in one hand and rings the bell with his other hand. He is beckoning the other three that their time is up! They shake their heads to indicate they don’t believe it is their time.
In the meantime, the two windows above the clock have opened and the 12 apostles take turns appearing to the crowd. Once this performance is complete, the rooster above the clock moves forward, flaps his wings before the clock chimes!
It is all rather theatrical and gimmicky but it’s novel and worth seeing if you happen to be around the clock on the hour (except at midnight when it won’t perform).
The Bottom Circle
This acts as the calendar. If you look carefully at the picture (or click on the image to get a full image to zoom), you will see that at the top, there is a “gold” pointer. Working from the outside, there is the list of each name day for the entire year. Then the next circle in, shows images relevant to farming jobs that farmers should be doing at that particular time of year (e.g. sowing, harvesting etc). The next ring of images indicates the corresponding zodiac signs. And the centre is the coat of arms of Prague.
And to finish, here is a legend about the clock and its maker:
The clock was made by a Mr Hanŭs. The town councillors were so pleased with how it was bringing people all around Europe to Prague. So to prevent Mr Hanŭs from creating another clock ever again, they invited him to a party and they feasted and drank and were merry. The councillors then ordered to have Mr Hanŭs’ blinded and have his tongue removed. The legend continues that to exact his revenge, Mr Hanŭs had his servants take him up the clock tower where he threw his body into the clock’s mechanism to cause it to malfunction. It stopped working until it was repaired many years later.
And as it is a legend, there are many variations to the story. But at the end, whether it is true or not is up to you!
Have a great week ahead, folks!
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a night out in paris
We are going to trying something a little different to share with you about our night in Paris. So here goes:
This is the tale of how David and Le
Went out on a “date” in the city, “Paree”
The plan was to have a good decent feed,
With dessert as a want, more than a need.
Followed by watching the popular show,
The place with the windmill was where they would go!
All ready to go, stepping out of the door,
There came a light sprinkle that fell to the floor.
Which turned to a monster downpour of rain,
Opening their umbrellas was completely in vain.
The rain came down sideways, and soaked them right through
Drenched waist down, there was a flood in Le’s shoe!
But David and Le kept soldiering on,
Hoping it would blow through & soon be gone.
A romantic French dinner was not on the cards,
It was pizza instead, Italy sent her regards!
The first place they stopped to hide from the wet,
Was a pub that was dark and stinking of sweat!
And would you believe, when the pizza arrived,
The rain did clear, the sun once again thrived.
Off to dessert then, next door for crème caramel
And Nutella crepes which served their tummies so well!
It all became funny, when the waiter came by,
And offered them pepper. With dessert? Oh my!
And then it was Moulin Rouge, this was their highlight.
Definitely brightened up their wacky start to the night.
The dancing and music, it was really upbeat,
The 2-hour show was clearly a treat.
The lights and the costumes bedazzled the crowd,
All the performances were applauded real loud!
The couple that shined were the two in their skates,
The couple that daringly balanced did rate.
The man with the voices was clever and witty
The end of his jokes and these acts were a pity.
Never had David and Le seen such a show
It was money well spent, their 200 Euro!
Hope you enjoyed our attempt at poetry in the romantic city that is Paris 🙂
And if you cringed….. well, we achieved what we wanted!
Overall, the take home message:
Is Moulin Rouge worth it?
Definitely! It is a must-see! And we were so glad we did. We chose to attend the 9 pm show which we were happy with in terms of getting seated and heading back to the hotel at a decent hour. The 11 pm show had a line up to enter as we were leaving that extended to the end of the block and around the corner. Absolutely crazy!
Anyway, hope you all enjoy the week ahead!
Tell us what you think of our poem, click here
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