the legendary minolta lens is famous for it's reliability and sharpness, and it's solid and built like a tank, even the hood is made of metal! nickname 'beercan' for it's shape.
the aperture is a fixed F4 at all focal length and is able to produce beautiful bokeh shot, some quick test shots in my room:
will bring the new member out this weekend for more testing! yeeeepeeee~
prague castle
view of prague castle (top left) from the other side of river vltava.. serve as headquarters of the czech president, also home of prague's chief tourist attractions such as gothic cathedral of sv vit, old royal palace, golden lane and numerous museums and galleries.. make sure u bring enough koruny as all charge separately!
toy museum in prague castle
mala strana
the small hill at west bank of prague.
rozhledna of petrin - the little eiffel tower on the hill
interesting statues at museum kampa, check out the bottom actually moving left, right, up and down.
stare mesto (old town)
prague's most central, vital ingredient with the capital's busiest markets, shops, restaurants and pubs in this area.
charles bridge (karluv most) - by far the city's most famous monument, bristling with statuary and crowded with people.
flying seagull at river vltava
staromestske namesti (old town square) - traditional heart of the city. on the left is the 15th century astronomical clock whose hourly mechanical dumbshow regularly attracts a crowd of tourists.
josefov
the old jewish ghetto district where the jewish town hall and the medieval cemetery still survive to this day.
the old jewish cemetery - i still think that paying 300czk to visit was over priced and paying 30czk to take photos was a bit silly..
wenceslas square and northern nove mesto
prague's new town - the city's main commercial and business district.
kutna hora
the town which is in UNESCO's world heritage list, located 63km east of prague city, approximately 1 hour journey from florenc bus terminal. i had explored most of the city sight within the first two days so i decided to make a trip out of the city. between terezin (turned into the nazi's concentration camp for jews in 1941) and kutna hora, i had chosen the later because of the ossuary (kostnice), located at sedley, 3km from kutna hora.
the chandelier made by human bones in ossuary
the church was formed initially from the bones of 30,000 people killed in a plague of 1318. i was told that now there are more than 40,000 sets of human bones in the church.. undoubtedly, this visit itself worth for my trip to prague.. there are actually some other tourist attractions in kutna hora but due the the stormy weather and less frequent bus service, i went back to prague right after the visit (in fact i spent an hour to catch a bus from sedlec to kutna hora bus station and another hour to catch a bus back to prague)...
while waiting for commencement of my new job, i decided to go for a short trip, sort of last minute but managed to grab cheap return tickets to prague. the journey took 2 hours from london luton airport.
it was a low budget trip so i picked a hostel and stayed there for 3 nights, it wasn't exciting but really can't complaint for the price i paid for. anyway it was a good experience as i get to meet some interesting people from all over the world.
winter isn't really a right season to visit prague as most of the gardens are dead, but i heard it's beautiful when snowing.. i didn't have the luck to experience the first snow in my life.. instead of experiencing the stormy weather for the last two days.. several were killed in europe.. on the third night i suppose to join a ghost trail tour (prague is the most haunted city in europe!) but cancelled it coz i almost got blew away on the street.
compared to london and paris, accommodation, food and public transport in prague are quite cheap.. but one thing that annoyed me a lot is that they really wanna squeeze every single cent from tourists. almost all museums, churches and even cementery have admission fees.. as most of it are under funded (czech is not as rich as UK and france) so it needs support from tourists.
in prague castle itself, there are a few museums, galleries, a sv vitus church, and golden lane (a shopping place), all charging between 50 to 300czk (100 koruny = GBP2.50 = RM17 = 3.60 euros).. you have to pay 50czk to golden lane before you can start shopping.. wtf.. i paid 300czk (rm50+) to visit the jewish cementery + 30czk to take photos! and the dirty toilets in the city are collecting 10czk, hey, klcc VIP toilets only charging RM2!
apart from that, attractions in prague are generally 'ok' but not brilliant.. let the photos do the talking..
prague streets
an antique at shop pstrossova st
a bar near narodni trida with funny name
there are plenty of chinese restaurace in prague, chinese are really capable to grow their roots in every corner of the world.
"when hitler's armies invaded czechoslovakia in 1939, hitler himself came to the castle on hradcany hill, had a pilsner beer and from the second floor gazed down at his magnificent conquest..." - the local favourite brand of beer
stall at prague castle
others than the bohemian glass, crystal and jewelries, puppets are the most seen items in the shops.
there are quite a lot of young beggars on the street begging in their own style..
she fell down after i took the shot.
to be continued in part II...
Posts
All Comments
