Gare do Oriente

Instead of coming back to Japan, I decided to head to Portugal for Christmas vacation this year. The view of the Oriente station, one of the main transport hubs in Lisbon, is just stunning! Loving it!

Oriente Station is one of the world's largest stations which makes it as busy as Grand Central Terminal in NYC, according to Wiki, however, when I took photos around 10 PM, it was almost empty...

Merry Christmas!

St. John of Nepomuk

The Prague Castle (or Wiki site) is the largest coherent castle complex in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records... This is also the official residence and office of the president of the Czech Republic. It took almost one day to explore the Castle. As I have zero knowledge about Christianity architecture (Gothic style? or Renaissance style??), please visit the links above...

This is the tomb of John of Nepomuk in St. Vitus Cathedral. You have to pay to see it... It's Prague, you know.

It caught my eye as I like shiny metallic colors.

You can also meet him in Charles Bridge. He is a national saint of the Czech Republic and is often portrayed with a halo of five stars, the palm of martyrs. He also carries s cross (crucified Jesus). This statue is the oldest on the bridge.

In 1393, he was thrown into the Vitava river at the site where his statue is currently standing.

Iron Forged Grid with St. John Nepomuk carving

The great majority of tourists come to touch him, anticipating to bring good fortune and ensuring to return to Prague soon.

Me? 

Of course, I did not touch him.

Street Performance in Prague Part Two

This is part two entry of the street performance in Prague... at night!

As you can see, it was a very slow shutter but he did not move. He was professional.

Happy Halloween!!!

Powder Tower At Night

I find it more interesting to ramble in Prague downtown at night. It's still safe, lots of drunk tourists are there and light-ups are everywhere.

The 65 m tall Powder Tower is one of my favorite buildings in Prague.

Ostrava - Vitkovice

I visited the 3rd largest city in the Czech Republic, Ostrava, located in the northeastern area that is close to the Polish border. I was there just to take photos of the National cultural landmark, including the Hlubina coral mine, coking plant, and blast furnaces. They are located in Vítkovice. 

Although it was only a night stay there, I visited twice - daytime and at night. When buildings were lit up after the sunset, they looked like Moon bases. When I got off the tram at Vítkovice vys. pece, I immediately fell in love with the area!!! The view was just breathtaking.

When I was there, there was an opera concert taking place. I am not sure if you can see an audience in the photo below. As I did not have a ticket I could not walk around during the concert... Well, I should not complain because I could take photos by listening to opera songs like BGM. It was free of charge.

Although I haven't explored the Czech Republic thoroughly yet, Vitkovice is by far my favorite place! I promised myself to visit there once again, expecting that there is no more events.

This is Our World Tuesday entry.

Street Performance in Prague

No wording necessary. 

Kinds had a lot of fun playing with soap bubbles in the sizzling summer.

This is Our World Tuesday - Bastille Day entry.

Statues On Charles Bridge

Oh, Jesus!!!

It's been over 4 months since the last entry. Sorry for that.

Eventually, I had a chance for sightseeing the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague! That was my first time spending free time in Prague during my 19 months stay in the Czech!

As expected, I headed to Charles Bridge.

This is Our World Tuesday End Of June Edition entry.

Národní muzeum

I happened to have around an hour of waiting time to catch the train to come back to Olomouc at Prague main station and decided to walk around the station.

The National Museum main building is currently closed due to reconstruction from July 2011 to the end of June 2015...

Istanbul

It was my first time taking Turkish Airline and I stopped by Istanbul Ataturk airport in transit.

Happy New Year!