08 Thursday Dec 2016
Posted in art, photography, photowalk, photowalking, Prague, random, Travel, urban
This piece of absurdist art by David Cerny is displayed at Lucerna Palace in Prague. It is a caricature of a nearby statue of St. Wenceslas riding his horse — the animal standing normally, with Wenceslas on its back, in a manner you’d expect — displayed at the top of Wenceslas Square.
The fact this horse appears to be dead, strung up by its feet, and the fact its rider is the patron saint of the Czech people has made for lots of analytical fodder. Check out examples here, here and here.
07 Wednesday Dec 2016
Posted in history, photography, photowalk, photowalking, Prague, random, Travel, urban
06 Tuesday Dec 2016
Just a few steps off busy Wenceslas Square in Prague is a tranquil patch of green in the shadow of a church. The paths in the Franciscan Gardens (Františkánská zahrada) are lined with perfectly manicured hedges and inspiring works of art, like the one above. It’s a neat little place to briefly escape the hustle and bustle just a few metres beyond.
05 Monday Dec 2016
Posted in photography, photowalk, photowalking, Prague, random, Travel, urban
04 Sunday Dec 2016
04 Sunday Dec 2016
Tags
architecture, design, photography, photowalk, Prague, random, Travel, urban
This glass façade in Prague seemed out of place to me. At least it’s as stylish as circumstances will allow — and the glass lets you see a reflection of what the space once probably looked like.
03 Saturday Dec 2016
Posted in history, photography, photowalk, photowalking, Prague, random, Travel, urban
How to beat the crowds at the tourist-centric Old Town Square in Prague? Get there before the tour groups do.
This was a Sunday morning and the clock tower tells me I shot this photo shortly before 10 a.m. It was nice to enjoy the square in this condition and to take in all the history crowded around this spot.
Visitors aren’t exactly alone here at this hour but there’s enough space to keep people from feeling too claustrophobic. Wandering through the city’s old quarter first thing in the morning means you can occasionally get a bit of street to yourself, if only for a moment. Knowing how busy this part of Prague can get, even fleeting solitude is a treat worth the mental effort required to wake early.
Below, a closer view of the astronomical clock at the town hall.
02 Friday Dec 2016
Posted in business, public relations
Air Miles is a Canadian loyalty reward program that allows consumers to collect points when they do business with certain retailers, financial institutions and credit/charge card issuers. The points can be used for travel rewards, redeemed for consumer goods or converted for use as cash. (Ricky Leong photo illustration)
What happens when a loyalty reward program is disloyal to its users?
This question is on the minds of millions of Canadians after it was revealed Thursday afternoon Air Miles was rescinding a policy, which would have come into effect on Dec. 31, 2016, causing unused points to expire if they weren’t used within five years of being collected. As an added headache, all points accrued before Dec. 31, 2011, would have been subject to mass expiration were they not expended by the deadline.
02 Friday Dec 2016
Posted in art, photography, photowalk, photowalking, Prague, random, urban
Tags
advertising, art, history, photowalk, Prague, random, stained glass, Travel, urban
It’s difficult to imagine this kind of intricate melding of art and advertising being put together nowadays. Spotted in a small shopping plaza on my visit to Prague this fall.
01 Thursday Dec 2016
Posted in photography, photowalk, photowalking, Prague, random, Travel, urban
Tags
art, photography, photowalk, Prague, random, street art, Travel, urban
It’s unclear to me whether it was purposeful, but regardless: this is a neat way to dress up windows in a run-down building. Spotted on my visit to Prague this fall.
Ricky Leong 