On the border of the space of anticipated secrets
December 21, 2011 11:13 AM   Subscribe

If you visit Prague, make sure to check out Petřín, the hill which rises above Malá Strana (Lesser Town). At its base, you can be gutchecked by the Memorial to the Victims of Communism. You can ride up the hill in the Funicular. At the top, you can visit the Lookout Tower for great views of the city, the Štefánik Observatory for great views of the sky, or the Hall of Mirrors for great views of yourself. Then you can walk down the hill to stop in at Reon Argondian’s Magic Cavern, potentially the most amazing place on the planet. Prepare to have your mind blown. many paintings NSFW for naked mythical creature reasons
posted by davidjmcgee (18 comments total) 30 users marked this as a favorite
 
God dammit I walked right by this building and never went inside.
posted by Think_Long at 11:19 AM on December 21, 2011


My hostel was right by there. I discovered the Victims of Communism at about 2am after consuming magic mushrooms. That was not cool.
posted by mannequito at 11:24 AM on December 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


We lived in Prague for most of 2004 and tried to make it to Petřín every two weeks or so. It's an insanely gorgeous place to get lost in. There are also (or were) a number of bizarro sculptures by Czech artist David Cerny. Such as:

www.flickr.com/photos/felipecuervo82/5294960294

Great post davidjmcgee.
posted by joinks at 11:32 AM on December 21, 2011


Who knew Dr. John was the tour guide for the Magic Cavern? I suppose it makes sense...trip on Night Tripper!
posted by Capricorn13 at 11:55 AM on December 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


Been there, done that. Recommended.
posted by Decani at 11:57 AM on December 21, 2011


When my wife and I were in Prague, we wandered into Wallenstein Garden, which is a huge, well manicured garden with statues, a plaza and fountains, with a bunch of peacocks roaming the grounds. The fun thing about it was that we were walking by the entrance, a simple unassuming gate, peeked in and there was a beautiful garden. Prague is a great place to visit. If I get the opportunity to go back, I'll have to check out Petřín. We saw the tower from the distance, but there was just so much to see that we didn't make it.
posted by demiurge at 12:06 PM on December 21, 2011


There was a David Černý post on the blue in 2004, that mentions the TV Tower Babies and the Giant Asses, but he's got a bunch more weird (awesome) stuff out there. In 2009, he managed to piss off most of Europe with this one.
posted by davidjmcgee at 12:32 PM on December 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


A few years ago in Prague, I handed a man about a dollar and he gave me a loaded crossbow. With no instruction or apparent interest from him at all. It was brilliant.
posted by 13twelve at 1:07 PM on December 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


Yeah- Petrin is very nice. Well worth if you visit and are at the castle to walk back into the city via Petrin if the crowds get too much for you. (Couple of undersubscribed-given-their-view/prices beer gardens there as well in the summer.)

Good timing with post - Havel moved to Prague castle this evening.
posted by Gratishades at 1:09 PM on December 21, 2011


I handed a man about a dollar and he gave me a loaded crossbow.

You're not really thinking about leaving the story there, are you?
posted by davidjmcgee at 1:31 PM on December 21, 2011


If the Funicular is closed, take a bus up the hill! Don't assume you would have to walk and decide to do something else instead because you have bronchitis.
posted by soelo at 2:12 PM on December 21, 2011


Oh man! I remember that artist-- except it was this sort of extensive basement of a house just on the Màla Strana side of the Charles Bridge, and you had to know where it was, but they would give you a glass of fairly awful red wine with your admission fee, and it was all candlelit and atmospheric and covered in tits. Lurid as the art is, I'm kind of glad he's still there.

I've loved Prague ever since I first visited in '94. I stayed in the student accommodation on top of Petřín hill near the Strahov stadium, and every day we'd walk down the green hill into the city, and up it again in the evening. Did wonders for my fitness. I remember going to the observatory and getting to look at Saturn through the telescope. I loved that.

Later, when a friend of mine was over there working for Radio Free Europe, I went to see her as often as I could. I vividly remember walking on Petřín in a spring heatwave when the lilacs were out, listening to all the birdsong, and collecting wild garlic for a salad. Good times.
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:28 PM on December 21, 2011


I'm not really sure how far away it is from Prague, but if you're in the country and have a taste for the macabre, don't be an idiot like me and miss out on the Bone Church.
posted by juv3nal at 3:14 PM on December 21, 2011


I am, in fact, the friend of Pallas Athena who used to live in Prague, and darn, she beat me to the comment about that throat-stripping red wine they would give you at Galerie Reon. Is it really still there? I went back about four years ago and couldn't find a trace. I loved that place.

Petřín hill and Waldstejnka Zahrada were two of my favorite places to be, especially in the fall; the apple and pear trees weren't ornamental, and you could go there in the morning and knock breakfast down with a stick.
posted by speedlime at 3:16 PM on December 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


Also I'm pleased to see that every Reon painting title takes the form "blank blank of the blank blank," which we used to make fun of all the time. Ahhhh, memory!
posted by speedlime at 3:20 PM on December 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


I did pretty much exactly this a year ago.
posted by sanka at 5:15 PM on December 21, 2011


I'm not really sure how far away it is from Prague, but if you're in the country and have a taste for the macabre, don't be an idiot like me and miss out on the Bone Church.

I was also an idiot and missed it (although in favor of a free all-you-can-drink boat cruise on the river running through the city) but I think I remember it being about an hour train ride out of the city.
posted by mannequito at 5:36 PM on December 21, 2011


Yeah, it's about an hour out. A little kitschy, but absolutely fascinating.
posted by Think_Long at 6:16 AM on December 22, 2011


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