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September 2007: Back to Eastern Europe- Prague! The capital of the Czech Republic is a fine old place. I was only here for one long day (with Moiré(.)Candy) and long evening (with Big Sister. Google it, I dare you) plus a short night and a good morning exploring the city. Smashing.
• These towers -television broadcast and chimney- overlook Prague. They do help give it that Eastern European feel...
• Giant babies! A mixture of bad acid trip and modern art, these are on the city's big TV tower.
• Famous porn producer Max Candy (in glasses) watched over a setup. I was in Prague to see a film being produced for Private Media Group.
• An insight into the dark world of pornography. God knows what the neighbours in this residential block made of it.
• This is what they were watching. Or rather, thanks to the magic of film, probably not really.
• Mind that clapperboard! You can imagine where trouble might come from.
• A break in filming. I love the colours and angles in this shot.
• Vanessa May is a big star. But a small woman. It's funny how that works.
• Back to work. It brings a new perspective to having a hard day.
• When everything's done and dusted, Vanessa relaxes. I did a quick interview with her, but didn't get much insight into the moral issues surrounding porn.
• My second port of call in Prague: Big Sister. It's a brothel- my first. And as I was there working, technically I have worked in a Prague brothel.
• Inside, Eli Roth shot some of Hostel Part 2 here. This very bed featured, as did the bar area.
• The webcam here is a giveaway- 'goings on' are streamed to the internet. Big Sister also sell DVDs of action at the brothel.
• The bar and pool seen in Hostel Part 2. I don't think the working girls were in it though. If they were, they only had small parts. So to speak.
• Big Sister's control room where web feeds are organised. It's all very technical, but they seem to be having fun, so one can't knock them.
• Having finished 'work' for the day, I walked to the town centre. This is what I found there, and I was very impressed.
• In the middle of the night, I went for a walk on Charles Bridge. As you can see, it was pretty pretty.
• The following morning, I stepped out of my hotel to this view. Looking to the tower at one end of Charles Bridge, it was only the rain which spoilt the day.
• As seen in a recent TV advert, I came to a point with this view of the bridge. I was geocaching there.
• On the other side of the Charles Bridge, looking down onto it. A beautiful city which the weather didn't let me see at her best.
• Going Underground... It's shocking that Eastern European cities have much nicer, cleaner metro systems than London.
• I also liked the design of this one, which had a hint of Bond Villan Lair about it. A touch of Dalek too, perhaps?
• After John Lennon was shot, he was placed in Carbonite. No, not really. This wall has become a bit of a shrine to him, peace and spray-paint CFCs.
• Before the Communists left, they repainted this wall a lot. Now people can express their freedom freely, free of- err... freesias?
• Above the city, in steaming woodlands, stands a tower. An eight-sided Eiffel-lite which, thanks to the hill it's on, has a top slighty higher than the original.
• It was quite a climb up to it. And up it. Easier coming down because I found the funicular. Down Petrin Hill, not the tower...
• Looking up. From the bottom. Where looking upwards works best.
• Looking across. I balanced my camera to get this shot. One gust of wind and I could have killed someone.
• Looking down. From the top, where this works best. The people are on the lower viewing deck, half way up. I didn't drop my camera on them (see above).
• View from near the top. The open staircase wouldn't be to everyone's taste, but I enjoyed it.
• Looking back from the hill to the north. Well, you get the general idea. It's a small big tower, if you like.
• It was a fair hike up to the palace/cstle/church overlooking the city. At least the rain kept it cool.
• This is a famous gateway in Prague. The fighting giants and guards are a big hit with tourists, so I joined in.
• Lots of statues watch over the city. This is one of them. Enjoy. (Also note the giant babies on the tower in the background).
• If I still had the guidebook I brought with me to the city, I'd be able to tell you what this is called. But hey, this is the internet, help yourself.
• A wider view of the same area. Look, you can see the river. Do you know which river it is? (Answer: Umm.)
• Another shot from the top of the tower. It's all very lovely, isn't it? Too soon I had to leave, but not before I'd found some caches.
• Now, that's something you don't see every day. Oh ok then, I might have digitally removed some wires. But what if I hadn't eh? Eh?!
• Our chariot awaits. At the airport a short bus ride from town, my easyJet plane looks safe enough, doesn't it..?
• Driving home on the M11 I missed a bad smash by about 3 seconds. One van was towing another, which jack-knifed and flipped...
• ...pulping the back of this car and flipping the other (above) onto its roof. It was all very exciting given it happened right in front of me.
PragueVid.mpg - 38 seconds, 8.82Mb FOR ADULTS ONLY!
PragueVid.wmv - 1.62Mb. As above, but a smaller file with more compression.
Video from Prague is also available on the VIDEORAMASCOPE page.