Good morning friends, and welcome to the land of Bohemia and the city of Praha, better known as Prague! The beans had the good fortune to recently travel to the capitol of the Czech Republic, and spent an afternoon touring this magnificent city! Just over 1.2 million people live in Prague, which serves as the chief commercial, industrial, and cultural center of the Czech Republic.

Here, the beans stop to see what time it is at Prague's Astronomical Clock, which was originally built way back in 1410, and is still ticking today. It shows a view of the solar system consistent with what people believed at the time the clock was built in the 15th century (i.e. the Earth was flat, 'cause Columbus wouldn't prove them wrong for another 82 years...).

The clock shows three pieces of information; it shows the revolutions of the sun, the revolutions of the moon, and the revolutions of the stars, with Earth being at the center of the universe. Alas; there's no built-in calculator, no cell phone, no digital pager, and to the ultimate dismay of the beans...no can opener, but it's still a mighty impressive timepiece nonetheless.

Prague's nickname is "the City of 100 Spires" because of all of the churches, castles, and towers around town (yep - there's really 100. The beans counted!).

Now, as all of you World History students within the past fourteen years or so will no doubt recall, the Czech Republic was not too long ago part of a much larger country, Czechoslovakia. But in January 1993, after the fall of the Communist leadership, Czechoslovakia ceased to be, and two new independent countries were formed: The Czech Republic and Slovakia. (Important information to remember the next time you're on Jeopardy!) And ever since that time, Prague has really opened up to outside visitors, and has become a major European tourist destination.

Here's a closeup shot of the beans admiring the Astronomical Clock. The clock is divided into red and blue halves, which represent day and night. At the top of the clock, Death appears every hour to ring the bells and allow the hour glass of life run empty. (Morbid, huh?) Each of the 12 Apostles walk past in two open windows, and a rooster crows just before the clock strikes the hour.

As you can well imagine, the beans were more than impressed with Prague's Astronomical Clock. I mean, after all -- all the bean's watch plays at the top of the hour is "Puttin' on the Ritz".

As you can see, the city of Prague takes their architecture very seriously, and as a result they have some pretty cool buildings, both old and new. So it is with this sense of wonderment that the beans got to check out the Nationale Nederlanden Building, also known as the Dancing Building (or Fred & Ginger, if you want to be informal about it.)

The Dancing Building was designed by Frank O. Gehry (who also designed the Experience Music building in Seattle that the beans went to last fall...) and Vlado Milunic in 1994, and opened in 1996 with several floors of office space, shops, and hopefully a dance studio or two.

Now, while the little photo below is bean-free (I "borrowed" it), it gives you a pretty good idea of how the building "dances".

Wild, huh? The beans thought the dancing theme was pretty cool, and were hoping to cut in for a tango or two. Maybe next time, huh?

In the end, the beans had a superb time in Prague, and can't wait to go back for another visit. Now, can anyone tell them what time it is? They've got a plane to catch...

Thanks again to Dot for taking the beans to Prague!!!