Milan in Five Photos

I found Prague's famous astronomical clock impossible to photograph. There is simply so much to take in, which I couldn't collect into one photograph.

Every hour, starting at 9 am and continuing until 11pm, a parade of characters move above the clock, peering out to world as they pass a small window. To one side a rooster crows and flaps his wings as a skeleton rings a bell. Unfortunately, it's all over in some 30 seconds, until the next hour strikes....

 I was lucky, for our guide had found us a perfect place to stand. The Old Town Square is perennially crowded, no more so than when the hour approaches. The only time I saw the square empty was on an early morning walk as I set out to photograph Charles Bridge before all the tourists arrived. Perhaps because it was 3 degrees C the square was almost empty.

Installed in 1410, Prague's clock is the third oldest such clock in the world, and the oldest astronomical clock which still functions. The dials show a stationary Earth, around which rotate the sun, moon, and the signs of the Zodaic. Below is a calendar; within are the twelve months, while the outer rim displays a church calendar.

I shall simply have to return to Prague another time, and keep working on my photos....

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