This site came about as a result of two things: my experience as a tour guide in Prague and getting my hands on my first digital SLR and trying to learn to use it, by capturing some of the more beautiful landmarks around Prague.
I worked for a Scandinavian company, so most of my groups were Danish or Norwegian. I had to learn a lot of historical information by heart because Nordic types are very interested in history and they question everything! In the process of guiding tourists around, I fell in love with Prague on a deeper level. Going to the same places over and over, I never tired of them. The city vibrates with history, though most of the landmarks included in this tour do not have information posted in the usual foreign languages, to help tourists understand what they’re looking at. And not every visitor brings a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide along on their sightseeing – many come here just for a conference or stag party, but have a day or two for exploring. This website is my way to help them appreciate Prague on that same deeper level. The printed version is also more likely to fit into your pocket.
The text and photos are all my original work. I don’t have any affiliation with the “Silver Line” creators. I researched the company that originally placed these plaques to find out if I can get permission for this project – but can’t get in touch with anyone. Some articles were published in local press and there is some controversy about how they acquired permission to place such plaques on monuments in the first place – not everyone approves. Since then the company that began the project have sold it to another publisher, who is still putting the books out there, but as a largely commercial venture. They retail at 60.- and are loaded with ads. Also, even though I live in Prague it was hard for me to track one of these books down. The books themselves are no problem – they’re well-written and accurate, though much more space is allocated to ads than to photos.
I am doing this website strictly as a favor to people who aren’t able to get their hands on the books, since the plaques are already there and people otherwise would not have access to the information. I’ll take down the site if I am ordered to, though I hope it will be seen as simply a free online alternative, one that happens to use the same marking system already in place and I presume, in the public domain.
|
