Florenc metro question & Other
 

Hi. I will be staying close to the Florenc station, but am a little confused. Are there two entrances, one for each line, on Soklolovska and Krixikova? If I go in the one on Sokolovska, is there a tunnel to the other?

Also, would anyone happen to know what a building up near the tunnel up in that part of town is? It looks to be on the waterfront, but people have photographed it from the island near there. I'm not sure if it's a church, just an old waterworks or maintenance building, or what! You can see pictures of it on Google Earth, but nobody really gives it a title I can understand.

I think all metro stops have several entrances, Florenc has 3 or 4. YOu can always access both lines that cross in a metro station from any entrance, as far as I know. I've never seen anything else. I know you can at Florenc. There is an entrance kind of off Sokolovska, and then several over near the bus station near Krizikova.

I don't know what building you are referring to. There are some govt. buildings over near that tunnel, the Ministry of Transport is right next to it, for one. I think the Ministry of Agriculture is next to that.

Thanks. I think the one very close to Sokolovska is the one I'm thinking of - the one that looks closest to the Hilton, which is at Pobrezni 33.

I took another look at the pictures of the building I was so intrigued by. However, I realized that it's really on Ostrov Island, at the tip of it. If I could attach a picture, I would, but I don't think that's possible. There is one picture with a German title that translates to "image of the house, the resistance of the A bomb in Hiroshima" - but that doesn't make any sense to me! It's probably just some old building that's connected some way to the water (or locks?) that are there.

The Czech metro system was built in 1972 and is very easy to use. The 3 lines are colour coded red for line C, yellow for line B and green for line A. How to get from one line to another is clearly indicated. Please be aware that these interchange points (also at Muzeum between lines A and C) there are often ticket inspectors. If a plain-clothed guy comes up to you and flashes something that looks like a key fob, he is not trying to sell you something, he just wants to see your validated ticket. (Make sure you stick your ticket into the yellow validating machine when you enter the metro system). And don't worry about the locals that don't. The vast majority of them have monthly or annual passes.
http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/prague_photos.html

i lived near krizikova several years ago. i don't remember the building you are talking about or the intricacies of the metro - never found it difficult to use. this is a great area...not sure what it is like today but many buildings were being rebuilt after the floods and the area looked like it was getting gentrified quickly. i think before the floods it was a working class neighbourhood and all the old residents got moved out leaving centrally located and beautiful buildings ripe for redevelopment.

Jeremy, thanks for the info on the key fob credentials! I'm not sure I would have known what to do!!

Walkin, it looks like a pretty nice neighborhood, and the kind I like - a real neighborhood, not a tourist only place. I'm having fun looking at pictures people have taken around there!

I was checked by a ticket inspector once on a tram, but she showed me some ID card on a chain around her neck, as I recall. I think she had some kind of uniform, but fairly low-key (like a navy blue skirt and white blouse). I think it's a good idea to make sure people don't cheat the govt of transit fares. It didn't bother me, I had a weekly pass, which I showed her.

I thought you said the building was near the tunnel, now you are saying it is on the island? That island has some sports facilities. I didn't even know it had a residential section, but I'm sure no expert on that. It sounds like whatever you are looking at has something to do with Jan Letzel, he's a Czech architect who lived in Japan a long time and designed one of the few buildings in Hiroshima that withstood the atom bomb. Maybe it's some building he designed on that island or something to do with him, although I didn't think he really designed any buidlings in Prague.

Hi Christina! Regarding the building I'm curious about, I'm really not sure where it is - on the island or on the shoreline! I found the picture (actually several pictures) on Google Earthm and the GPS location tied to it was unclear, but either on the tip of the island or on the shore! I don't have a device to tie my pictures to a GPS location, so I don't know how that works, but maybe the person photographed the building from the shore or from the water, or from the island, and the GPS location where he/she was is what was recorded!

In any case, I've placed a picture of the building here:

http://www.pbase.com/roothy123/image/125086275

If you've ever seen it, let me know! If not, it's no big deal - but I found it interesting, and it's apparently not far from where I'll be staying, so I could take a walk....

I looked up Jan Letzel, and found something that stated that while he didn't design any Czech buildings, many people think that the Ministry for Industry and Trade looks a lot like the building in Hiroshima that withstood the bomb. The Ministry, however, is obviously not the building I'm curious about!