Author Archives: Mark Rossiter

48 hours in Moravia

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Mark Rossiter

On into Moravia, the other half of the Czech lands. Long vistas of rolling land, field and heath and forests that are just as cool and dense and lush, if a little more coniferous than in Bohemia. At a small … Continue reading →

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lagerland

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Mark Rossiter

Plzeň is ground zero of the global lager explosion – it was invented here in the 1830s (ever wondered what the Ur in Pilsner Urquell stood for?) So much to answer for… There’s a museum dedicated to General George S. … Continue reading →

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Prague: the Jewish quarter

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Mark Rossiter

It only takes so long looking at the pretty face of central Europe before you are bound to end up staring at the screaming, searing wound gouged across it: the treatment of the Jews. It was bad enough before the … Continue reading →

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Prague: two Sarajevo moments

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Mark Rossiter

somwehere in an old building at Prague castle, to my surprise, there was a window with a notice on it saying: this is where the Defenestration of Prague happened. The what? Took me back to when I was 17 and … Continue reading →

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Prague: beaten track

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Mark Rossiter

what is it with Prague? On paper it ought to be the most attractive big city in Central Europe, out-beautifying Budapest and even Vienna. If those three cities had been goddesses and Paris only cast his eyes above two metres … Continue reading →

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back on the main line

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Mark Rossiter

On the train from Dresden to Prague, making its way from Berlin to Vienna, I got a shock: plugged back into the high voltage European backpacker circuit, every compartment filled with people half my age in big groups doing it … Continue reading →

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Dresden: new masters

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Mark Rossiter

Maybe it’s just me, but starting from about 200 years ago – around JMW Turner, Caspar David Friedrich, then the Impressionists – painting starts to make much more sense than most of the stuff I was writing about in the … Continue reading →

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Dresden: old masters

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Mark Rossiter

The Alte Meister art museum is apparently one of Europe’s most significant. It’s chocka with gut-busting Rubens numbers and superbly executed but entirely standard portraits of forgettable – and forgotten – 18th century wigs, along with stacks of alternately – … Continue reading →

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Dresden: the Saxon one percent

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Mark Rossiter

Upstairs in the Royal Palace of the Kings of Saxony is a spectacular collection of Ottoman weaponry, from the days when the Turks had Hungary and threatened Vienna. Downstairs, the so-called Green Vault: two floors of unbelievable and unnecessary trinkature … Continue reading →

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Dresden: twice risen

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Mark Rossiter

Sad though it may seem, Dresden’s greatest claim to fame these days is probably that it was bombed pretty much out of existence by the RAF on the night of February 13th 1945: There are lots of modern buildings interspersed … Continue reading →

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