A walk in the mist

In case you didn't know, the conference I'm at is a combined one, bringing together the cheery topics of Suffering and Death and Dying.  After a morning of talks like "Dead Baby Bloggers" and multiple participants talking about the children they've buried, I was ready for a break.  So, after lunch, I headed for the hills behind my hotel.  Somewhere in them is the Prague castle, but as I had to be back at 4 to chair a session (mostly about religion and suffering/death) I didn't make it that far.  And I didn't try to go anywhere directly, I just wanted to wander around.  Walk with me!

 I wandered into this by accident.  There seemed to be no official entrance, it was just by the side of a park.  It was false advertising, by the way, as it was rather small, grotty, smelly and sad.  For the animals, that is - there were lots of Czech kiddies running around screaming happily.

 I think this is a wallaby.  You know, like the ones on the Yorkshire Moors.

 Argh!  What is this frightful creature?

You're kidding, right?  Is this a Monty Python sketch?

 I think this is some kind of school.  I had to pry apart some gates to escape the zoo this side, but nobody was around to object.  I don't know who looks after the animals, to be honest.

 Apparently this is something very exciting in sign language.  Czech sign language, so don't pretend you understand it.

 Again, nobody around, so I've no idea what this is.

 You could just walk up these stairs to the front door.  So I did.  Still nobody.

 Nice, innit?

Where the old meets the new.  In general, this seemed to be the swankiest part of Prague, like being in the hills overlooking San Francisco bay. 

 Some of them look a bit more shabby genteel than others.

 That one must be some kind of celebrity.

And sure enough, just around the corner was an engorged python and a man playing a giant piano keyboard.