Hradec Kralove, CZ

Here's one of the Hradec Kralove transit authority's trolejbuses (trolleybuses, etc. in English). They're quiet, clean, and pretty reliable, although the routes tend to circle the city centre rather than going straight in, and they're about as rough-riding and uncomfortable as any other buses. Cool idea, though, and practical.

I took this from the main bell tower (I think it's the one called the White Tower) overlooking Staromestske Namesti in Hradec Kralove, although here I'm looking to the right of the square to get a shot of the spires on The Church of the Holy Spirit. I just liked how the shot looked. :-)

The Vychodoceska Muzeum (Museum of East Bohemia) in Hradec Kralove is as much known for its own architecture as for its collections. Designed by Jan Kotera (1871-1923, often confused with his student Josef Gocar, 1880-1945) in 1909, it was completed in 1912, and is now considered one of 's masterpieces, as well as one of the best surviving examples of cubist architecture in the world.

I look at Hradec Kralove Hlavni Nadrazi (the main train station, as Hlavni Nadrazi means main station in Czech), and I think of it as a great art deco building. Nevertheless, I'm no expert, so if it's really cubist or something please let me know. :-) In addition to being an important mainline station for the whole region, and for that matter for the Czech Republic, it's also a local landmark of sorts. The cantenary you see above, by the way, is not for trains or trams, but for trolleybuses, or unibuses as I've sometimes heard them called. In Czech, a trolleybus called a trolejbus.

This is one of the most spectacular art deco railway stations in the Czech Republic, even if it's not in mint condition (it is, actually, in fairly decent condition). This stained glass window (whether real or painted), depicting the old CSD logo, is my favorite part.

When we got to Hradec Kralove, we were treated to the sight of an old, and unrebuilt, Class 754 "bespectacled," or "Brejlovec" diesel. My friend hadn't photographed one of these yet, and I decided to take a few shots too, since I don't know how much longer they'll still be in service. I've been a bit surprised in the past year in that I've been finding these diesels more often, rather than less often, and I can't figure out why that is. Maybe it's that the allocations have changed.

This busboard wasn't outside Hradec Kralove Hlavni Nadrazi on my last visit several years ago, and for that matter, the whole bus terminal was so freshly rebuilt and maintained this time that its whiteness was giving me some exposure difficulties with the camera.

The station itself was more or less as before, meaning that it was still quite early-to-mid-20th Century in appearance.

Here's a shot of the bus terminal that I managed to get in a shadow. As you can see, many of Hradec Kralove's buses are trolleybuses.