Many years ago I made a flying visit to Czechoslovakia, as it then was, back in the days when a Communist regime doled out visas sparingly (I came within minutes of overstaying my allotted 5 days, and was locked up overnight at a station on the Austrian border). When the Iron Curtain fell, Prague soon became the adventurous traveller's destination of choice in Eastern Europe. Inevitably, the city of Kafka, Dvorak and Smetana has now been discovered by the river cruise industry and by Asian wedding tour organisers.

.In 2015 I returned, too briefly, to press the flesh on the Charles Bridge and to rediscover the marvellous Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau heritage of a city still not fully recovered from the long, dark years; as I write, a series of billboards set up near the famed Wenceslas Square (Vaclavske namesti) provides an excellent introduction to the events played out here over the last century.

And now, in June 2017, a third visit has repaid us with the opportunity to explore more thoroughly under brilliant summer skies.

These images were taken with Nikon D300 (in 2017, Nikon D5100) using RAW format, and are available for licensing.