Thursday, September 25, 2008

How zebras get their stripes...

Prague crosswalk gets a refresher coat 
...at least in Prague.

Mix cobblestones and tram lines with well traveled roads and you get a bumpy ride on many downtown streets here in Prague. I'm guessing the not-so-smooth terrain is why our zebra stripes get their clean edges from duct tape, and their refresher shines from hand applied paint.

7 comments:

Roderick Robinson said...

I've suffered behind machines which paint centrelines on UK roads (clouds of acrid smoke, a smell of burning) but I can't recall seeing a zebra crossing installed. No doubt the work is done at night when a helicopter drops a full-size sticky transfer on to the road. The sort of thing that gives children nightmares.

On another subject, I look at your profile and sigh. Piano playing! Chamber music! I know they're not as photogenic as graffiti but I for one would appreciate occasional bloggish crumbs about your music. Musically I am a tragic case. The furthest I ever got was playing hymns on a trumpet, not through religious conviction but because hymns allowed me to avoid the chromatic scale. Bit of a cheek, I know, and you don't need any encouragement to run a good blog which I will continue to access whatever. Cheers.

Julia said...

BB, a good idea and I will take you up on it. Somehow my music and my blogging selves haven't intersected very much. I lay the blame on my general incoherence when it comes to talking about music, but perhaps it is time to at least try!

Unknown said...

My comment is more general and not only about this one post. This is the first chance I have had to scroll through (albeit on a rapid pace) your blog. I must say that I am VERY impressed with your photography Julia, had no idea you were so inclined...

Dad and I really enjoyed dinner last Saturday and have commented to each other that it remains the best of our European sojourn.

Thanks again to you both for your wonderful company!

Julia said...

Eric, we had a great time that night too and the food was delicious, thank you so much for the treat.

And thank you for the kind words about my snaps, I do enjoy photography quite a lot. I guess I'm in the right business these days!

Eleanor said...

This is so exciting...I've never been to Prague before! Can I play Color Squares too??!!! What a wonderful idea!

Thanks for visiting my library, I am absolutely positive that Northanger Abbey will delight you.

Warm regards from Sydney,
Eleanor.

Lucy said...

They've been repainting the zebras and other markings round here too, though I can't think why - no one takes anynotice of them! I have to say I quite like the smell of the paint.

I enjoyed the jolly atmosphere of the wine festival very much, what a lovely thing to do in September!

Julia said...

Hi Eleanor, thanks for dropping by! I'm looking forward to the Northanger Abbey sighting and of course you can play color squares - it's quite a fun game (I made it up after admiring the palettes that our local interior magazine uses for their redesigns).

Lucy, oddly enough, our zebra paint did not smell. I wonder if that's because it was pretty cold that day, or if they use a white wash rather than a latex type paint. Hm!