The Czech Lion

When I moved from Prague 4 to Prague 7 and started catching different trams, I soon noticed a statue of a lion right at the hairpin bend on the way up the hill from Malostranksa. Something about this statue captured my imagination and, when I wasn't in a rush, I would sometimes get off the metro one stop early and wait for the tram, just so I could see this statue. His expression seems kind, but stern. I tried to get photos of him from the moving trams but it proved nigh on impossible.

Today I decided to walk that way and, it being Sunday with no classes to rush to, to give myself time to visit the two-tailed, crowned Czech lion. The lion is used as a symbol of the Czech Republic, but its origin was as a symbol of Bohemia and, reportedly, it signifies 'power and sovereignty'.

He does seem rather more ferocious than I expected when I got close to him, but still, for me, he has an underlying gentleness.