173. A tourist does art ...

As the famous proverb goes - " ... too much idle hands in a tourist leads to an idle minds ... " ...

So with those thoughts on this tourist's over-crowded mind, I got to thinking creative thoughts of my own - probably enthused by all the creative sights on hand over the past three weeks ...

An idea sprang into the frontal lobe and I headed of to track down a bric-a-brac shop I had heard about from Mr Google. Almost hidden down a tiny narrow walkway I found the dusty dank shop in question and manned by a charming English-speaking gent who knew exactly what I wanted and where in the jumble of his shop was able to lay his hands on an old map of Prague.

Rummaging about he produced a 1948 map of Praha and the surrounding countryside - marked "secret". The Soviets of the time obviously didn't want any tourists messing about with their newly-acquired city.

Anyway, after a tiny bit of bargaining, and a shot of caffeine, I left the shop several dollars poorer but with my precious map neatly folded up in a brown paper bag.

Next stop was the art supply shop - also kindly recommended by Mr Google - but on the other side of town - so armed with a shopping list and Mr Google's handy map downloaded on my Android Galaxy ( 5 not 7 thankfully ... ) it was onto a tram to complete the needed purchases - then home to start work on my tiny project ...

... and after three weeks of on-and-off work in between sight-seeing 

here is the finished piece - Prague Secrets 1948 ...

... measuring 250 x 200 x 30 mm ...

And this - plus a bottle of the best Australian Jacobs Creek Shiraz Cabernet from the local Billa supermarket - will be my parting "thank you" gift to my delightful Airbnb hosts Antonin and his mum Alena, both of whom have looked after me during my stay here in Prague.