In the afternoon of our second day in Prague, Charlie (Mr Kitzinger) and his three angels (Phoebe, Maddie and I) wanted to enjoy some of the art that Prague could offer us.

Mr Smith advised us to go to the Národní Galerie (National Gallery), describing the way as "short" so that we could easily walk to the part of the collection held at the Veletržní Palác. At that point, none of us realised what Mr Smith's idea of "short" actually meant. After going through a lot of leg pain from all the walking, begging Mr Kitzinger to take a taxi and several almost-give-ups, he gave in and we hailed a cab. The ride took us approximately 200 metres, just beyond the next bend in the road - some 2 minutes walk from where we got in. At last we finally stood in front of the museum - outwardly a concrete monstrosity - but we would soon realise that the long walk and short ride had paid off.

Entering the first room, we were both shocked and amazed by the modern art. We saw a wooden table and wooden chairs that had an incredibly high number of nails stuck in them, surreal paintings with fascinating colours and Phoebe found it difficult not stepping on the metallic art on the floor that looked like a path. Out of everything, we most enjoyed the exhibition of art of the 19th, 20th and 21st century that presented the work of leading artists in Czech fine art in monographic profiles or in a selection of key works, along with the work of foreign artists whereas Charlie was staggered by the breadth and quality of French impressionist painting. The image of the period was complemented with examples of architecture, furniture, the applied arts, fashion, design and stage design. We also found interesting photographs, drawings and prints concentrated in graphic cabinets.

We found Mr Kitzinger utterly perplexed on the ground floor where he was watching a "live art performance" by a lady doing yoga and other floor exercises dressed in supermarket plastic bags. We baffled him with our impressive explanations and left the poor fellow convinced that he had no understanding whatsoever of modern art.

Though we felt very inspired and stunned by the art, it had been a long day so the three angels managed to convince Mr Kitzinger to get a taxi to Letná Hill Metronome where we were meeting the rest of the group. Feeling inspired to be arty we posed for a series of photos on the steps up to the Metronome, many of which could be used for the covers of our music albums or film posters.

Linda Brosig