The Praha Toilette Project

2006-06-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

Reset

Krkonošská 10

Reminding you the rules of the game.

2006-06-13T07:07:00.000-07:00

Don Pedro
Masarykovo Nabrezi 2

2006-05-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

Maly Buddha
U Zeleneho Caje
Uvoz 46

With all that juice in the apple, Adam and Eve would have needed these eventually.

2006-05-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

Shotgun Club
Vita Nejedleho 7

You know the bar is a good one when it's not only in the Zizkov neighborhood, but also requires ringing a doorbell before admittance.

2006-05-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

Kavarna Meduza Update!
The autumnal foliage is just in time! For the...summer?

2006-05-11T04:42:00.000-07:00

Cafe Kaficko
Dum "U Zlateho Beranka"
Misenska 10

A pencil-drawn image of a boy and girl, likely produced by the same ilk. Parents come and go with their litters. You cannot sit through a whole pot of Rooibos tea without seeing a tired-eyed mother in need of some of their quality espresso. The first totally smokefree cafe in Prague, and the only one I've seen with a changing table across from the bathroom mirror.

2006-05-11T04:13:00.000-07:00

Velryba
("The Whale")
Opatovicka 24

Hopefully Carnival Cruise Lines did an inventory check and noticed two of their ship windows were safe and sound at this nautical bar. Upstairs sits fish tanks with those pretty rainbow breeds, and the only talking parrot Prague has offered me yet. The doors depict a snazzy man and woman, think straight from the Titanic deck, and their bewildered pouts have me thinking this latenight pub is headed straight for a bloody iceburg. Felt semi-seasick just washing my hands.

2006-05-11T03:48:00.000-07:00

Updull ibn Carculcah
Vojtesska 2

So far the highlight of my career. It's places like Updull that remind me why this project exists. The toilet seats! Finally! Ok, so the cavemen had me intrigued. Then the heart seats for gals had me uncomfortably smiling. And before I knew it, I was kicking the door of the boy's room, on my knees photographing cows. Rainbow polka-dotted ones.

2006-05-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

Hospůdka na hradbách

A beer garden atop the fortress town of Vyšehrad.

2006-05-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

Outside the Staromeska Metro stop.

Just in case you want to take home some of your very own "double-ya see" tiles.

2006-05-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

Zlata Koruna Monastery

Must have taken a while to go through those layers of petticoats..

2006-05-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

Azteca
Ricni 9

You would think this Mexican restaurace would skip the blue top hat and embrace tradition with a straw sombrero or something. Maybe sombrero painting is more strenuous, maybe this place just isn't that authentic. The food could prove the latter.

2006-05-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

Tamada
Jenštejnská 2

These two are friendly. Just like Tamada-- a wood-clad Georgian eatery that feels like a South Bohemian hunting lodge. Wood everywhere, and even this shading teqnique resembles the natural inner rings of a wood design.

2006-05-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

Break Cafe
Stepanska 32

When you gotta go, you gotta go.

2006-04-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

Petrin Hill

Atop this headland, all of Prague is visible and dressed to the nines. Arguably the best view in the city. You may just wet your pants in fascination, but conveniently find these.

2006-04-27T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hergetova Cihelna Bar & Restaurant

Mala Strana, Prague 1

Sleek and sexy, just like everything else about Hergetova, and the Kampa Group restaurants in general.

2006-04-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

The Globe
Pštrossova 6

In libris, veritas; in kava, vita.
==============
In books, truth; in coffee, life.

Where the well-read and wannabe well-read expats chill with English translations, eggwhite omelettes and other things that don't require subtitles. These bathroom door photos must be the oldest things under this roof. When I asked the cashier of their origins, he looked at me very skeptically and asked me to "come back later."

2006-04-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

Restaurace Bar Bar
Vsehrdov 17

Loved these.

2006-04-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

Club Ujezd
Ujezd 18

(Pronounced

OoOoOo-

yezd)

2006-04-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

Kavárna Medúza
Belgicka 17

Mosaics in every crack, crevice and armpit of this closet-sized room. A mirror sits at the eye level of squatters--reason unknown. Reflections exhibit specks of tile, once-teacups and gems in the background. Meduza is a part-café, part-full bar, part-snackshop, and the toilets are part-very charming. (Oh yes, and part-rotating art exhibit.) The drink menu offers the Meduza artist/bookie crowd all the essentials—cheap half-liters of Velvet beer, Hot Mead (Beowulf legend's go-to drink) and banana shakes. And here they offer the perfect escape after rounds of literary chat.

2006-04-11T05:40:00.000-07:00

SoftBellies
Biskupska (Across from the Best Western)

A feline sign for the ladies and pup sign for the fellas—somewhat curious representations that would drive any Gender Studies scholar mad. Is the bottom line that we're all just animals? A bolted sign in between the two reads “V Biskupskem Dvore” (translated to "Inside of Bishop's Quarters") -- likely stemming from its street name, Biskupsa. Since when did using the loo have to be religious? Below the sign is a ceramic fountain that spouts no water. Basically, this is confusion in WC form at its best.

2006-04-07T08:02:00.000-07:00

Sex Machines Museum
Melantrichova 18

The color of red lipstick and all things heated, these devilish cherry-colored signs don’t mess around. Here’s the gentleman’s quarter and there’s the ladies..any questions?

2006-04-06T08:25:00.000-07:00

Cafe Rybka
Opatovicka 7

The Czech word "rybka" means"fingerling" or "tiddler" (the British term for young'ins). Essentially, it's talking about baby fish. Little blue rybkas, with a rainbow fish-silhouette, swim in schools toward the toilet tissue dispenser. Another one glides toward the archetypal European light switch.

But on the walnut doors outside, puffy paint art shows a gentleman and lady friend. Maybe one of the character couples in the classic tomes sitting on Rybka's cafe shelves outside. Ayn Rand sits next to Hunter S. Thompson. (All translations in Czech) Communism may be over, but a sticker below the couple gives an alternate meaning to the acronymn WC-- try "working class."

2006-04-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

Day Star Cafe
Jaromirova 46

Tykes like these flock here with mums and dads for this cafe's smoke-free, alcohol-freeness. Their claim to fame (next to 1 CZ Korun per min WIFI access) is the fresh-squeezed OJ. The babies look cute, but the real ones that roam about DayStar destroy the dot.com and pastry peace.

Side note: Evangelist youth groups also convene at DayStar.

2006-04-06T06:25:00.000-07:00

Radost FX
Belehradska 120

So that's what swanky vegetarian expats (or veggie-fakers) wear underneath their Jet-Setter Couture to this multi-level club/lounge/ art gallery/CD shop/ DVD rental store/ meat-free cafe. Hmmm.

2006-03-16T06:23:00.000-08:00

eat. drink. find bathroom. look in mirror. do business. wash hands. wait a few minutes. repeat.

what: toilet. urinal. restroom. bathroom. outhouse. the John. WC. washcloset. washroom. powder room. lavatory. latrine. toilette. Johnny. comfort station. ladies' room. men's room. privy. potty. the pot. the sandbox. throne.

where: Praha, Czech Republic.

why: because 1/3 of our lives we spend making ourselves happy. another third we spend making other people happy. and the last third we spend finding the nearest toilet.

this project will highlight the magical signs, toilet seats, wall decor, while-you-wait literature, ornate mirrors and sinks all over Praha that surround the private place we cannot live without. it's no longer just a WC sign anymore.

stay tuned.

The Start Of Something Beautiful

2006-03-14T10:53:00.000-08:00