Without Lifting A Finger

Kaiser Panorama: A window into past , a photo by Qasem-Amin on Flickr. Something Kafka says he saw in Friedland. From his Diaries:      The Emperor's Panorama, the only amusement in Friedland. Didn't feel quite at ease because I hadn't been prepared for so elegantly furnished an interior as I found inside, had entered with snow-covered boots, and, sitting in front of the glass showcases, touched the rug only with my boot toes. I had forgotten how such places are arranged and for a moment was afraid I should have to walk from one chair to another.

     The castle in Friedland. The different ways there are to view it: from the plain, from a bridge, from the park, through bare trees, from the woods through tall firs. The castle astonishes one by the way it is built on part above the other; long after one has entered the yard it still presents no unified appearance, for the dark ivy, the dark grey walls, the white snow, the ice coloured glacis enhance the heterogeneity of its aspect. The castle is really built not on a plateau but around the rather steep sides of a hilltop.

Friedland_Frydlant_CzechRep , a photo by franzkafkatravel on Flickr. Possibly the inspiration for Kafka's castle.