morning glories // june 27, 2019

day thirty

We had to do it just once. Two days ago I woke up in time to take a photo just before the lights in the city turned off. Today I stayed up until I watched them turn off. We went to the most ridiculous and infamous club and hiked our way around the narrow streets of old town looking for McDonalds, apple maps was not accounting for the closed off passage ways that are only open during the day. Got the McDonalds, dropped my sister off at her hotel with my parents, and went back to old town square to sit where I had seen a group of drunk kids sit the morning before. Met some Germans, got up, and headed for Charles Bridge for the sunrise. I might not have been so cold if I had a few more drinks in me (for some reason we have a cool front today following the hell that came two days before), but I was happy to be sober at the end of the day.

We spent a little time reminiscing, watching the people walk by, looking at the places under the bridge where our dinner cruise had sailed several hours before. I wondered how I was going to leave this place, and how I’d ever get back. I have two more days here with my family, but most of my friends from the program have gone now (yeah I’m writing a little past deadline, who is surprised) and it’s a strange feeling. When I come back, I know it wont be the same, with out Paige or Dennis, Kyser, Marybeth, Tereza or brother Ethan, and so many more who made this first step into post grad so memorable. Well I suppose I can always give Tereza a call if I come back at a random time! From Letna to Cesky Krumlov, from Pilsner to Kingwood Cider… Cathedrals to war zones and everything in between, this trip has been so eye opening to this amazing country. I don’t even know how to explain the lesser known parts of the city that I have come to know and love as part of my neighborhood. There are so many parts of this city I will take with me, it’s public transportation for one… I am so thankful.

morning glories // june 26, 2019

day twenty nine

Meet my new friend, as of 4:53 a.m. today. He called himself Solution, I think, but his instagram says otherwise. I was walking the streets around Old Town Square alone this sunrise, looking for fun people who had spent the night out partying. Pretty quickly I started feeling a little unsafe. Most of the drunken groups in the area were all men. It might’ve been a dumb decision to set off alone and head towards the drunk people, but it proved to be a decent time. Like I said, I made a friend. First I was nervous when Solution broke off from his group to ask me where I was headed, where I was from, and if we could be friends. I told him I was making photos of people for class as my escape plan, but then he asked if we could just be friends and followed me on instagram. I followed back because why not reinforce positive behavior? It shouldn’t be so threatening when any man approaches any woman on the street. I have to say I’m flattered he came to say hello. After a night of dancing in M1, probably with hundreds of young women dressed head to toe in going-out gear, he decided to approach me in my sweat pants, tennishoes, and high messy bun.

He asked pretty quickly if I had a boyfriend too. It’s always nice when they ask so you don’t have to tell them, when you tell them, theres always a possibility they think you’re lying, which shouldn’t matter. It was a pretty nice interaction, probably the purest one you could have with a likely-drunk stranger at nearly 5 a.m. on the streets of Prague outside of the clubs.

small wonder // june 25, 2019

day twenty eight

My muse for today was not entirely thrilled with being such a thing. I asked if I could take a photo and he shrugged “sure” and looked up from his work after two snaps. I kept his eyes out of the frame. The leather man at the market outside of the Municipal House probably cared more about me making a purchase than making a photo. What he doesn’t know is that I get my leather products for free.

My wallet, mini wallet, clutch, purse, belt, camera strap, and key chain are the leather goods I brought with me to Prague that my boyfriend made and gave to me. In other words, I’m somewhat spoiled in the leather department. Walker doesn’t really do designs like this guy, but I thought his technique was interesting. I framed just enough that I got what I wanted. I wanted the obscure worker to exit the frame where he did, even if I could tell he was looking at me without his eyes in the shot. I thought it was interesting he seemed to continue to hammer while looking at me. He must have a steady hand. Either way, it halfway reminded me of home. Just the smell of new leather hanging from hangers and sprawled on market tables take me back to Austin. Four short days left in Prague. Ten in Italy.

a thousand words // june 24, 2019

day twenty seven

From the Budapest airport waiting on my return flight to Prague, I can easily say I am going to miss the Czech Republic so much. This city and this country is dear to my heart. I don’t think I’ve ever lived in a place for only one month. Leaving this weekend was good, but very hard to be away. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like leaving for good (for now) in six short days. I saw this woman on the island park by the John Lennon Wall a little before leaving for Hungary this weekend. She was just out with friends enjoying one of Prague’s many phenomenal parks.

Coming back to Prague today felt a little like coming come. I know this city well, I don’t know it perfectly, but I can get around and I can tell you where most things are in the city and I know a good amount of people here. I didn’t know a soul in Budapest. I wonder what it would be like to move to Prague for good. To make friends, to get to know them and run in their circles. To get a job here and work and live… I think Czech’s are a little too silent for me, and they are pretty straight to the point… but I love them once I get to know them. My heart is aching for the last week. I know I’ll be devastated to leave. I know I’ll have to come back to my home away from home to enjoy the parks or beer gardens with my friends once more.

noticed // june 23, 2019

day twenty six

If I weren’t a Christian I know I wouldn’t want anyone trying to sell me on their religion. If I weren’t a Christian I’d probably be the one to stand outside of the church while my friends and family went in to do something more valuable with my time like planning where to get lunch. I don’t know if that is what this man was doing, I don’t know if he had just gone into the church or was about to, but something in the expression on his face as I looked at him through the broken stained glass made me think he was not so easily convinced of what religion had to offer. I don’t know if this man is Czech, or just a visitor, but I know that a large amount of Czech people identify as agnostic or atheist. I would guess that most people were to busy trying not to die at the hands of totalitarian regimes during the middle part of the last century to worry about furthering religion. I know that hundreds of churches around the country do not even have masses anymore because they don’t have full congregations. Meanwhile I come from a state that can’t seem to stop planting churches in any building that is free to rent out on Sunday mornings.

I have so many issues with the capital C-Church even as a believer. If I weren’t one, I’d probably be picketing against it with any opportunity I had, or at least standing with my hands on my hips outside of the church while everyone else goes in to have a look. If I were Czech, I don’t know that I would’ve come to understand the point of Christianity. I likely would’ve thought of it as an ancient, useless and decaying thing like the churches that are used to house it. It is safe to say, I am glad I’m not Czech.

architecturally speaking // june 21, 2019

day twenty four

For some reason, this is the first church I’ve been in and noticed the candles that you light for those who have passed on. Generally when I’m inside catholic churches I light one for my uncle who passed away when I was a freshman in college. My grandparents said over a dozen masses were said in his name, apparently that is a really big deal. So when I go into catholic churches it is a strong reminder of my moms brother. In this church didn’t think about him until I saw the candles, because well, this was less of a church and more of a strange attraction spot.

I considered for a minute lighting a candle. Several had been lit, I had 20 crowns in my hand, but then I looked around me, and just felt incredibly strange about the whole thing. I don’t even know if I really believe that those were real bones in there (I believe it but they didn’t feel real with the dozens of people just clamoring around the room trying to take pictures and reaching their hands in too far over and over again to make the pitiful alarms go off.) I wasn’t sure how I’d tell my family I lit a candle for my uncle inside a church filled with bones that may or may not be incredibly holy. It didn’t feel holy, it felt like Disney world. It felt disrespectful, so I put my 20 crowns back in my bag and kept on taking photos, photos of people so confused and concerned and interested and excited. I felt separate from the experience, unlike any church tour I’ve ever been in, I felt completely disconnected.

the nocturnalist // june 20, 2019

day twenty three

I’ve got a thing for grainy photos. Something about them lets me pretend I took them thirty or forty years ago. Nighttime Prague is different. It also can feel like you’re taken back thirty or forty years. Not back into the time of totalitarian regimes, but just older times. I suppose the magical parts of the last century that other countries saw weren’t as prominent here with all of the political problems and war, so maybe the night gives Prague it’s past back. It gives Prague the 70s or the 50s. Kids congregate in dingy places, buskers play old music, and really old building twinkle with light in their reflections upon the Vltava.

Prague at dusk is Prague at its finest. The tourists are home or out for dinner, the locals are heading home from work and the kids are out to play after the summer sun has set. The sun hits the vast array of different types of buildings all throughout the city in ways that change each building for the better. Sunlight reflects or changes the colors we see, giving us a new look. Once the sun is gone, the city lights itself up. The best nightlife is probably not in the clubs, but on the quiet old town streets that swirl and shrink as you pass restaurants and pubs and gardens until they let you back out onto larger cobblestone paths again. Live music follows you down your way as you pass them on their corners. Through centuries, this city has grown and changed and it continues to do so each night.

morning glories // june 19, 2019

day twenty two

I finally braved the early rising sun of Prague for the first time this morning, and I don’t know if I’ve had an experience I enjoyed more. The few dozen people we mingled with on the bridge, that is otherwise entirely populated, were funny and varying. Some were quite drunk, others were sober. Some American tourists, other asian soon-to-be-weds taking photos, even Czech’s found their way out on to the famed bridge for the morning.

Among the bride-littered population of the bridge were several lime-scooter riders. I got lucky to catch this rather belligerent couple as they zoomed past me. I was kind of nervous getting so close to them for the shot, because honestly, they were pretty wobbly, and could’ve veered into me from where I was standing. I’ve been in that situation before on the crowded UT campus, so I felt quite at home for a moment. The pair rode off into the sunrise, zipping past the kissing couples, sleepy eyed tourists, and a few beggars here and there. Many people were holding glass bottles of beer. A few drunk American girls sat up against one of the walls yelling “na zdraví!”. On an otherwise slow morning, the several limer’s who crossed the bridge really were a change of speed for the sunrise.

around here // june 18, 2019

day twenty one

This evening, I was laying in the grass, and I watched a plane fly across the Letná sky. I wondered where it was going. I hoped it was heading for America, and for a second, I wished I was on it on my way home, honestly, to see my boyfriend Walker. I asked him if he was ever close to crying when I was leaving, because I was crying a lot on the way to the airport. I’ll see my family in a week and a half, but Walker is another 22 days. It’s hard, especially when you’re in Letna, surrounded by lovers and friends that belong to each other. Today I’m also missing one of my best friend, Taryn’s, 21st birthday.

Letna alone is a place of congregation, but at the Metronome, it is amplified. Once a place that signified the power of the communist regime, the space is now a place for teen community and rebellion. A place for lovers to sit and watch their city in its twilight, a place for skaters to come and feel the wind rush through their hair as they fly by on their wheels… a place of freedom and a place to feel at home. I was taking photos here, so it wasn’t quite home, I was still on the outside looking in, but for those moments laying in the Letna park, I felt similarly to the moments I spend laying in Zilker or on the UT main lawn. I waited for my best friends or my family or loved ones to join me, and when they didn’t it felt bitter sweet. Bitter because I miss them, but sweet because this place, day by day, slowly becomes more and more my own. My city, Prague.