location notations // june 7, 2019

day ten

Ah Plzen… home of Pilsner Urquell, my favorite Czech beer as of today. A town I missed out on, and will likely never see again. My stomach was still asking me what the heck I did to it yesterday on the food tour, and I couldn’t really even stand up straight or walk because I was cramping so badly. I had to sit out the second half of the brewery tour and I stayed back with the van drivers at the brewery while everyone else went to eat lunch and explore the little town.

At some point though I forced myself to get up. There was a lot going on outside and I just really wanted a decent photo of people drinking their beer, something I had missed out on for the day. I’m not sure where this group had come from, but they were all just standing around a table drinking their perfectly poured Pilsners like any other group.

Alcohol is such a cultural thing, especially here in Europe. Every alcoholic drink native to the Czech Republic has a story. Beer, absinth, becherovka, you name it. Pilsner was the first light beer of its kind. Jakub Pinkas was one of the first Prague citizens to hear about it and begin selling it. He made the business into a restaurant in 1843, U Pinkasu, which is where we had our welcome dinner. To this day it’s still one of the best places to get a Pilsner. I didn’t get to try the original type of Pilsner, but I got to watch others enjoy it, and I made friends with out bus drivers.

around here // june 6, 2019

day nine

I spent yesterday morning walking around my neighborhood, down toward the Vinohrady area I had a particular coffee shop in mind, but ended up getting lured into the first one I saw. Then I passed another, and another. I got giddy with my caffeine discoveries. I passed by, what trip advisor claims to be, the most instagrammed coffee shop in Prague, to see this man sitting over his bowl of soup in his overalls and plain tee. I wondered what his story was, where he came from, was he a regular at this pristine, instagrammable location? Or did he stumble upon it for his coffee break?

The way he is dressed is peculiar to me, he doesn’t quite seem to fit in this place, even how he looks, an older balding man in this place seemed out of order. I liked him there though, among me outside the cafe window sat young people and hipsters and their babies and dogs, and he sat alone, enjoying his meal. There is something intriguing to me about people who dare to eat alone in a public place. They are the types of people I hope to be, by the end of this trip too…

Every day I feel a little more comfortable here in Prague. I’ve been making my way around the city on my own more and more often in the past few days. I’m so glad I made the time to walk by myself through my neighborhood, it feels like Austin, it feels like home.

not from around these parts // june 5, 2019

day eight

I couldn’t keep my eyes off of this beautiful Israeli couple one of the river overlooks near the Franz Kafka museum. They sat on the ledge, touching and kissing… in my head I thought, well, it’s the right place for that. I’ve already talked about how public the Czech are with their displays of affection, and after a little reading into Israel’s PDA scene, I’d guess that this couple was feeling freedom. They weren’t making out by any means, but they let me take photos of them kissing, him touching her face, and so on.

I asked the young woman to take her photo alone, her dark eyes and natural hair and eyebrows were striking. She moved synonymously with her significant other, so getting her alone was kind of my way of letting her shine. I love love. It’s why I was drawn to the couple, but I also have this innate hope that one day what I do will empower women. I let the young man sit back and watch me take photos of his girlfriend (they were very young, I’m assuming they were dating) and for that moment he let her shine, and be her own person, until I invited him back into the frame. This was the shot I wanted though.

a thousand words // june 4, 2019

day seven

I don’t know what the speakers said to make this young woman applaud the way
she did, by the time I asked, nobody around me was too sure what exactly the
last big cheer was for. All I knew was that she let out a yell, and spun around
to look at her friends. The group of teens held each other tight, clapped and
cheered when the next big thing was said… It was beautiful.

I went to my first protest. That might sound strange, a protest being beautiful, but I swear it was. Over 100,000 people from all over the Czech Republic filled Wenceslas Square to call for the resignation of their Prime Minister, Andrej Babiš. It was the biggest protest since the fall of Communism.

I got off the Mustek exit on the metro green line, and it took at least ten
minutes to get up the escalator off of the subway platform because of the
massive amount of people heading to the square. I could feel myself getting
nervous once I realized how enormous the crowds would be. If what the prime
minister did was bad enough to make this many people show up, surely they’re
pissed off, and maybe things could get violent… But then, I looked to my left
and there was a woman holding a baby, I looked to my right and there was
another, and another all surrounding me. Children and young people were all
around.

I asked someone with very broken english who was speaking, they said they didn’t know, famous people didn’t organize the protest, just everyday people did. So every speaker who came up was just an ordinary citizen of the Czech Republic, representing his or her people, passionately calling for this mans reign to end. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like this. The fact that these people could come together over such a heated issue, and have nothing but peaceful, safe protests filled with speakers, and music, and children… it baffles me. I wish we had that capability in the U.S. I’d say we don’t.

• 

noticed // june 3, 2019

day six

We spent two days in Letna in a row. I didn’t post any previous pictures of Letna, but when I loaded these photos into my computer, I titled the folder “letna again” and it just seemed to fit for this post title. Letna park and Beer Garden overlooks the river, old town Prague, and beyond. We can even point out where-ish our apartments are by looking for the second ugliest building in Europe. I was on my way out of Letna when I heard music and veered down the hill to a rough looking platform where couples were taking a dancing class.

You know when you look at someone and you just know they’re in love? That’s sort of the feeling I get every time I make eye contact with this woman while looking at this picture. It’s a sweet feeling among the silent stoic Prague you see most of the time. The people here are kind, but firm and quick tempered. When you sit down at a restaurant you have about two minutes to decide what you want to drink, and most of the time they’re expecting your food order at the same time. They sometimes get frustrated or act like they’re helping you out by giving you “just a few more minutes maybe.” On the public transportation everyone is silent and keeps to themselves, and you’re noticed and pegged as a tourist fairly quickly if you speak loudly. All that to say, the couples are extremely publicly romantic. I love it.

It’s kind of funny, because I feel like I’m naturally the opposite of how I just described most Czech people, but I really appreciate their vibe. These couples danced merrily, extremely close to one another, and didn’t get shy when I came in close to take a photo. They just kept on dancing. Off to our left, there was a young couple completely enthralled with each other, kissing and hugging and holding one another as the sun went down and the people next to them danced, and I snapped my photos. Gosh I love Prague, and gosh I love Letna.

small wonder // june 2, 2019

day five

The Charles Bridge might Prague’s biggest tourist attraction. It’s probably my favorite place to be as of yet. I love watching the tourists line up to rub the statue of St. John of Nepomuk, who was thrown off the bridge by request of the king of Prague back in the day. I love listening the different folk musicians who busk all across the bridge. I had only been to the bridge late at night, so today was the first day I realized there would be vendors lined up on either side of the bridge between the shade of the statues selling their art.

Everyone and everything was blissfully and ignorantly beautiful today. The sun beat down as we hurried to put on our sunscreen, and visitors paraded across the bridge in their cutest most pose worthy outfits, meanwhile I noticed this nice man, bending down to pick up his supplies. It made me smile, a little bit of ugly in all the beauty to break up the tension of vacation perfection that exists between Old Town Square and New Town.

Reality is ugly. Reality is your pants not fitting quite right and your butt crack showing, or not getting your key to open your door right away every time. It’s getting sweaty and sun burnt when you’d rather glisten and be tan. I think the best part about living in Prague for a whole month is that I’ll see the ugly parts. My family is coming for three days at the end of my time here, and I’ll take them to all the best parts, but I’ll regret that they won’t see all my dives and dirty spots. But this guy’s butt crack out in plain sight of any snooty tourist today really made me hopeful that anyone could see all of Prague.

weekend miser // 01/06/2019

day four

Ah summer. You know it when you see it. It’s when you watch a young dad rub sunscreen on his toddler’s face while waiting for the 8 bus, or when you crave an iced coffee for the first time. If you’re in the northern part of Prague, it might look like sitting in the AC of your car while watching over your flea market goodies as shoppers pass by, eyeing that antique sitting on your plastic table. At the massive flea market, vendors scowl over the crowd, ready to yell at us meek American photographers.

If you’re lucky, you’ll spot something at one of the kinder tenants claimed areas and you can negotiate a price down to pennies and cents. I’ll admit, this was kind of a rough place to be on the first hot day. I scoured the dirt paths for some shade, and when I failed I just did my best not to stop and rest at someones tent for too long before they began trying to sell me something. I thought about buying a cute sun hat, it was only around five dollars, then I let myself think about how many people may have tried the same hat on before me, and I set it back down.

It was a grimy place, but it was also sort of my paradise. If the sun hadn’t been beating down on me, I might’ve come home with all sorts of knick knacks. I saw a cracked Daniel Wellington watch face on one of the jewelry counters, along with a shiny purple fake diamond ring. I was extremely tempted by a Praha pin at another booth, but walked away empty handed after hearing about a failed attempt at good bargaining (hi Kyser). Maybe I’ll make another trip out there on a day where I’m more prepared for the heat. I guess It’s time to start thinking about putting on sunscreen and my bucket hat… and maybe invest in a fan.

around here // may 30, 2019

day three

From what I’ve heard, the parade was smaller this year than it has been in the past. The Romani people, who still face acute discrimination in Prague, only make up two or three percent of the Czech Republic’s population. Still, it seems, what little they have they hold on to. For the day, they embrace the Gypsy culture that makes them who they are. Gold bangles and and coins hung from their clothes. Brightly colored skirts and fringe engulf them as they make their twirls one by one in the Roma parade. The majority of the participants in the bright hues were young women and girls. The oldest and middle aged girls took turns dancing to the strum of a guitar while the youngest watched and clapped along in awe.

If I had to guess, I’d probably say this child was filled with pride, watching her sister or friend toss her skirt from side to side in fits of movement that made it fan out in all directions. She seems to be thinking, that’s my sister, one day it’ll be me. A healthy thought to have for any young person looking up to someone in their own ethnic group. It was moments like this that I felt most excited in the parade.

I will say I did notice a lot of not-so-joyful moments. Looking back I wish I had captured more of them. Up towards the front of the parade, the music was faint, and and as the banner and flags entered Old Town Square, I could sense some hesitation. Some “why am I dressed like this” and “I feel outnumbered” glances fell over me, and the rest of the non-Romani crowd looking on. Once the full force of the parade made it’s way into the square I could feel their confidence come back, probably fueled by the excited but confused but interested tourists who stood around watching the Roma parade.

location notations // may 30, 2019

day two

Some people (like myself) might spot someone like this on the crowded narrow streets of Prague that snake out from Old Town Square, and think this man is praying. In my head, it could’ve been around the time of the fifth prayer of the day for Muslims, or Salat al-‘asr. I saw two men on the ground like this within twenty seconds of each other, and then no more the rest of the day. The thought that this man might be begging didn’t even cross my mind until long after I took the photo. Actually, someone else had to tell me what was going on. If I had known, I probably would not have knelt down and taken the shot; I probably would not have deemed it inappropriate. The truth is, this was my first big mistake and my first big culture shock. I’ve never been to Europe before, and I’ve never seen anyone begging like that.

Looking back, it feels ignorant. Ignorant towards Islam, ignorant towards beggars in Europe, and maybe even towards poverty itself. It never occurred to me that someone might position themselves in such a degrading way, and in such a tight space, in order to ask for money. Perhaps that says something about the rampant pride in America. They hide their faces, allowing the rest of the world to almost dehumanize them if they so please. This man is tripped over and stepped on, most likely, constantly. Still, he stays where he is, and just hopes that the last person to trip over him, or the next person to walk by, feels bad enough for him to drop a coin or a bill in his paper McDonalds cup.

Whether or not this form of begging is more common in the Czech Republic than the rest of Europe, or if the beggars are generally from the same people group, I couldn’t yet tell you for sure. What I know, is that this concept was utterly foreign to me, and it’s still processing in my mind.

not from around these parts (technically)// may 29, 2019

day one

Almost immediately after I arrived, I was told that Vietnamese food in Prague pretty phenomenal. I thought that was kind of a quirky tip to receive. Generally in the first day or two, people are telling you the most important information; where to get your money exchanged without getting ripped off, what parts of town to go to to avoid tourists, how much your beer should cost… So, naturally I was a little confused by the Vietnamese food comment.

It turns out, back in the days of communism, anyone under communist rule could roam about the other communist nations freely. In that time large amounts of Vietnamese people made their way to the Czech Republic, and its capital, Prague. The Vietnamese make up one of the largest nationalities of the ten percent of the “other” population in the Czech Republic. It works out for me, because I love any and all Asian cuisine.

Tourists or not, these women made it out to the Senát Parlamentu České republiky or Wallenstein Palace gardens to visit the peacocks. The one albino male peacock had not extended its wings in the past few hours, and decided to do so just as I was making my exit. I was not really into the whole bird thing, but once I saw the 45 other people rush over to snap a photo, I knew I needed to get in on the fun, or at least pretend I was taking pictures of the bird while instead I was taking pictures of its onlookers. With that being said, I still found myself a bit in awe of the angelic white feathers that extended at least two feet from the body of the magnificent bird. I haven’t been able to find a reason for the exotic birds being placed there, but I have to appreciate the fact that people come to see them, and they never try to escape, even the one albino female that circled round and round the exit for the full duration of my stay at the gardens.