Katie Czechs Out Europe

|Morning Glories|

17/6/19

Back home in Texas, the birds don’t start to chirp until about 6:00 AM. They take their time to wake up, for they wait for the sun to cue their morning routine. This makes it easy for most people, for this is about the same time their alarm clocks start to ring. Everything seems seamless and at ease.

This is very different in Europe. Here, the sun starts to rise at about 4:00 AM, and the birds rise with it. At the most ungodly hour, light starts shining through your curtains and the world tries its hardest to wake you up. Many of the students here have taken to wearing night masks to stop the startling wake up call, and I am extremely glad that I was lucky enough to have blackout curtains in my room.

Funny enough, 4:00 AM is also when most of the bars start to close. This results in some humorous sights as you see drunken partiers stagger out of bars and into the morning light. In fact, when I went to go take pictures the other day, I ran into a group of very drunk friends who seemed to not want the night’s fun to end. They were laughing and joking around, probably with the same amount of energy they had at the beginning of the night.

Right next to them was one of their friends. She sat on the cobblestone, barely able to keep her eyes open. She was nodding off, unable to keep up with the rest of them. I felt so bad for her. As someone who values their sleep, I can only imagine how she felt. I hope she was able to go home soon and have the best sleep of her life.

|Morning Glories|

16/6/19

From the moment we stepped into Prague, we had heard of the many brides who come out each morning during the sunrise to get their pictures done on the Charles Bridge. This is due to two things. The first is that in the Chinese culture, it is normal (even expected) to have wedding photos done before the day of the nuptials. They use these pictures as part of the ceremony and décor. The second is the breathe taking sight of the historical, glistening town of Prague that you get when you are on the bridge as the sun is starting to wake up. It was obvious for all of us that we needed to do this while we were in Prague.

Unfortunately for us, it heavy down poured last night and was extremely cloudy this morning. This meant that very few brides were out and about. We had to almost calculate when and where they would be or else we would miss them. Luckily for me, I ran into this charming couple.

These two love birds could make even the coldest heart melt. They had genuine affection for each other, and they could not stop giggling to one another. They were glowing not only from the sunlight peaking in through the buildings, but from the love they had for one another. You could tell that that they were just so excited to be marrying one another—a feeling we all hope to have one day.

|Architecturally Speaking|

15/6/19

I highly suggest that anyone who wants to see the quaintest, cutest historical town in Europe to go to little Český Krumlov.

Unlike most of the cities in Europe, Český Krumlov has been untouched by the past horrors that haunt the continent. It somehow found a way to stay completely intact during both World War I and World War II. The cobblestones you trip over are centuries years old, and you can feel the history tucked away into every corner of the winding streets.

This town is extremely small, you can get from one side of the town to the other by walking only 10-15 minutes. However, there are almost no modern buildings in the entire place. You are literally transported back in time with the unique architecture and pastel buildings.

While having lunch on my birthday, I sat in a little alleyway and munched on some traditional pizza. I looked up and saw this man sitting in the window, perfectly framed by all the different types of architecture. He sat there while people watching all the tourists below him.

I found a surge of joy and bliss looking at this. I honestly cannot believe that I am lucky enough to experience Europe in this way. How lucky am I to be in such an amazing place and experience such astounding things?

|The Nocturnalist|

14/6/19

With beer that is cheaper than water, and plenty of clubs and bars to choose from, it is no wonder that Prague is a top destination for night life. Many bachelors and bachelorettes find themselves here to celebrate their last days of being single with a low budget but a high expectation for fun. I had gotten used to this while being in Prague, and I expected that this is how it was all over the Czech Republic. I was very wrong.

Somehow, life worked out in my favor, and my birthday landed on the last day of our visit in Český Krumlov. Of course, being the college students we are, we wanted to celebrate me turning 23 not only on the day of, but the night before as well. We were excited to go out and experience the Český Krumlov nightlife.

We were met with abandonment. The streets of this small town seem to completely close at 9 PM. The place is completely barren. There were only very few people out, even though the sun had not fully set. Luckily, we found a place that was still open that was happy to hand out drinks to us.

We were the only ones there for their “happy hour”. The bar tender was able to give us his undivided attention as he mixed all the drinks with precision. We could not help but laugh about how different Český Krumlov was from Prague, even though they are only 2.5 hours away from each other.

The drinks were absolutely delicious, and we were thankful that this kind man was still awake to help me have a great night as I entered being 23.

|A Thousand Words|

13/6/19

The other day, some of us had the unique opportunity of meeting up with some local Prague photographers. It was a challenging experience that I’m extremely glad I got to be a part of.

Our TA, Kyser, reached out to our cohort to tell us about a local group in Prague called The Prague Street Photography Collective. They are a group of locals who have gotten together to explore their hobby of photographers.

I was extremely scared to meet them at first because I am definitely an amateur when it comes to photography. However, they completely surprised me. Not only were they kind to all of us, most of them were American! For what seemed like forever, we did not have to deal with the stark attitudes of Czechs. Instead, we were given a taste of home with their humbling hospitality.

Apparently, every time the group meets, they have a prompt that they follow. The focus for this meetup was to photograph people who are by themselves, experiencing Prague—a perfect prompt for this blog.

At first, I tagged along tightly behind Kyser and my friend Caleigh. The thought of photographing people in the middle of the city center was extremely intimidating. As the night when on, I found myself getting braver. I realized that it was easier than I thought to photograph solo people. You only have to worry about the one person instead of a whole group potentially being mad at you.

For instance, in this picture, I was able to get very close to this tourist. In fact, I was only two feet away. It was as if I was  given more time to find the perfect light and angle because I was only focused on a single subject.

I think from now on, I am going to go out with a specific goal in mind. This will help me really focus on what I’m shooting, and get the best photographs possible.

|Not from these parts|

12/6/19

Today we traveled to one of the cutest, quaintest towns I’ve ever been to— Český Krumlov. Just a couple of hours south of Prague, it is a must-see destination. It’s buildings have been preserved for centuries, and you are easily transported back in time.

However, you are quickly brought back to present day by the huge group of tourists running into you. They are everywhere. They are in every restaurant, alley, and crowding the sidewalks. The most surprising part? Almost all of them are from Asia.

Asians have found a new love for central Europe. I had gotten used to the large flocks of Asian tourists while in Prague, but I never expected them to be in Český Krumlov as well.

While trying to take a picture of the beautiful scenery here, my shot kept being disrupted by Asian tourists taking pictures in front of me. When one was done, they would just be replaced by another. At first I started to get annoyed by their constant selfies, but then I realized that this is just their way of expressing how excited they are to be in this beautiful city.

|Architecturally Speaking|

11/6/19

I have taken many scenic pictures of the Prague skyline while I have been here, and in almost all of them, there this giant horse. The weird thing is, no one really talked about it or seemed to acknowledge it. I decided to investigate for myself.

After a quick google search, I realized that the horse belonged to the National Monument on Vítkov hill. I grabbed my camera, hopped on the train, and went to explore.

Google did not warn me about the steep hills and steps it took to get to the monument, nor did it tell me about the semi-sketchy neighborhood that lay below it. Nevertheless, I persisted until I had reached the top.

 The monument was a lot larger than I could have imagined. In fact, the horse is the third largest bronze equestrian statue in the world. It towers over the city, displaying a sense of pride that can only be shown at such an historical site. It dwarfed all those who were near it.

The hill the monument is sitting on has been a part of Prague history for many centuries. The monument itself has gone through many changes, from being a sign of the Resistance, to being a symbol of Czechoslovakia independence.

I know there is an entire exhibit inside, but I was unable to go see it. I hope that I can come back to explore even more of Prague’s history and marvel at the large horse once more.

|The Nocturnalist|

10/6/19

During the day, Prague can be a bustling city full of new finds and exciting adventures. Since the sun is out for at least 17 hours, it feels like the days are never ending. It is no wonder that we keep finding ourselves in need of a nice glass of beer and a relaxing place to rest almost every night.

One of my favorite places to go to so far is Riegrovy Sady. Not only is it just one metro stop away, it is also filled with cute dogs and amazing views. As seen in this picture, many people crowd around on a specific hillside at around 9:00 to watch the sunset over the city. Peaking out over the skyline is the Prague castle, telling the city goodnight and to sleep well.

There is a calm that washes over everyone that is there. It is as if we all know that everything is going to be ok and that we are lucky to be in such a magical city and place.  It is the perfect ending to the day.

|Location Notation|

9/6/19

Every year, on the second Saturday in June, almost all the museums in Prague open their doors to the general public for a night of free admission. Without the need of a wallet, you have the chance to hop on a tram and go to all the historical museums your heart desires.

At least, that’s what we had hoped.

Unfortunately for my friends and I, most of the museums that we were excited to go to were blocked by lines that were at least an hour long. This led us to try and find some of the smaller, lesser known museums that may not be as overcrowded. Since we are in the middle of a photography course, we decided to try out the House of Photography.

It was almost eerily quiet in this museum as people scanned and took in the black and white photos lining the walls. This made it very hard to stealthily take pictures, even with my camera set on silent mode.

There was one thing I noticed about this museum. Although there weren’t many people there, strangers tended to unconsciously group themselves. It was as if they were taking hints from the people around them to make sure that they were looking at the best piece for the right amount of time. It was slightly like a social experiment.

This is how I came to this photo. I was trying to take a picture of this man looking at the art in front of him, when I caught the reflection of the other people that were close to him. The picture helps reflect the sense of quiet solemnness that you felt in the room. In reality, you were there among a group who were all appreciating the photographs with you.

|Small Wonder|

8/6/19

The Mattoni Kokteji Festival is one of a kind. It mixes the intrigue of non-alcoholic beverages with the excitement of a full musical festival—all while being in the middle of Old Town Square.

Both tourists and Czech citizens a like came to dance and have fun while the sweet summer sun shined down upon them. When I arrived, the Czech band, Monkey Business, had just started their energetic set. It was clear to see that they were a hometown favorite, for almost everyone was moving along with the music.

As I tried to take pictures of the excited crowd, I realized it was almost impossible to do so. Almost every shot I had was ruined by either someone with a selfie sick or someone standing lifeless by holding up their phone. This is not something that only appears in the Czech Republic. I have been to many concerts were people seem more interested in recording the concert to share on social media later than enjoying the moment.

This man, for example, had started to finally put away his selfie stick because he thought Monkey Business was done for the day. However, when the band came back for an encore, he quickly pulled out the selfie stick like his life depended on it.

Why must we document every little thing in our lives now? I understand wanting to remember great moments in the future, but we may be taking it a little too far.