After Warsaw we made our way to Plzen, Czech Republic. We arrived in the evening and I decided to go to the festival site with the crew to check out the stage. The weather was miserable. We drove past tents and I thought about how bad it's gotta suck to hang out all day in the rain only to retire to a wet tent. The stage was no safe haven from the water either. Seeing enough we went back to the hotel for a night in... or so I thought :) Wandering the halls, I bumped into guys from Bloodbound and Kataklysm, then tagged along to a local bar. What a weird scene. The place had the atmosphere of a rock/metal club, but the music was anything but. Regardless, it was cool to get a chance to hang out with some other festival peeps for a much needed night out.
The rain continued on show day. It was the coldest I have ever been on stage by far. I gotta hand out to the metal fans in Czech - they weren't deterred a bit. Thanks for making it an awesome show despite being soaked to the bone!
The following day we all parted ways. Without a show for 12 days, some people went home, some to work other shows, and some to hang out in Copenhagen. I decided this would be a great opportunity to visit Prague. Of course, my plans were made before the flood came :/ A few hours before I was to leave, I heard that the military was going door to door giving out bread. It was about then that I started wondering why the hell I hadn't planned on going to Spain!
Our tour manager, Ole Bang, had arranged for me to jump on a shuttle with Enforcer to get a ride into Prague. The driver would only take me to the airport tho since closed roads in the city center were making it hard to get around. Myself and a couple metal chicks from Poland were left to find a taxi into town. It was on this ride that I got my first view of how high the river was. Yikes! I saw restaurants 90% underwater, and soldiers stacking sandbags, and it was still raining... with rain in the forecast for the next week :(
Luckily tho, the rain has let up and the sunshine has been increasing every day. A lot of buildings are still closed so I have been exploring the higher lands first, and making my way closer to the river. I have gone to a couple Couchsurfing events and it has been awesome hearing tales from people traveling all over Europe. I even met an American graphic designer who has been traveling while working for the last 2 years. Hmmmmm....
I set out yesterday with a site seeing plan but quickly decided to throw it out the window and wander instead. It was then that I stumbled into Fox Gallery. I saw some beautiful work here and chatted with a super sweet woman. She was uber helpful and took the time to write down other galleries and organizations show thought I would be interested in. Oddly enough, when I explained that I was in Europe doing performance work she said that she had that feeling about me... do I look like a performer?? Grateful for her help, I thanked her and continued walking around. I found another gallery who's name I did not commit to memory, but had a great show on display, and lastly another showing work by university students. This gallery was in the basement of a hotel. A guy opened it up for me and told me how their mission is to give students the opportunity to show their work publicly. I admired his passion as he explained to me that the show was not curated; it was a chance for the artists to express themselves freely. He spoke about how he wants to highlight Czech artists, and explained that most of the work you see in the galleries not not created here at all, but shipped in from Russia and marketed to tourists. It was a familiar conversation about the struggle to push underground art past the mass produced decorations, and into the public eye. I left feeling invigorated.
It was at that moment that I started paying a little closer attention to what you can't help but notice - visually, this is an amazing city. It is saturated with beauty. I decided to spend the rest of the day taking note of the textures and patterns around me. I don't know that I could ever get tired of seeing all it has to offer. I think I'm officially in love with Prague :)
The rain continued on show day. It was the coldest I have ever been on stage by far. I gotta hand out to the metal fans in Czech - they weren't deterred a bit. Thanks for making it an awesome show despite being soaked to the bone!
The following day we all parted ways. Without a show for 12 days, some people went home, some to work other shows, and some to hang out in Copenhagen. I decided this would be a great opportunity to visit Prague. Of course, my plans were made before the flood came :/ A few hours before I was to leave, I heard that the military was going door to door giving out bread. It was about then that I started wondering why the hell I hadn't planned on going to Spain!
Our tour manager, Ole Bang, had arranged for me to jump on a shuttle with Enforcer to get a ride into Prague. The driver would only take me to the airport tho since closed roads in the city center were making it hard to get around. Myself and a couple metal chicks from Poland were left to find a taxi into town. It was on this ride that I got my first view of how high the river was. Yikes! I saw restaurants 90% underwater, and soldiers stacking sandbags, and it was still raining... with rain in the forecast for the next week :(
Luckily tho, the rain has let up and the sunshine has been increasing every day. A lot of buildings are still closed so I have been exploring the higher lands first, and making my way closer to the river. I have gone to a couple Couchsurfing events and it has been awesome hearing tales from people traveling all over Europe. I even met an American graphic designer who has been traveling while working for the last 2 years. Hmmmmm....
I set out yesterday with a site seeing plan but quickly decided to throw it out the window and wander instead. It was then that I stumbled into Fox Gallery. I saw some beautiful work here and chatted with a super sweet woman. She was uber helpful and took the time to write down other galleries and organizations show thought I would be interested in. Oddly enough, when I explained that I was in Europe doing performance work she said that she had that feeling about me... do I look like a performer?? Grateful for her help, I thanked her and continued walking around. I found another gallery who's name I did not commit to memory, but had a great show on display, and lastly another showing work by university students. This gallery was in the basement of a hotel. A guy opened it up for me and told me how their mission is to give students the opportunity to show their work publicly. I admired his passion as he explained to me that the show was not curated; it was a chance for the artists to express themselves freely. He spoke about how he wants to highlight Czech artists, and explained that most of the work you see in the galleries not not created here at all, but shipped in from Russia and marketed to tourists. It was a familiar conversation about the struggle to push underground art past the mass produced decorations, and into the public eye. I left feeling invigorated.
It was at that moment that I started paying a little closer attention to what you can't help but notice - visually, this is an amazing city. It is saturated with beauty. I decided to spend the rest of the day taking note of the textures and patterns around me. I don't know that I could ever get tired of seeing all it has to offer. I think I'm officially in love with Prague :)
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| Uh oh, welcome to Prague |
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| A memorial to the victims of communism |
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| While pork knee might be a popular dish in Prague :( there is no shortage of vegan food - even raw! |
Thanks for updates from your road. It is interesting reading for those of us who are sitting at home :) And those decorated doors patters looks great!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading :) It's really amazing how much there is to see in this city - I'm in awe!
ReplyDelete