We have entered our fourth week here in Prague and I think that almost everyone is starting to settle into some semblance of a routine--a favorite breakfast stop, figuring out the tram lines and metro stops, and frequent trips to the nearby Italian restaurants, Tesco, and the Beer Garten. We are turning into locals, tossing around Czech words more casually, and no longer phased by the stranger mannerisms that first caught us off guard here.
With the third week though, sights around us are becoming ordinary. Each day, I am taking less and less photos. Tourists have all begun to look the same. I feel as though my photo quality has even decreased. I just remind myself of what my pal Kelsey told me in regards to writing and other manners of artistic expression, when you start to criticize your work and find flaw in it, you are improving. Well I hope my photos are improving. Things are just becoming monotonous....four thousand photos in.
So several of us have created a few games that we play. Yesterday, on an architecture tour about town, we learned or became reacquainted with various styles from the medieval to modern period. The order goes: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and finally Rococo. As a history major and art history minor (brag brag brag), I was feeling good before the walking tour. Boy was I rusty. Too many indigenous art classes (Aztec and ancient Peruvian). I had completely forgotten about Renaissance art. But, after a quick refresher lesson, we began to play the guessing game as our tour guide, Professor Martin Krummholz, led us to prominent buildings around Prague. "That one is Renaissance because of the decorative details/graffiti" and "that one is Baroque because of the curvature of the windows..."
Today, we had another walking tour about Prague and learned of alchemy symbols, and then toured an alchemy museum. As we walked across Charles Bridge for the tenth time in order to reach the next tour stop, a classmate and I developed a new game..."shove your camera into the tourists' faces." We hoped to evoke yelling and curse words, lots of foreign profanity. Sadly, none. But interesting shots nonetheless.
So we've started to play games and get comfortable here. Over here, things are becoming familiar, and I feel as if though Prague has embraced us. We are being goofy now that the sun is out, and we are exploring the town on our own. We are calling Prague our home.
