The recent delay between blog posts has been due to our daughter’s high school graduation, followed by a mid-week overnight flight to Prague as a prelude to a three-week multimedia project in the Czech Republic. I will be working with a faculty team from the University of Miami led by Professor Rich Beckman. We will be supporting students from Czech universities and the University of Miami who will be reporting on a variety of environmental topics.
Fellow faculty member Kim Grinfeder and I began our walking journey of Old Town Prague at dusk, leaving our hotel on Melnicka Street to cross another bridge further down the Vltava River. Below us, concert goers danced and wandered about listening to one of several music concerts going on simultaneously on several mid-river islands. Nearby clumps of people paused for photos with the beautiful scene of the Prague Castle and the towering spires of the St. Vitus overlooking the Charles Bridge as a backdrop.
Moving along the east back of the river, we stopped to watch fireworks going off above the Charles Bridge. The fireworks did little to slow the flow of cars, trams, and pedestrians moving in close proximity along the main route along the river. We paused long enough for Kim to shoot a few photos before entering into Old Town Prague.
As one might expect, Prague’s nightlife builds to a very lively crescendo as the night wears on to midnight. Moving through the cobblestone streets of Old Town near the Republiky Square, we moved among a ceaseless flow of pedestrian traffic, hearing a mix of languages that underscored Prague’s appeal as a tourist destination. Laughter, conversation, the occasional rumble of a nearby tram, and even a group of Barcelona football fans all boisterously singing the praises of their team were part of the action on a warm evening.
As midnight neared and our legs grew a bit weary, the appearance of a taxi driver reading while waiting for fares was a tempting target. But instead, we chose to walk on trying to build out a sense of directional familiarity, aided by occasional stops to reconfirm our general direction with assorted waiters, bouncers, etc.
Tomorrow, the initial warmup project will be in for editing and the real work of the project begins in earnest. I will be blogging as time permits, but am now turning my focus to providing support as one of the story coaches for the project. We will be here working for the next three weeks.