having returned back safely to the gut city safehouse, rested awhile and attended to all of the pressing decorative stamp-related chores, might i begin to reflect on the facts in the case of the last week, of my first official tour of the czech republic and all that transpired therein. such a wonderful time indeed, to be sure. my mind spirals and reels with the myriad emotions and new experiences now finely caught up within it. i was so keenly looking forward to the tour, not least of all since it has been some long eighteen months since i was last on the road, keenly looking forward to playing a host of news shows, meeting a host of news friends and, how without a doubt, all of my expectation were greatly surpassed in successive waves. i find myself deeply in debt to all the kind folk who helped to make it a possibility and look forward to being able to thank them all directly across this series of reports. it is my intention to post a report a day over the next week to fully detail all of the pertinent events surrounding my travels through the history-steeped lands of bohemia and moravia.
field report number one : automated sunrise
my journey began outside the south entrance of the hauptbahnhof in frankfurt, sitting on a fallen slab of concrete beneath dim fluorescent streetlamps, between empty lots and temporary car-parking sites, awaiting the eleven o'clock overnight bus to praha. just gazing out across the scene, looking up at the lights of the frankfurt skyline; the giant neon yellow pyramid of the messeturm staring back at me, reflecting on my upcoming passage into new territories. gladly, the journey through the night was painless indeed as dawn saw me reach praha in time to gently begin to illuminate the staggeringly beautiful city before us. only my second visit to this magnificent capital, and how keen i was to see more of its staggering architecture, learn more of its rich history and to collect as many field recordings and photographs as possible. my weary way lead me down into the metro system and en route to meet the splendid david zeman, the incredibly talented individual who took the first steps in making the whole tour happen, and who would quite quickly become something of a rather good friend.
david lead me back to his apartment where i quickly found myself laid-out on a fold-out bed for a little further rest after a splendid cup of green tea with jasmine and a slice of fruit-cake. as i drifted back into the dreaming i could hear his flatmates talking and laughing in the next room, just beginning their days, my lack of sleep elongated the scene into a dream sequence before the dreaming took hold. still, mid-day was soon upon me and how i slowly stirred to find myself reasonably lucid and keen to take to the streets to explore the city a little before continuing my journey to ostrava for the evening's show. it was at this point that i happily got to meet david's girlfriend and band-mate veronika as the three of us made our way out into the afternoon sunshine to fix ourselves a spot of lunch.
the weather was very much trying to present itself as spring-like as we strolled up the street, talking jovially and discussing the coming days, for my own part my gaze was attempting to take in every aspect of the city surrounding us, the beautifully ageing buildings, the worn paving stones, the street names. we descended down into a cellar-bar and ate a much needed lunch as david and veronika happily revealed to me tales of their first meeting and of their musical exploits. sadly, time was marching and the hlavní nádraží was calling. just enough time to have a brief wander through a small park near their residence, one featuring a most unexpected huge basilica, somewhat mimicking al khazneh at petra in it's emergence from a steep rock-face. with my bags packed it was time to bid david and veronika farewell for now before boarding the train to ostrava filled with a great gladness at how all was so very calm and well indeed.
next report : the yugoslav partisan
jamesreindeer
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