Farmer’s Market

On our way to a Saturday morning farmer’s market, we stopped at “the hippest shoe joint in town,” according to Nate, to pick up some “communist sneakers gone modern.” Once we arrived at the farmer’s market we set off in groups of three in search of bread and cheese, desserts and fruits, and even some bouquets of flowers to make our shared meal more festive! We laid out a blanket and got to work! It was so nice in contrast to our more formal meals to just sit in the grass and really BE in Prague.

Kampa Museum

After our delicious trip to the farmer’s market for a picnic, we walked down to the underground subway in order to reach our next destination. After a series of quick-moving escalators and a few stops on the train, we reached the Kampa Museum. Although I am usually not a fan of contemporary art, I was excited to broaden my appreciation for all types of art this afternoon. The first piece we noticed were the outdoor sculptures that were scattered in front of the entrance (including the oversized baby sculpture that we originally saw on the first day attached to the Communist-era TV tower). Before we entered the museum, Natalie explained our afternoon writing exercise, called “Adaptation”. Essentially, we were told to walk around and find a piece of artwork (or two) to transform into a piece of flash fiction, poetry, or a vignette. With these instructions in mind, the 14 of us entered the relatively small space.

The museum was built with many levels for various exhibits that rotate frequently. We saw notable works of art created by artistic rule breakers such as Kupka, Maratka, and Munch. Although some of the art was not what we think of as traditional, we were all inspired by the creativity and the willingness to step outside the box that was evident in the museum’s contemporary artwork.

B.J. Hollars is here!

Another highlight of our day was meeting our guest author, B.J. Hollars. As we gathered in the lobby in our raincoats (a first for this trip), we enjoyed asking B.J. about his life, his work, and—of course—his celebrity crush as a teenager (Stephanie Tanner from Full House). A short tram ride took us to the city center to have dinner at a modern, bustling Thai restaurant called Lemon Leaf in the city center. We all sat down in groups and ordered dishes such as gyoza, vegetable tofu wraps, pad thai, noodles, rice, and soup. The girls who enjoy their food extremely spicy reported that they were not disappointed. As a sweet treat, we took B.J. to our favorite gelato place (Angelato). Fan-favorite flavors such as Dark Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Coffee, and Strawberry were paired with more unusual flavors such as Black Currant, Mango, Coconut, and Olive Oil/Basil.

We headed back to the hotel on the earlier side to finish packing for our 3-day retreat to southern Bohemia. We can’t wait to explore a different area of the Czech Republic and learn more about our craft from B.J.!

—Morgan Held