On a clear Thursday morning in Prague, my mother and I begin heading for the Vyšehrad.
While Nicolas, the doorman at our hotel, had recommended visiting this 10th-century hilltop fort as it has “a church, a park, and a cemetery,” it was our receptionist Radek who really sold it for me:
“The area is Prague-Prague,” he said, as opposed to, you know, tourist-Prague.
But after walking for half an hour, we are distracted by a humble market set up in the plaza by the Karlovo Náměstí metro station. There are just a dozen or so red tented stalls in a row – some offering baked goods like almond croissants, baguettes, and round loaves of bread, others selling pungent fish or sausages – but it’s a produce stand that I’m most drawn to.
A sea of bright blue crates overflows with fresh fruits and vegetables, their prices displayed on pieces of paper that have been tucked into the crate below: carrots (mrkev) for 19 Koruna/kg, green beans (fazole) for 60 Kč/kg, and cherry tomatoes (rajče cherry) for 49 Kč/kg.
I spread out my sketching supplies on one of the plaza’s wooden benches and begin to sketch the stall, as its owner Jana serves a steady stream of customers.
We have yet to reach Vyšehrad, but already I feel we’ve found Prague-Prague.
Later that afternoon, we finally find our way into the centuries-old cemetery at Vyšehrad. Candles in red glass jars glow softly on gravestones, just as the gilded letters of a Latin phrase written above the gate – Pax Vobis, or “Peace to you” – do in the sun.
We wander for a while longer, and then begin our descent back into the city. Around a bend in the path, we come across a man in a pumpkin orange polo shirt, sitting on a stone bench along the wall. I spy something between his fingers and a tiny hope flickers inside me that it’s a paintbrush, just before smelling the smoke of his cigarette.
But as we grow closer, I notice there is indeed a plastic box of paints next to him and a small canvas on his lap. I gesture to ask if we can see it, and as he holds the canvas up to us, its surface as colorful and impressionistic as a kaleidoscope, I realize I’ve just met my first fellow artist on this sketching trip.
I think about how we had planned to visit here earlier in the day, about how my own sketch of the Karlovo Náměstí market had set us back a few hours, and can only marvel at this sudden twist of serendipity.
What if we’d missed him? What if our paths hadn’t crossed?
He tells us his name is Ivo, and to explain his art in English, chooses his words slowly but deliberately, like the most judicious Scrabble players draw their tiles.
“Make…more…beautiful,” he says, pointing to his head as if to suggest that he is drawing from his imagination. “Abstract.”
I want to have a conversation with Ivo, ask him how long he has painted for and where he gets his ideas from, but instead I simply extend my hand as we say goodbye.
Although he shakes my hand in return, I’m caught off guard when he places his other hand on the side of my face, like a father might do to his child, and holds it there for a moment, his palm warm. He then does the same to my mother.
“I think he just blessed us,” she says as we walk away.
We return to the Vyšehrad the next day, again in the afternoon when the sun begins to lower itself towards the horizon and set the gravestones aglow, but our new friend is nowhere to be found. Even still, as I sit down to sketch the cemetery, it is Ivo I am thinking of while I paint:
Of the beauty that he gave to our time in Prague, and his blessing.
beautiful painting, you were at the right place at the right time. I love serendipitous moments 🙂
Thank you, Daisy! I love them too, and am grateful for the way that sketching so often opens the door to serendipity 🙂 Have a great weekend!
So enjoy your writing and painting style. We were in lovely Prague in May. So much to see and do. Enjoy and keep on posting. Thanks.
Thanks so much, Dorothy! That’s great you were in Prague just this year – it really is such a beautiful city, and I’m so glad you enjoyed your time there. Any favorite spots? 🙂
You know I love your serendipitous moments! It’s so surreal to think that, if only you hadn’t had the earlier inspiration to seek the real Prague, then to paint what you found that felt right, then to continue onto the cemetery and finally back towards the city that you might never have come across such a beautiful and unique way of looking at the world. I absolutely love that he gave you his blessing too. I think he realised the serendipity just as much as you did, if for his own reasons.
Serendipity is all around is if only we think to open our eyes and see it!
Lindsey, thank you for breaking down the moment so perfectly – that really is how it all unfolded! And I especially love what you said about Ivo also realizing the serendipity… I forgot to mention in the story that I shared my own sketchbook with him, and I think this exchange of art really fueled our connection. Thank you as always for reading!
Hey Candace, recently came across your blog and its interesting! You are so nicely blending your travel experience with painting! I always hesitate to sit in a public place and sketch and paint… but your blog inspires me! I hope I too will begin sketching my travel experience soon 🙂
Hello, Swagatika! Thanks so much for stopping by and saying hello – it’s great to hear from you 🙂 I’m also thrilled that you’ve perhaps been inspired to start sketching on-location…I’ve found that it really opens the door to meeting people and connecting with them, so I hope you’ll give it a shot on your next trip!
Lovely post. It’s wonderful how people can go to the same place and have completely different experiences. It seems like you’re having a magical time 🙂
Thank you, Clare! And I agree about how two experiences of the same city can be so different. One of my favorite travel writers and mentors, Don George, often says that – that even when we return to a city we’ve already visited, it’s still new and different to us because we ourselves are different and have more layers to our life experience. Hope you’re doing well! 🙂
I LOVE markets! Although, I think I would be drawn to the baked goods over the vegetables. Teehee! As always, beautiful sketches!
I love that, Pauline 🙂 Don’t worry, though – I was definitely still snacking on pastries while sketching…there was just something about the stacks of blue crates that drew me to the vegetables!
Great shot of the Pax Vobis sign, enjoyed the story. Travel, serendipity, excellent.
Pax…
S
I’m so glad you enjoyed the story, Stephen – thank you for reading!
Oh my, the sketch of the market is just superb, as is your story telling once again. The moment with Ivo so precious; the ‘blessing’ just a connection so powerfully felt by him that he had to move beyond language. Too good.
Tell your Mom she did well. Very well. You are bringing an appreciation of art and place (and travel) well beyond your calling.
G
Gerald, thank you as always for your insightful comment! It’s wonderful to hear from you, and I’m thrilled you enjoyed the sketch of the market – it’s one of my favorites from this trip so far 🙂 I also love what you said about moving beyond language…I think that’s perhaps one of the things I most love about art. Whether it was connecting with children in Southeast Asia or with people like Ivo here in Europe, it’s amazing how art does away with a need for words. Hope you’ve been well!
What a beautiful story. Some of the best moments in travel are truly connecting with another person, even over the language barrier.
Thanks so much, Naomi! And I couldn’t agree more with you – this trip has only confirmed that these connections are always my favorite moments 🙂 Hope you’re doing well! Where to next?
Isn’t there something absolutely appealing about veggies and fruits being sold in an open market? 🙂 Your sketches are wonderful….the veggie market painting makes me want to go shop for veggies 🙂
There absolutely is, Fazila! It’s what drew me right away to the produce stall 🙂 The woman Jana who ran the stall was equally lovely – if I lived in Prague, I have no doubt where I’d be doing my weekly shop!
I haven’t been to Prague since I was 17 which was almost 10 years ago now! I was young and on a strict tour and schedule and feel like I missed out on so much. Guess I’ll just have to go back 😉
Thanks for saying hello, Michelle! I had a similar experience in Egypt, where I was on a bus tour that kept us moving to a new place every day, so I know what you mean about feeling like you missed out. I think a return trip to Prague should definitely happen at some point for you 🙂
Story. Sketches. Photos. They are all just so beautiful. Your mom must be so proud seeing you in action. I just can’t wait to explore this area myself.
Thank you, my friend! That means a lot. I’m excited for you to get to this region, too 🙂 I can’t remember if you’re planning to later on next year, or if you’re saving Europe for a future trip?
Hope to make it this trip, but it will depend on money.
Excellent, will keep my fingers crossed that the money holds out 🙂 Have a safe journey to Korea tomorrow!