Adventures After Cheesecake by Chipka
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Description
It was a warm day in Prague, damp in the invariable manifestation of Czech Spring. I awoke early—as was my habit in those days—so that I might capture the life of a city before the application of makeup and glamour for the tourists who flock to the expansive banks of the serene Vltava. I awoke early, for other reasons as well: a summons from a friend (A new friend? An old friend? Does the age of a friendship ultimately matter when one discovers shared silence in a common language?)
We’d made an agreement to emerge (early) from the courtyard of the Golden Sickle and enjoy a feast of cheesecake and beer for breakfast. On the day of our improvised pact, we’d marveled at the green façade of a local “Pastacafe” named for an expensive car. Pastacafe Lamborghini was a familiar place to me. I’d gone there with a book by Lukaš Tomin, and enjoyed decadent pastries and chocolate while reading wild and poetic fever dreams. I’d gone there with an older woman ruled by strange and hypnotic complexities: an American woman familiar with Maine in Autumn and distressed by the existentialist graffiti that stared at her through her Prague-apartment windows. She kept her curtains drawn as she refused to undress in front of it at night.
On the day after a friendship-pact, I returned to the green-faced Pastacafe, pleased that a familiar waiter was on duty. He smiled. I smiled and bobbed my head behind a friendly ”Dobry den.” I was proud that I could mimic the musical Czech accent. The waiter--named Tomas--was pleased that so obvious a foreigner would attempt Czech. He grinned (or did he smirk?) and replied with his usual, ”Ciao Chipeh.” Only later did I learn that the extra syllable attached to any familiar name bore emotional evocations utterly foreign to the English language.
And so after greetings and friendly head-bobbing smiles did my (new? Old?) friend and I seat ourselves in the smoking section of the café. I took the red seat. He took the blue one. We ordered cheesecake and Belgian beer—the only liquid gold available in the establishment. We talked. We watched women in high heels navigating the subtle treacheries of cobblestone sidewalks. We watched dogs, carrying their muzzles rather than wearing them. It was a good breakfast. A bit heavy. And so after consuming our fill and leaving a generous tip, because Tomas is a good waiter, we ambled along Vodičkova Street and others until we became gleefully lost.
Can one become lost in so friendly a city as Prague?
Perhaps not. We wandered, however, as if lost, and we discovered some adolescent's abandoned homework in rubbish bins, broken chairs long past their days of repair. We found hills and strange aliens drawn on stairways. We found black aphids and called them Nosfaratu for their manner of sucking the life from a lone and wilting dandelion. And as the sun broke its thin veil of clouds, my friend (the new/old one) found a lamp post that spoke Braille. The lamp post—it would seem—had something to say, and my friend (the new/old one) wanted to learn its secrets. And so he felt the constellation of bumps, nodding like a monk exposed to the most obvious of Divine Secrets. My camera itched for a shot and my fingers responded. And in one of those silences that can only occur between new/old friends, he caressed the lamp post and brushed it with his cheek…slowly…oh so slowly in honor of the shot my camera sought. My new/old friend has a flair for the dramatic, something he claims is a side-effect of being Russian.
Later, we found a hulking “Polish House,” and as the sun flared in pyrotechnic splendor to the west, we sought a bar. Our journey ended an odd number of meters below its starting point, in a cellar 300 years older than that strange country wedged between Mexico and Canada. We talked. I smoked. And by day’s end, I discovered a diminutive and errant smear of cheesecake on the hem of my jacket.
***
As always, thank you for viewing, reading,and commenting.
Comments (24)
Foto-Arte
Great story to this fantastic image! I can almost feel I was there with you.... Great work as always!
flavia49
fantastic image and writing!!!
MrsRatbag
::: sigh ::: You make me wish I were there! Well done, Chip!
jac204
I always wish I was there after reading one of your naratives. Great portrait.
watapki66
Wonderful portrait on the street and wonderful words as well!
Eresther
Ilove Your poetic style writing and the shot is splendid! Serge
beachzz
Sometimes that is the only way to see something--to touch it, to feel it, so know it. Got me again, as you always do!!
auntietk
What a wonderful story, and the image is wonderful! You've achieved a glow that puts this into a rather otherworldly vibe. Your friend has such graceful hands. What a great portrait!
Roxam
beautiful writing and portrait
helanker
WOW! What a beautiful story. So warm and so darn well told. The Photo is great too. At the end of the story, I had forgotten about the portrait. Had to look again :-)
durleybeachbum
Amazing, enthralling! I had to read this as soon aa I opened it, and now I shall be late for my aquafit class, but it was worth it! I when I get back I shall have some cheesecake.
bmac62
Chip, There is an ease about this piece I haven't felt before in the limited number of your writings I have read. I like it. It matches a casual time out with a friend. The kind of time that is later cherished and remembered for a long time. Your pace and your language drew me along rather than shuffling me ahead of you or having me walk real fast to keep up. I do love beer and cheesecake! And your photograph...it transmits the soul of a model...someone who knows how to play for the camera. Intuitively or otherwise, you got it! Excellent!
waldodessa
Beautiful!!
ladyraven23452
Man i wish i were you great shot and story.
sandra46
STUNNING INTERPRETATION GREAT IMAGE AND PROSE BRAVO!!!!
blondeblurr
Ah, here is your friend from >KNOW THYSELF< & >LAF<, with his multi-doloured fingernails again... Quite The Actor ! What a combo: Cheesecake & Beer ??? no, no, no... not in my wildest dreams would I've thought of it, good Coffee instead, or maybe even tea? yes, yes, yes! You know, I can imagine all the Master Chefs, including Gordon 'foul mouth' Ramsay, would be abhored to read this, well there you go ---I've learned something else, on the other hand it is really of no consequence! Your little 'tete a tete' and story is most charming and very vibrant. It's amazing what memories a little smear of cheesecake on your jacket can evoke. BB
kgb224
Outstanding capture and story my friend.
mbz2662
I always enjoy my trip into your gallery!
TwoPynts
Great title, tale and scene.
popeslattz
A very intimate shot and story. Cheesecake and beer for breakfast. Sounds very European. Love the colors and textures in this image. Forgive me, but I can't help but be reminded of the scene in Christmas Story where the kid gets his tongue stuck on the frozen pole. ;>)
Alex_Antonov
Outstanding work!
Mousson
wonderful picture!!!
myrrhluz
This is a second reading of this for me. Often, when I'm eating lunch at work, I check out RR. Preferably something that I can leisurely read while eating. I remember liking this at the time, yet it didn't take hold of me as strongly as at this reading. Perhaps having been going over mindless figures, my mind was too deadened to fully appreciate the beautiful language and descriptions here. I'm glad I turned to it again, for it deserved my full attention. Your descriptions put such ideas into my head. I don't always see images, but I get feelings. Like going out into Prague early, before she was made-up for the influx of tourists. I've never been to Prague, but I can feel an old city, in it undressed and tousled state. The shared silences in a common language, give me an understanding of you and your new/old friend's presence together, as you talked, watched the city and got a little full on cheesecake and beer. As I got to the next to last paragraph, and read of your friend's visceral experience with the lamppost, I felt I was there, just off in the distance, watching. It is wonderful the way you bring us into your experiences. I love the bit of cheesecake on your jacket, bringing the story back to its beginnings. The image is a visual capture of that moment, of his experience and his sharing it, with some dramatic added, with you.
_eastbay_
chip, this is a wonderful story and picture ... you really capture the essence of that new/old friendship that occurs when you meet someone and just stop thinking and explore the world together. i think you have a soul of a russian as well ;) steve