Blague #14: From Pastries to Ghosts

Sara Jameson

May 30, 2024

As each day passes, routines begin to form. Going to class seems to be like going to any other class, not just in Prague. Personally, it gets harder to get up each day, especially today since I woke up feeling slightly sick. Nevertheless, I persisted. 

My roommates and I start off each day going to our favorite cafe, Cukrárna Charlie. This little place translates to Charlie’s Patisserie, which means a shop where pastries and cakes are sold, but we use it as a daily coffee shop. The little shop we fell in love with on our first day here because the barista was so kind to us and used Google Translate to communicate with us. The shop is named after Charlie Chaplin and has a painting of him.

After we had our morning coffee and I had some hot chocolate to soothe my throat, we hopped onto the tram and made our way to CET. I am taking Aesthetics of Space and Place, so we discussed our last visual journal: a collage of our childhood corner. I made a tree that I used to climb when I was younger using tissue paper, some string I found, and parts of a paper bag. 

After this, we began setting up our salon, which is a weekly event in which all three class sections share art performances or pieces they have worked on throughout the week. The Space and Place students set up their childhood corners before breaking for lunch. When we reconvened at 2, the Art of Estrangement class shared their amazing videos of pops of color they see throughout their journey in Prague.

After the Art of Estrangement class shared their videos, it was time for the Space and Place students to have an almost live museum of their childhood corners utilizing corners of the CET building and stuff they had around them. Students were free to walk around and read what their peers wrote about their corners and see how they showed their childhood corners. Here are some examples.

After our salon time, everyone went their separate ways, whether it was back to the apartment to take a nap (me) or go shopping at a nearby mall. I personally tried to sleep off my cold and took medicine that I got from a pharmacy nearby. Good news! They spoke English and were very helpful. 

My friends and I went on a ghost tour at 8 p.m. at the Old Town Square, and it was so much fun. We were led by a storyteller wearing a period outfit and carrying an oil lantern. She led us through the heart of Prague and told us many stories of the dark side of this city. Since there were too many stories to include, I will only summarize my favorite one. (Warning: The story is not the most pleasant.) 

In front of the St. James Church, our storyteller told us the story of a chancellor having recurrent nightmares of being buried alive. He pleaded with his doctor to ensure he was dead when he passed by piercing his heart with a needle. When the time of his death came, the funeral proceedings went as normal, and they closed the tomb of the chancellor. Within an hour, screams were heard throughout the church, which the people just assumed was the chancellor's soul not finding its way to heaven. After three days, it stopped, and they pushed the incident aside, not thinking much of it. But, when they opened the tomb to bury another body next to the chancellor years later, the priest found a shriveled-up bundle in the corner and blood and scratches along the coffin. Turns out, the doctor could not go through with his promise to the chancellor of piercing his heart to ensure his death. So, the chancellor's worst fears came true: he was buried alive, and his screams were disregarded as his spirit. 

Towards the end of the tour, instead of the cloudy weather that the weather app predicted, rain began pouring down on us. Of course, the one time I did not bring an umbrella or a rain jacket, we were caught in the rain. With no choice, we had to sprint through the rain, hugging the sides of the buildings to lessen the rain a little bit.

With our clothes and shoes soaked, we made it to McDonald's and had KitKat McFlurry’s and some French fries before returning safely to our apartment.