nuances #1: prauge swans

There are a lot of nuances to traveling. Facets, let's say. Of course, there's the initial excitement that some say ends up being more enjoyable than the trip. (Maybe this is why some of the people on our European tour cried when we drove into Paris because they were scared they wouldn't enjoy it. I'm not kidding). And then there's all the different airports, trains, countries, flags, languages, foods, weather, architecture styles, shopping, monuments, and feelings. But then there's the little things, too. The little nuances. The ones you really want to write about.

As I continue to blog, I hope to reach back through time and write about some of the special little things that I encounter while travelling. I'm not talking about a big picture, overarching thematic summary of a whole trip. I'm talking about the littlest things, the things that I might have snippets of in my video, but things I won't remember in 10 years. Pictures live on, but I want to immortalize the specialness with my words--while I can still recall the details.

So for the first one of these entries, or nuances, as I'm calling them, I want to talk about Prague.

Prague is a beautiful little cobblestone-market-type city, and it's not far from where we stopped in Dresden at a literal castle. But arguably one of the most exciting things that happened while we were there was when Clara, Noah, and I decided to take a late night walk down to the river. The river in question, I find, after looking it up, is the Vltava river. The bridge over the river, the Charles Bridge, is what makes it famous. You may have seen the bridge in Spiderman: Far From Home. Or maybe on my instagram.

Whether or not you've seen the bridge is inconsequential to this story, in which we left the hotel around 10 at night for a walk. The three of us had done this few times before in different cities, and we never really knew where we were going. We just walked. On this night, we found ourselves by the riverside, after walking for about 10 minutes. I remember Clara walking up on a railing to show us her balance, and Noah climbing down a ladder to a platform that got us closer to the water.

Across the river from us was a building all lit up in white, and it was casting light onto the river. So was the bridge and other bridges like it. The result was a coppery, white light reflecting off of the river and almost an incandescent ambience. The night was crisp, but not too cold, and we were feeling adventurous.

After walking around a little while longer, we spotted them. Four swans in the river. And that's really all that this story is about. If you've ever watched a swan, you know that I don't have to say much more about why seeing one would make our night. Seeing four was even better. Of course we tried to get as close as we could without scaring them away. We did frighten them a few times, but they kept coming back to one spot. So we waited and eventually we got close enough for a picture or two.

After a while, we walked back to the hotel, guided by a massive swan sign that was in the middle of the city. I didn't know it at the time, but Prague is known for their swans. A quick google search of "Prague swans" just now brought up a few article headlines like this one: "25 Reasons To Visit the Prague Swans of the Vltava River."

I love the fact that late at night, when it was just the three of us on a crapshoot, Prague decided to show us her beauty. When we weren't out trying to get a cool picture or video, when we were just three kids walking around for fun, we saw one of the city's greatest treasures.