Someone recently asked me, “How does it feel to see the world?” As I slung the strap of my camera around my neck I replied, “I’ll show you, it’s simply in front of you.”
We mustn’t become bogged by the things that once were and could have been. The world is ran by only one constant – change and even that isn’t consistent. So when the time comes for things to change, and it will, let it be, go on and set her free.
I decided to get a little workout in today. There is a great waking trail along the river. A few people recorded it so I decided to check it out. I walked past the Czech yacht club, which reminded me of Long Beach where we often take our boat. There was a cute old man patiently waiting to catch a fish and quiet a lot of people just out strolling and taking in the changing of the season.
“Lets love the tress until their leaves fall off, and then encourage them to try again next year.”
I haven’t had a chance to share my pictures from my trip to Budapest last week because I’ve been so sick. I got sick around the second week that I got here and have been putting off seeing the doctor. So you know I must have been sick if I voluntarily went to the doctor. But I am finally starting to feel better so I am glad I went. Its so cool how easy it is to travel from country to country. Like Munich we went by bus which wasn’t bad at all. They are really nice charter bus’ and have movies and wifi. Thankfully this time I was able to take a bus that got into Budapest before 10PM. Last time we traveled we took a bus that drove all night and got us there at 4 in the morning. And then the way back didn’t get us home until 7AM. This first post about Budapest has pictures from the day we took a walking tour. It started at 10AM and went on for a few hours. It was great to see all of the historic places in the city, and it was free! If you are going to Budapest I would highly recommend it.
As I walked though the city I couldn’t help but notice how much it was under construction. The tour guide had explain that most of it was left over from the war, and the fact that during communism things were poorly built so they constantly have to remodel. Visiting these country that had been bombed during the war makes me so appreciate that my home had not gone through this. There is a definite lingering presence of those unfortunate events. However you wouldn’t tell from the people, which were all friendly and inviting.
In front of the famous Chain Bridge. The was the first bridge to connect Buda with Pest.
The Vigado
The Hungarian National Gallery
The Fisherman’s Bastion.
The restaurant inside the Fisherman’s Bastion. It had an amazing view.
The Matthias Church.
We were just in time to witness the changing of the guard. They are very serious, I did my best to make them laugh and nothing! They did not budge, there is no way I’d make it as a guard.
In front of another bridge and Gellert Hill.
We ended the day exploring here at St. Stephan’s Cathedral. This is exactly how the sky looked at the time I took the picture. It was the most electric blue I had even seen it.
I had an amazing opportunity presented to me here in Prague, which was to work on a feature film. Never did I expect that I would have this experience. The film is about 3 classic fariytales; Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Ridding Hood, and a classic Czech tale about 12 moons. We shot for a few days at the Zleby castle which was founded around 1289. It was a pretty magical place. As we shot at the castle I found myself day dreaming about what it must have been like for a young girl to live in such a big place. I can only imagine it must have been fun, there were a lot of secret rooms and walk ways. I’ll admit it took me a while to remember my way in and out, cause it was so simple to get lost.
The film was shot on a RED camera, which I thought was so cool! RED is one of my personal favorite cameras to shoot with. I wasn’t sure on what to expect, I guess really had expected them to be shooting on film, so seeing they were using a RED was really cool. It made me feel right at home on set. We also shot in the forest of Zleby and at deer park, which is where I was able to take the most photos. The set inside the castle was rather small and so I wasn’t really permitted to take many pictures. The deer park had all types of exotic hunting birds and owls. I thought it was interested how they were kept, the majority of them were housed in an open hut, not in cages. We also shot white deer, which was cool cause I had never seen any before. It was nice to get out of the city and see the forest/country side of Prague. I can’t even begin to describe the small town, it literally is right out of a fairytale and the houses in the woods were buried so far I don’t even know how they find or remember how to get to them. It was really neat to see this different culture and way of life. But I’m definitely a city girl, for sure!
The set wasn’t all that different from the movie sets back in Hollywood. They used the same type of equiptment, had the same positions, the only main difference was that they all spoke Czech. That was a bit intimidating for myself, because half the time I had no idea what 80% of the crew was saying. I’m also certain the first day I was on set they thought I was a tourist looking at the castle, which looking back was actually quite funny. But I was able to work with a really great crew, everyone was very polite and understanding that I only have been studying Czech for 2 weeks. So they sort of took me under their wing and looked out for me. It’s been a real struggle for me here with the language barrier. In America our language is so informal compared to the language here. Conversations are usually finished with puzzled looks on our faces. I am glad I stuck it out, it will be worth it to look back and saw I stepped out of my comfort zone and was apart of making a foreign feature film. After this experience I am so exciting to start my film classes at FMAU tomorrow, I am even more determined to pursue my passion for acting and film making.
ohhashley 