My holiday (part 2)

Gratitude 26

I am thankful for having the opportunity to see a Mozart opera in the opera house where Mozart, himself, premiered his own Don Giovanni. (Umm...yeah...pretty freaking cool! I feel like I am walking through musical history all over this continent!)

Friday and Saturday were spent in lovely Prague. By the time I finally got to my hostel early Friday afternoon, I was tired, a little lonely, and in need of food and praying the place was nice. At first, I wasn't impressed, but it was probably my state of mind at that moment. However, I made another good choice. It was quite a nice place. Old-style feel, a cute little pub in the basement, and suite-style dormitories (the place in Bratislava had that set-up, too.). Although, it irritated me how far it was from the center of things and that it took so long to get back and forth. The staff was very nice, and the manager even let me into the room early because he saw how tired/drained I was. 

So...this is quite a big small world we live in...I met an Aussie at the hostel...nothing surprising!...the surprise: she knows Wendy, a student at the Institute! How crazy is that? Wendy was her teacher! She was a very sweet girl. 

left to right: me, Mary (knows Wendy), Thomas, and Georgie (the last two are friends of Mary's that are going to a ballet school in Dresden currently)

After a rest and finding a bit of food, I decided to try to get to Old Town and have a look around. I caught the tram they said would take me to the center but ended up somewhere entirely off my map! Ugh! I luckily found a young man who spoke English, and he told me how to fix my terrible blunder. By the time I got to the main square, it was getting dark, and I, of course, had no orientation of the city yet. I wandered around in search of the opera house in hopes of finding a spare ticket for the night. I eventually ran into the Prague National Theatre where Carmen was on the program for the evening. However, it was sold out and the box office was closed. I can't believe I did this, but I actually ended up buying a ticket from a scalper. Ridiculous, I know, but I was determined to go to the opera. I am pretty positive I paid too much for it, but it was so worth it and much-needed "nourishment" after my day. 

I met  a nice German man with impeccable English...I didn't know he was German until he told me so! He was great fun. We were like poking classmates the whole time. haha! It was almost as if Chadwick was there! I also met a kind Italian lady who orientated me a bit to the city with my awful map of Prague. She was just a big opera enthusiast I guess. The real doosey is that I was also sitting next to a German opera director!!!! How awesome is that?!?! He was super nice but had the most difficult name to pronounce. Something Hofmeister I think it may have been but not sure. Anyway, we chatted a bit after the opera. That was so cool. We talked about opera and singing, and he was asking about my voice! It was a lovely conversation. He asked my name for future reference, so now there's a German opera director with my name. Maybe he'll remember in ten years when I'm ready to sing real roles. haha! 

Gratitude 27

(Yes, I am sure I am starting to sound redundant...) I am thankful for seeing three operas in three days! :) Now, that's the life! I could so get used to that! haha!

Day 2 in Prague:

I don't care much for doing everything in a whirlwind, but even though I tried to plan it so it wouldn't be, I ended up having to do Prague pretty much all in one day. I finally figured out the transport system, too...after having it explained to me about five times. I understand undergrounds thanks to Katrin and Martin in Vienna, but above ground trams/buses/etc. just baffle the heck out of me. Prague is quite a confusing place...the streets lead you all overin unexpected twists and turns, taking you everywhere but where you intended to go. I got lost so many times! 

Prague is gorgeous! I love the Old Town. :) It really is just picturesque. In my wandering I found all sorts of things...most of Prague amazingly enough. I think Mustek was one of my favorite areas. 

I walked through Mustek, Old Town Square, part of the Jewish quarter, saw the crazy marionette shopes (haha! They are so cute!), found the Theatre of the Estates where I got a ticket for the Mozart opera for that evening, found a place where Beethoven lived and also one where Chopin lived, had a tasty gelato, went into St. Nick's Cathedral, crossed the Charles Bridge, bought a "Swarovski" crystal (no, it's not real...I can't afford a real one...but it's pretty!), went up Prague Castely (not as exciting as I thought it'd be), etc., etc., etc. Pretty much, I wandered around seeing Prague.  Oh, I saw the Astronomical Clock, too. My thoughts: Is this actually real? You've gotta be kidding me! It's the damn clock we stupidly watched in Hershey...but huge and somehow very famous. I passed the marionette theatre where they do "productions" of Mozart's Don Giovanni. haha! It just makes me giggle. :)

The evening was spent at Mozart's La Finta Giardiniera at the Theatre of the Estates. It was incredible to be in the house where one of Mozart's most famous operas was premiered. It was lovely dressed in a blue and gold decor. The show: ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!! The vocalists: sehr schöne Stimmen! They were phenomenal! I ran into the German opera director again (he gave me the inside scoop on the show after Carmen the night before). He said it'd be spectacular, and it was. The staging was very modern and a bit erotic, but it was still wonderful. There was this little kid that couldn't have been more than 6 or 8 years old...he reminded me of a mini Beethoven...crazy hair. He, of course, did no singing but was kind of an observing narrator. He is a very talented little boy. I was very impressed with him. Sandrina was my favorite character (and voice). Her music sounds like such fun. The director said afterwards that that may be a role for me someday. 

I made my way through Mustek to grab some food before heading back to the hostel. Back there, I went to the pub downstairs and ran into Mary and her ballet friends. We chatted away and gave Czech beer a try. I'm not a big beer fan, but it tasted more like a nice cider. Quite good. Later, we were joined by this "business consultant" from D.C. He was great fun. We were down there well past midnight, but daylight savings was that night here in Europe, so tecnically it wasn't as late as it would have been otherwise.