Dancing Shoes

The ballet of 'Cinderella' was great [http://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/Default.aspx?jz=cz&dk=predstaveni.aspx&sz=299&sb=3&ic=5535]. The dancing, dancers, music, story, and theatre were all wonderful. I liked the costumes more seeing 'Anna Karenina,' but this performance had great dancing, acting, and I knew the story better, of course (but it was changed a bit in interesting ways, such as the use of a fairy that was really Cinderella's dead mother, rather than a fairy godmother; the father and mother were a lot more involved, and so was the fairy for that matter. Cinderella knew her future before she left for the ball and there was a lot more mourning for her mother. There was a search for a foot using a picture rather than using a lost slipper. Cinderella's parents were heavily involved in the storyline and the prince did a lot more work - more traveling and temptations - to find his love again). And tons of glitter, but no mice or pumpkin carriage or glass slippers (only glittery feet and her mother's dress). I was happy to go since the location was so beautiful and this has been one of my favorite performances since coming to Europe. Pictures of the theatre will be added soon... Tomorrow we head to Germany!

Speaking in Tongues

So, the Czech language comes across to me as some kind of weird, altered Polish (not quite a Bizarro World version since there seem to be a lot of similarities). :-P And the city of Prague itself is quite infested with tourists and peoples of all kinds, which has given it diversity in terms of ages, languages, ethnicities, colors... everything.  I have been surprised by the large numbers of people I have seen lately, which must mean that I have been around too many tourist places/attractions or other commercial/places of interest (restaurants, stores, malls, etc.). Well, the city itself must be busy anyway. I am not sure I can imagine it in high season... whenever that may be (I guess between June and September sometime when more people have time off with children out of school). Today, after breakfast, we went and did a tour of the Prague Castle area. There were several tour groups, especially for senior citizens and school-age children. Prague so far seems much more touristy than Warsaw, Krakow, or any of the cities I have been to in Europe lately (might be behind only Venice so far in terms of numbers and busyness...). At one point we weirdly saw a woman walking around with a bobcat-like animal on a leash... We headed to Old Town for lunch al fresco [http://www.staromestskarestaurace.cz; I had potato soup, rye bread, and another Nicoise-like salad] and some gelato (I had a mixed berry flavor). Now we are relaxing in the hotel before the ballet tonight.

Sadly, now I am dealing with some weird cold. :-/ But, at least the weather is nice for our final day here in Prague before moving on to Dresden... As usual, I added some of today's photos to Photobucket. :)

“Thus, learning to understand our dreams is a matter of learning to understand our heart’s language.”

― Ann Faraday

Blog post title refers to this: http://indieblogheaven.typepad.com/indieblogheaven/2011/05/hear-the-two-new-arcade-fire-bonus-tracks.html

Turning Japanese

Went out to the ballet, only to find out that our tickets are for the ballet tomorrow, while today there is an opera going on. After quickly changing at the hotel, we went by tram towards New Town and had a Japanese dinner [http://www.miyabi.cz/_english/index.asp]. We then went for a walk and went to the mall. Later on, we relaxed in the hotel lobby and now we are planning what to do for tomorrow, which includes actually going to the ballet and maybe taking a boat ride/tour.

Pretty Prague

Today, we had breakfast at the hotel before our first Metro ride in Prague (and the first underground transport my family has had since we used trams and taxis mostly in Warsaw). We went to Old Town and walked around, taking pictures and enjoying the sites. We walked along the river and down all kinds of streets. Our lunch was at a small cafe on the river (I had another Nicoise-like salad and some rye bread) before buying some fruit and heading back to relax at the hotel. Tonight we are attending a performance of a Cinderella ballet. The weather is warm and sunny, which made walking outside easier since traveling by foot would be difficult if it were cold or raining. Tomorrow we have some plans to go on tours of the city and I am not sure what else. Now I may do some homework...

Photos added to Photobucket. :)

Not in Prague, but pretty :-P

“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you…I could walk through my garden forever.”

― Alfred Lord Tennyson “Millions and millions of years would still not give me half enough time to describe that tiny instant of all eternity when you put your arms around me and I put my arms around you.” —  Jacques Prévert

Czech It Out

After breakfast at the hotel this morning, we spent a few hours driving from Swiebodzin to Prague. I can say we were in three countries today - Poland, Germany, and Czech Republic - and stopped a couple of times along the way. We had lunch at a bar/quick service place on the road (I had borscht that had potato pieces, shredded carrots, and beets and then a gyro in a hamburger roll). After arriving at our hotel in Prague (we drove around and saw some of the city on the way), we went out to dinner [http://www.restauraceandel.cz/; I had a Nicoise salad and some good rye bread, but the sip of beer I had was too bitter and weird for me] and some shopping at a mall between the beer garden type place we ate dinner at and our hotel. We ended the night with some drinks at the hotel bar area (I had green tea) and now I am back in the room. Tomorrow we have some traveling/touring around the city to do and a ballet performance to see in the evening. The weather our next couple of days in Prague should be nice and the city so far seems cool - a mix of Polish and German from first appearances.