The night we arrived in Prague, we took a small tour with Powell and then went to dinner at U Fleku. This was one of our whole group meals and boy was it good! Lyndi and I both got this chicken dish and they gave us each a half of a chicken! It was so good but I ate so much.
The next day we went on our real tour, led by Mirka. She was such a great tour guide. She knows so much about the city and its history. We saw some truly amazing spots on our tour, including the castle complex (which is now home to the Czech president) and in that complex the most gorgeous building I have ever seen, the cathedral. I can't describe it and the pictures just don't do it justice. That night we saw the opera Rusalka. It was very good, the singers and the music was great. The only part I didn't really care for was the movie screen back drop. I thought it distracted from the singers and dancers on stage. But the rest of the opera was good. I will definitely listen to that music again, it was beautiful.
The next day we went to the Lobkowisc museum and got to see some really cool artifacts from Czech history. One of my favorite parts was the old instruments they had. They had so many different clarinets and even a nine holed clarinet in D! That was so cool! My real favorite part was seeing the original manuscripts of Haydn's arrangement of the Messiah (including his figured bass) and Beethoven's 3rd, 4th, and 5th symphonies. There was something very humbling about listening to these pieces and looking at them right in front of you. They're an amazing part of music history and I am so fortunate to have gotten to see them. After the museum some of us went on a boat cruise to see the city. This is an amazing way to see the city, I highly recommend it. We went under the Saint Charles bridge and up a canal through the middle of the city. After that our little group split up and a few of us went souvenir shopping and then we met back up again for dinner. Dinner was fantastic.... Again. I haven't had a bad meal in Europe yet! That evening we went to the Czech Phil and it was great! They played Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, his 3rd symphony, and a violin concerto. The violinist was very good and I loved the way she played. You could tell she was really into it and was really connected with the conductor. I have also never heard the Tchaikovsky 3rd symphony and it was fabulous! I really liked it, so thank you Czech Phil for introducing me to this great piece.
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