What a wonderful world

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love Prague!!! Tomorrow is already our last full day here, and we have had some amazing experiences in that short amount of time. On our second night here we saw Tosca at the Czech State Opera, which was amazing. The singing was very traditional and old style, which was very different from the strange version of The Magic Flute that we saw in Berlin. I liked the singing of The Magic Flute better than the singing in Tosca, but Tosca was so well dramatized that even with three acts I did not fall asleep. That also might have had something to do with the amazing trombone section of the pit. There were four trombones total, two bass and two tenor. The bass trombones were the perfect epic accompaniment to Scarpia's evil escapades, with awesome power chords at every turn. The hall was also the most gilded hall of the trip so far, with little individual booths around the sides of the hall. I thought that sitting in one of those would be like seeing your own private opera!

Today dawned cold and snowy over the city, with a beautiful dusting of snow on the roofs. Hannah E., Alex, and I had a delicious breakfast of pastries and hot chocolate from the bakery around the corner from our hostel. In Prague there are delicious spiral pastries called trdlo that are covered with sugar, almond, and cinnamon! Delicious! Then we set out on our guided tour of the city.

Our guide Mirka showed us around the historic and gigantic Prague Castle and cathedral and the Jewish quarter of the city. She really knew her stuff, and she gave us so much interesting information that I wish I could remember it all! We got some fantastic views of Prague from the castle hill, with all the rooftops dusted with snow. It was beautiful!

Cathedral at the Prague Castle!

Beautiful rose window

Snow!

After our tour, Hannah E., Alex, Taylor and I headed over to a flea market. It was really cool to see all the crafts and paintings on display. Then we had dinner and headed over to see the Prague Symphony in Smetana Hall!

The symphony concert was really fun to watch tonight for several reasons. Reason 1: the conductor. I don't think I've ever seen a conductor so showy in my life. This guy was jumping all over the podium and waving his arms all over the place. However, instead of looking silly, it was very expressive and everyone could tell that he was having the time of his life. The orchestra definitely fed off of his excitement and they sounded awesome, especially the trumpet soloist and bass clarinetist. The second reason this concert was very engaging was the oboe soloist we saw. Oh, where to begin....first of all, this lady walked out wearing a bright red flowy jumpsuit-type thing that looked like it was pretending to be a dress. That definitely caught our attention. For another thing, I have never seen a soloist play so dramatically. She outstripped the conductor in both enthusiasm and drama, which is saying something. What made this whole ensemble work was the fact that she was a phenomenal oboe player. Oboes are often compared to dying ducks, but this oboe sounded like the most beautiful swan on the Vlatva River. We also had second- and third-row seats! Overall the concert was not disappointing, and all of the pieces were really cool! I especially liked Dvorak's Water Goblin and Wood Dove.

Tomorrow we're headed up to the castle to listen to some chamber music, and then we're going on a jazz boat tour of the city! Stay tuned!!