Sunday, November 12 - Architecture and Sleeping Beauty Ballet

 Breakfast before a very full day was abundant.  Miso soup and salad pickles plus other Asian and salad fixings accompanied  the usual breakfast offerings. Several types of bread as well as many muesli choices were available. It was indeed a complete breakfast. 

  We joined Vladan for a walk to the nearby tram stop with instructions for validating the ticket and a warning to hold on to a pole to prevent a fall when the tram moves. That we did fine. We rode into the center of the city to the town hall square and began our walk around the area. Different architectural styles were pointed out to us, along with the history. Theybrought to life what we were given in print at our orientation. We visited the Museum of Czech Cubism and received a lecture presented by a professor of architecture and design on the history of architecture in the western world. It was a very good review of the semester course I received in college. We then had time to visit the two floors of the exhibition. Lines of the furnishings and table settings were mainly vertical and horizontal.

  Our walk in Old Town continued. We joined the crowd to observe the figures on the Old Town Hall astronomical clock come to life at noon. Actually there are two clocks on the tower; one points to the hour,  and the other to minutes. Zodiac designs and statues of 15th century figures flank the clocks.  We learned about Jan Hus, a predecessor of Martin Luther who preached about corruption in the Church as well as advocating for services in the local language. He was burned at the stake for his reforming ideas.

  We lunched at the Cafe of the Municipal House which also houses a concert hall. Yet, we visited another performance venue, the Estates Theater. One of the National theaters we learned of its history and importance performing mainly theater pieces in Czech.  We sat in the seats and observed the ornate designs and paintings surrounding us. We also saw the wide entrance of sets and horses. Janna our guide, was most enthusiastic about the theater.

  We traveled by private bus back to the hotel to ready ourselves for an early supper and 7 PM performance of the ballet, Sleeping Beauty, by Tchaikovsky.  There was some confusion about our supper in the hotel, and an adequate meal was hastily prepared.

  The state opera house was another ornate and elegant structure. We sat in the orchestra and thoroughly enjoyed the performance by dancers of the Czech national ballet.  On the back of the seats in front of us were tablets. On them we learned the plot of each act and ofveach of the major dancers as well as of others involved in the production.  It was a fabulous evening. 


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