Chopin and History....

The walk last night with Czech local, Martin, a science professor, was SO good...because we got a personal perspective on communisim - what it was like to live under it, the difficult decisions that had to be made, the enormous psychological pressures...  ie) Martin was asked if he would be an informer for them....he somehow got out of it but it was a dangerous thing to try and get out of....i got a real feeling for how deeply they controlled things (or tried to), - it was a brutal time :-/   My eyes were really opened (which is why im doing this in the first place !)  Anyway, that's just a little tiny bit of what we were told.

From there we all split up and i walked directly to my concert venue (grabbing a Veggie sub on the way - no time for a sitdown meal...but hey! it was a Czech Subway so it was "local food" right? hehe).

omg....the concert....i had been feeling a little blue cuz my knee was acting up again : (   (tho was excellent today, hm.....i really think its just that i didnt have enough time to build up walking time before leaving for this trip, and i've at least tripled what i had already built up to...that's all it is im sure....) but from the first notes, my spirit just soared through the roof....I don't know if it was the superb acoustics of the Smetana Theatre or if it was due to the equally superb Prague Symphony Orchestra, but the sound was just unbelievable!! I dont know if i've ever heard such an absolute purity of sound - and with them playing that wonderful Chopin Concerto - one of his 2 that i really love - well, it put me in a "happy place"!   They did the New World Symphony too....best version I've heard....Czech music in Prague...wow : )

So afterwards I couldnt seem to find my way home!  Usually never a problem for me, when i have a map, but these streets are like Venice and  I  just got somehow turned around and it was dark and i was alone! Eventually i made it back ....[n.b. my mother will be all worried now, reading this, she is quite certain i will never make it back to Canada alive....hehe  "it's ok Mum!  I was very safe, honest : )" ]  So..hm...are you supposed to be really truthful on these blog things?  ok, i will tell all:   last night felt so mixed....  i was a bit down over my knee and getting lost didnt help - wouldnt usually bother me...just one of those things and i hadnt' gotten enough sleep soooooo.......but then that music just sent me straight into heaven...so thar ya go....that's normal travelling for you.       Still.....I need to get better at identifying with the stillness underneath everything and not the little temporary waves that surge back and forth on the surface of that big ocean.   Getting better at it!  [If my Dad is reading this, he will be scratching his head, saying..."huh?" (lol)

This morning (Tuesday) we took a tram up Castle Hill and explored all around.  Got to see all the places I'd read about in a book about that enlightened Habsburg (maybe the onlyone?) Rudolph II recently.   Prague Castle....impossible to get a good photo...everything on such a huge scale.
We then walked to the nearby Strahoff monastery where they have their own brewery and had lunch there....mmmmm dark Czech ale : )  ALMOST as good as Guinness...  (and im not even much of a beer drinker haha i probably dont know what im talking about). Anyway, seriously thinking about becoming a monk now...... Walked back down Castle Hill, over Charles Bridge and picked up another concert ticket for tonight in the Klementium...Mozart, Bach etc...i love 'em both, should be great. Apart from that, some quiet time in my room.

Getting along GREAT with this little travel group - they are good, kind people, playful in spirit, who know how to have a good laugh.  Lovely folks...i've noticed that these Rick Steves tours seem to attract couples who are genuinely happy and have a great time travelling together.   Sometimes i really envy their companionship.... 

Tomorrow we leave for eastern Czech Rep. Moravia....and stay atop a mountain.  REALLY looking forward to a hike there!   Dunno if they have a puter...this place has been fantastic for puter access...so until next time...be well all!! xx hugs from
Ace Reporter
patricia
(someone waiting for the computer, so no pic today lol)  how about a stick picture instead?  >-->o  (me lying down for a wee rest before taking off again : ))