Do this!

Check out The Prague Wanderer, NYU in Prague's student run web news site to see the story that I edited (A do-or-die rat race from Budapest to Paris) and the photo I took for the Romance in Prague story!

Meandering Monday No. 2 and (I think) My First Real Ballet

I've been a bit behind on my blog posting, so with this one I'll finally be up to date before I go off to Budapest this weekend (yay!). For our second meandering monday, Kate and I headed to the Kafka Museum in Stare Mesto (please excuse the lack of Czech alphabetical characters--I'm on an inferior PC) and then took an unexpectedly long walk basically half way up Petrin Hill.

Later that night, I went to Swan Lake with Miranda and Katie, which, based on my admittedly horrible memory, was the first ballet I've ever gone to. It was completely amazing. It was at Narodni Divadlo (the National Theater)--the same place where I've gone to see a couple operas. I've decided that instead of going to see movies this semester like I would do at home, I'm gonna go to opera and ballet seeing as how its actually cheaper than going to movies in New York. Not too shabby, right?

David Cerny's "Piss" sculpture outside of the Kafka Museum. If you send a text message to a certian number, they spell what you want them to say. The 'puddle' they're standing in is in the shape of the Czech Republic.

After the Kafka Museum, Kate and I went to go find another Cerny sculpture, but we missed it and ended up walking up a really big hill that got us near Prague Castle.

Top of the hill

Katie wanting me to stop taking pictures so we could go find the sculpture

We found it! The piece is called "Quo Vadis" and is in the backyard of the German Embassy.

We had to sneak through this park to see it. It was really muddy.

Random buildings

Swan Lake

Miranda and Katie waiting for the show to start

We weren't supposed to take pictures, but I snuck some without using flash.

I'm in love with this ballet.

BEAUTIFUL!

Curtain call

The theater from our seats up top

Last shot of the entire company

How many human bones does it take to build a chandelier?

On Friday the 20th, NYU sponsored a trip to Kutna Hora, a smaller town in the Czech Republic. The main attraction is a church decorated with bones on the inside. We also visited a cathedral, did a tour of a place where they made money way back in the day, had lunch (which included gingerbread dumplings-yum), and finally got to the ossuary.

St. Barbara's Cathedral

From the side, showing off the pointy roof

Katie is sad because we got there too early and we had to wait outside until they opened to doors of the church

Kutna Hora is pretty cute in the snow

Me in the very, very cold snow

Walking the tiny streets of the town

Stone Fountain aka- a well

Fun beer named after a local celebrity

Katie enjoying her beer

Bone church! A nearly blind monk decorated the church with bones in the 1500s because the cemetery was getting too full and they had to do something with the bones.

Inside the bone church.

Decorative urn/pedastle thing

Big pile of bones

Chandelier

This church made me so happy! I've been going through physical anthropology withdrawal, so being in a building full of bones was AMAZING.

More bones

Coat of Arms

Skulls

Apparently this is supposed to be a Turk. He has ribs coming out of his head.

Kylee and Miranda. I don't think Miranda was a big fan of the bone church.

Katie and me. We didn't wear matching black and green on purpose, I swear.

Last look at the chandelier

On the bus heading back to Prague

Hockey Opera--It's just what it sounds like.

On the 18th, Katie, Kate and I went to see Nagano at the Estates Theater.  It's an opera about the 1998 Czech Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal.  I'd been looking forward to it for a month, and when I finally saw it, my expectations were completely surpassed.  The opera opens with all of the big names on the team entering the stage wearing really big mullet wigs and assorted 80s fashions.  Then, they worship their goalie and make fun of Canadians and there's even an appearance by some of the most stereotypical Czech literary figures.  If by chance you ever have a chance to see this, you absolutely have to.

The Estates Theater (Stavovské Divadlo).  Mozart premiered his opera Don Giovanni here, and now they're showing a hockey opera.  Classy.

Nagano!

Katie and Kate--this could get confusing

Orchestra

Chandelier

The Czech team literally worshiping Dominik Hašek.  In the opera, he really is a god--his voice is a falsetto and he speaks in Latin.  Amazing.

"Hosannah!"

Me and Kate at intermission

All of the boxes and levels

Zoning out

This couple made out through the entirety of both intermissions.  The Czechs are big on PDA.

Cheering section

The Czechs vs. the Americans

Hašek protects his teammates from the big, bad Russians

Jágr got beat up

Don't all goalies block shots with breakdancing?

They won the gold!