Noc v opeře

Wednesday was St. Wenceslas Day - aka Statehood Day - aka a national holiday in which everyone has off from work, except sad little TEFL trainees. Wahhh. I did, however, manage to squeeze in a bit of culture. Quite a lot of culture, actually - a trip to the opera at Národní divadlo, the national theater (forgot my camera, of course, as I do for all important, documentable things) to see The Bartered Bride (Prodaná Nevěsta). 

I was a bit apprehensive, because, to be completely honest, I thought it might be kind of... boring. It's opera. In Czech. Two things I know relatively nothing about. Still, I figured if I didn't go then, I probably never would so I handed over my 110ck (bargain!) and set off. Pre-show glass of wine with my fellow NJ TEFL-er & her roommate, and then we classed it up. 


The National Theater is huge and opulent and stunning and everything that a theater is supposed to be, but rarely actually is. People were dressed up and sipping champagne and it was exactly how you think it should be. I got snapped at by a Czech man for shuffling through the row the wrong way (must face each other - oops. Lesson learned.), but that was just a minor snafu. 


They have subtitles in English and German so you can follow along, though it's fairly easy to grasp anyway (and I have a feeling that much of the story gets lost in translation). The Bartered Bride is by Bedřich Smetana, and was one of the first Czech operas to gain international success (though it took a while). It's a romantic comedy about Mařenka and Jeník, two crazy kids in love, despite Marenka not knowing much about Janik's past (he left home to escape his father and his evil stepmother). Mařenka's father has agreed to have her marry Vašek Mícha else in order to pay off his debts. The marriage broker working the deal tries to pay of Janik, who eventually agrees on the condition that Marenka can only marry the son of Tobiáš Mícha. Eventually everyone finds this out and is shocked and appalled that Jenik would give her up so easily. There's a circus, some drunkenness, and the big scene at the end... I won't give away the story, but you can figure it out for yourself. :)


A few etiquette notes - in addition to very strict rules (unbeknownst to me) about which way to face when trying to hobble down your theater row without stepping on toes or elbowing people or accidentally flinging your bag over the balcony (as said row is approx 5 inches wide), remember to face towards the people who have so graciously gotten up into that awkward half stand, half stoop maneuver to let you pass. Apparently, older Czech gentlemen prefer your face to be in their chest rather than your rear, well... And clapping. Get ready for some clapping. As in clap until your hands are raw, your wrists are sprained, and you think you can't clap anymore. Then clap for ten minutes more. That should just about cover it. And dress up. It's the opera, for Christ's sake. This is no place for jeans. 


I really did love it, and will hopefully get to go again (camera in tow). Feel good about doing something cultural other than sample the local beer, so bonus points for me. Now, what to do this weekend... [Update: Apetit Magazine (someone really needs to explain this to someone) Piknik: www.apetitonline.cz/piknik. Yum!]

School is keeping me (way too) busy, but I've still managed to squeeze in a bit of fun. Of course.

Thursday, I went out with some people from class for drinks at the Globe, an English language bookstore full of expats. You can check it out here. From there, we meandered our way back to a tram, picking up some Absynthe on the way (in what was a blatant manipulation of my newness to Prague, and is absolutely awful anyway) and headed up to the Jeep Bar, near the TEFL house. There's a definite theme here... can you guess what it is? 

Friday morning was our first Czech lesson. Oh dear. We have a stunningly beautiful teacher named Šárka, and I think we are all doomed. I might be okay if I carry around a cheat sheet for the next few years, but otherwise, it's going to be rough. Peej likes to laugh at my awful pronunciation, and I cannot blame him because I am totally butchering this. But I'll sign up for some more lessons and see what happens. Maybe I'll learn more than Hello, Thank You, One Please, and My Name Is... (maybe). 

After taking an incredibly long nap, we all headed out for a friend's birthday at Nebe, which was a fantastic and much needed night of dancing and cocktails and finished off as any good night out in Prague should... with a smažený sýr. Yum.

Saturday was a lazy day spent eating recovery food (Burger King), watching Big Brother and resting our aching toes. Went with Tara and Andrew to H&M on the hunt for their 70ck sale, only to come home with socks. And groceries. Exciting stuff, eh?

After a nice fry up for breakfast this morning, Peej and I caught the metro to Vyšehrad to do touristy things. Vyšehrad is the birthplace of one of Prague's greatest folk stories - that the princess Libuše, the "Mother of Prague", came to power but needed to marry someone to justify her reign. She had a vision that she would marry a man with one broken sandal, ploughing a field. When she sent her council out to find him, they came home with Přemysl, and they founded the Přemyslid dynasty sometime in the 9th century. 

When you get to Vyšehrad, the first thing you'll see is the Rotunda of St. Martin, which dates from the 10th century and is the oldest Romanesque building in Prague. 

From there we wandered through a little park with some statues and monuments (to what? not sure), and walked into Vyšehrad Cemetery, final resting place of some of the Czech Republic's greatest movers & shakers - Mucha, Dvorak, Smetana. 

From there, it was on to Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul. 

Impressive, isn't it? After seeing that, we strolled around. Vyšehrad has amazing views of Prague and the Vltava River, and it was an absolutely perfect day to be out wandering. 

And one more...

All that walking left us starving, so we headed to Karlovo Namesti and grabbed a late lunch. I had the svickova - beef tenderloin in a cream sauce with dumplings and cranberries, and somewhat inexplicably, whipped cream...

Still, delicious, even with the cranberry/whipped cream/steak combo... 

Peej had the pork knuckle, which is a traditional Czech dish. All I can say is that the two of us need to do something stat to counter all this pork and beef. He basically got a platter with a giant pig leg on it.

Look at the size of that thing! 

Both meals washed down with a nice cold beer, obviously. 

(How are the Czech people so thin? National physique flies right in the face of national dietary traditions. Need to learn this secret, stat.) 

Homework has taken over my life and I need to stop procrastinating and get back to it, so na shledanou everyone!

The Green Fairy

...tastes awful. blech.

Doomed

Just logged onto Yahoo only to find their lead story of the day is this:


5 Foods That Can Trigger a Stroke


Ahhh, faaaaack.


Also, saw the most ridiculous gold Bentley on the streets of Jindřišská today. Looked like this:

Wowzers. Shiny. 

Artery Detox

Salad. And double dosage of BP meds.

This Little Piggy

The breadth of my culinary experience has vastly improved in one day alone. Well, comparatively, anyway. 

Lessons were much better today - considerably more sleep last night and a lot more enjoyable overall. Students are fantastic. Mini Czech lesson from them tells me this is going to be quite the bumpy ride. 

Lunch at Paneria. Sound familiar? Just remove the 'i' and you've basically got it. Still, miles better than it's American counterpart. Had a Panini šunka, which is really just a ham, cheese and tomato panini, but as I've mentioned before, the Czechs certainly know their pork and dairy. While waiting for my panini, was stuck in front of their baked goods part. Wowzers. Where does one even start? (With an apple cake and a latte, that's where)

Had made my mind up yesterday that I was going to head to Anděl after class to go to Tescoes, home of the cheapest groceries and the most stuff. It just so happens that Tescoes is in a mall. So did a leisurely lap around all three floors before responsibly putting down the $130 riding boots and made my way to the 2 story Tesco (that's nothing, the other one is 5!). Was on the hunt for vacuum bags and screws (so glamorous), but ended up picking up a few more things and then before you know it I'm shuffling down the dairy aisle with an overflowing basket and detergent in each hand (for that evil machine that I'm never using again). I contemplate getting a kart but realize that I still somehow need to get this stuff all the way back to Holešovice, so quickly decide against that. 

I love grocery shopping in other places. It's like a giant treasure hunt, and having no idea what things actually are or how you can prepare them (no microwave!) makes it incredibly difficult (I only buy things with pictures, instructions on prep need to be in symbols). Tried finding oatmeal. I take it the Czechs are not big cereal fans because there's a somewhat limited selection (by limited, I mean there isn't a mile long aisle dedicated to Kellogg's). Found what I hope is oatmeal (but came in four individual bags when I opened it so I guess we'll find out at breakfast) and, Danielle will be excited, found the English cereal. And elderflower cordial. And Pim's raspberry jaffa cake thingies. And some other little goodies. Successful trip. 

Came home to find out we're going out to dinner with some friends. Should have been responsible and stayed in to do lesson plans, but... bleh. Went to a restaurant called Apetit. Once you get past the ridiculous and completely unappealing spelling of the word appetite, you'll be fine. I wish I'd had my camera for this little adventure, because first we saw this:

This sculpture, "Horse", by the controversial Czech artist David Černý and hangs in the Lucerna Palace in New Town. Wiki him for his other stuff - its amusing. And ballsy. Walked through the rest of Lucerna to get to Apetit (snicker), where they have drafts in the middle of each table for you to poor your own beer from - very handy. They have quite a big menu, but I decided I was going Czech, so I got the Prague Plate. That's a bit deceiving, as it should really be named Heart Attack in a Roasting Pan. This meal includes smoked pork neck, roasted pork backfat, a sausage, dumplings, potato dumplings, potato pancakes and both red and white sauerkraut. Oy vey.  While pork neck and backfat sound, well, not that good really, they were absolutely delicious. Very tender. (Probably because, as one might guess, there is quite a bit of fat in a cut of backfat) I put in a valiant effort but could literally feel my BP rising and my arteries closing about halfway through so had to give up. Still, excellent meal. And for 250ck for all that food and two 1/2 liter beers (wait. I drank a LITER of beer?? huh. Guess all that salt diluted it.). Not too shabby.

Came home, buckled down scratched out a lesson plan for tomorrow and now it's time for this little piggy to go to bed. 

all quiet on the western front

In the battle between myself and the Janussi Jetsystem 1000, there can only be one winner. Tonight, thanks to muscles honed from heaving around suitcases and textbooks and building an IKEA showroom in my bedroom, that victory is all mine.

Am checking www.expatz.cz for a wash&fold and never going near that evil monster again.