We started today with a little more indulgence – a full-body Thai oil massage. This was amazingly relaxing, and worked out a few of the kinks in our backs from travel and lots of walking. Nice.
Once we’d recovered, we set out to do some more exploring, heading out first to see if there were cheap tickets to the opera tonight (Madame Butterfly in the nosebleed seats = $20!!!) then to look at jewellery shops (I may have purchased some Swarovski jewellery for my birthday present – but it was on sale!) and wend our way slowly towards Municipal House, where we were meeting I. again for a walk up to Prague Castle.
It was raining more heavily today, so we cheated a bit and caught a tram a couple of stops, but walked through the parkland and saw the Metronome (no more Lenin statue? Awww…) There were hundreds of shoes thrown onto the power lines here – apparently there are always a few, but news of this pastime had obviously spread as there were quite literally hundreds!
The Summer Palace gates were locked, so we couldn’t explore these gardens, but the Castle itself is open 24/7, so we were able to go in and have a look at the buildings and the huge Gothic church. Flying buttresses ahoy!
One of the gift shops gave us some good plunder for souvenirs and pressies for those at home, but I won’t mention what we found, as some of them might be reading this!
Then it was time to rush back to the hotel to get ready for the Opera! We ended up taking a taxi, in case we got lost (again!) and arrived at the State Opera building feeling a little underdressed. People really dress up for it here, even in the nosebleed/backpacker seats up the top! The building really suits it though – the place is amazing! Gilt cherubs, curlicues and pillars abounded. We had a glass of bubbly beforehand (the ubiquitous Bohemia Sekt) and settled into our velvet lined wooden seats for the performance.
Madame Butterfly was a great performance – the singing was amazing, the costumes and set were fabulous, and the orchestra didn’t miss a beat. It’s a bit hard to accept the story as a modern audience – would the concubine honestly commit suicide just so her jilting lover can bring up their child with his new wife? I closed my eyes at some points to stop reading the subtitles, and it was much more enjoyable just listening to the amazing music.
Afterwards we hit the pavement again, and walked back to the hotel. It was so much closer than it felt yesterday when we were lost! We stopped into the Ultramarin restaurant attached to the hotel for a late bite to eat, and just about fell asleep on our plates.
Two Weeks Away 