| So! Yesterday!
We went up to the Castle (I wish I could remember proper names of these places-- and I probably should be adding visual aides with pictures... but I'm just getting this written so I don't forget everything so there!) and walked around. We couldn't go into the cathedral because they were ordaining a priest, but because of the ceremony they rang the church bells, including the very largest bell which is the largest bell in... the Czech Republic*? My goodness, I wish I could remember. Anyway, it trumped all of the church bells in the surrounding area by a long shot! It reminded me of the end of Mahler's 2nd symphony...
Tour of the castle itself, pretty awesome! Gorgeous gothic vaulted ceilings, huge spiral staircases (a military bland playing "Carmen" in the courtyard below us-- surreal) and stories of defenestration...!
Dr. Pittman-- I'm going to tell my students about that...
Jennifer-- But you don't have a window!
Bob-- You'll have to come up with something else... Debalconization?
Well, we left the castle and the smaller cathedral (only about 1000 years old!) and it started to rain. Thankfully I had brought my jacket-- at least I had my hood! Well, it poured for a good several minutes as we dashed through the "Gold Street." The little shops in the tiny little houses would have been darling if we hadn't been soaked! Huddled, dripping, in a cafe at the bottom of the street and attempted to revive ourselves with hot chocolate. Walked down-hill away from the castle. Stopped in at a beautiful park / castle garden... me & my gang broke off for lunch at yet another Svejk restaurant... which quite possibly had my favorite menu ever. Not only did they have "desserts" but they had "sweet meals!" Yep, pretty awesome. So I had a "sweet meal" of pancakes and ice cream. Mmm... slowly made our way back to the hotel, across the Charles Bridge, reading our map (thank-you Trinka!) to find our way.
Got ready for the concert in Dobrichovice... but I need to get ready for today now. Even with a day off, we're busy busy busy enjoying it! :)
OKAY! More than a day later...! Now I get to sit here in the Memphis airport and try to concentrate enough to finish writing this. :)
Got ready for the concert in Dobrichovice (which I think we finally figured out how to pronounce-- some of us), finally wore our "dressy blacks" again-- it had been polo shirts for the most part! Rode the bus (one of a series of new buses) out, were received in a charming fortress-turned-restaurant for a "welcome drink" (yay for orange juice, haha!) then we went to the church. Brief rehearsal, then the concert! This church was over 1,000 years old, was very tiny, and was packed to the gills with a very appreciative Czech audience. I don't think our performance was as good as the night before at the music museum, but who's complaining? My main problem arose from the fact that somehow I found myself three rows back, and of course I couldn't see Dr. Pittman! (I got to stand in front for my solo, but then it was right back to my invisible corner.) Since we did do "Esto Les Digo" that night (and we didn't the night before) I got my own flower-- a lovely white rose! And it caught me unexpected, too, they had to yell at me "Hey Chantelle!" to get my attention, lol. Then it was back to the fortress-restaurant for a "reception." A nice buffet to browse from, instead of a sit-down-and-be-served meal, and very very friendly local people. A little too friendly, in the case of the woman who was obviously trying to play match-maker between me and her son! Eeek! No comment. ;) A local music group gave us a concert of baroque / Renaissance music that was absolutely fabulous! The bass had a particularly stunning voice, and to quote Trinka I was quite "enjoying the view." Haha! I asked Dr. Pittman what the odds were of getting him to enroll at K-State... ;) Nice exchange of pleasantries and gifts between the officials of Dobrichovice and the "representatives" of "sister city" Manhtattan, KS. We all received a little something or other. Well, we packed up and said goodbye and headed back to the hotel... and then let me see. I guess we all just hit the hay, immediately after arriving back at the hotel. And the next day, Sunday, was our day off...!
PS- We performed "Otcenas" by Janacek again, and the audience actually applauded when the name of the piece was announced, even before we sang a note! Too cool. And of course they just exploded after we sang the piece... That was when all the flowers got handed out. And we still had two pieces to go-- "Battle of Jericho" and "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." I really nailed the high C descant in Battle this time (in my humble opinion), and another soprano chimed in on the high C at the end of Come Thou Fount (by then I was exhausted) so that went well-- except for completely changed keys at the acapella beginning of Come Thou Fount! Ooops! Bad soprano section...
* Yea, the bell is called "Sigmund" and it is the largest bell in the Czech Republic. (I think!)
| 
