Prague, the city of music and black lights

Last night I attended a small concert of baroque music in a venue called the Clementinum where Mozart is said to have played and pronounced the acoustics outstanding ( so said the guy who sold us the tickets). It was a four piece string ensemble and an organ. Nice place! I enjoyed looking at all the beautiful art on the walls while listening to the music.



Out on the street there are lots of musicians like this guy.

Or this group which included a talented washboard player.

There are concerts every night in the historic churches all around this part of town. I wish we had heard and seen more! This place is a hotbed of classical music for sure. The building across the street has a piano out on the covered walkway and people just stop and sit down and play. I wished for you Suzy. You would have people throwing euros in your hat just to keep you playing.

Another night we attended a performance of Black Light Theater. That was really different and very unique. It is hard to explain other than to say the stage is completely black and there are people dressed all in black that you can't see. The main actors are bright and colorful and do seemingly impossible things like fly or juggle in slow motion. There are all kinds of illusions involving mirrors and see through screens, candles and back lighting. The most surprising thing was when two of the actresses came out on stage wearing nothing more than flesh colored panties. Hmm. Wasn't expecting that. For a minute I thought it was another illusion but no, it was for real! Oh, and I did not mention that there was no talking through any of this. Just very haunting music and mime. Here is a picture of one of the tamer scenes.



Yep, topless.


Slo-mo juggling


What can I say? It was unique!

Location:Prague

In the Alchemist's Den

In 2002 there was a terrible flood in Prague. A part of the street collapsed right in front of the second oldest house in Prague revealing a tunnel that no one knew was there. Upon further inspection it was found that the tunnel lead to a set of underground rooms under the second oldest house, which back in the 1500's had been a hotel. After 10 years of excavation, a warren of secret underground laboratories has been restored. Just about a year ago they opened it to the public. It appears that sometime long, long ago the scientists/scorcerors who had been working there walled it up and abandoned it until that flood in 2002 revealed it.



Apparently the King Rudolph of Bohemia really wanted an elixir of youth and a set a select and secret group of the best scientists to work on it. They distilled elixirs based on water, alcohol and herbs, as well as trying to change metals to gold. The Philosopher's Stone! Harry Potter fans would love this place.
After touring the study, the secret passageway is revealed behind the bookcase.


Your go down into the several "labs" where the distillation and mixing was done.


There were several rooms and entrances to other tunnels. They made their own glassware down here. At times there were explosions which released burning gases through the cobblestones in the streets above freaking out all the neighbors who had no idea what was going on.


The alchemists thought crocs and gators were magical, also peacock feathers.


They found a couple of unopened bottles of the elixir during the excavation which have been analyzed by chemists and found to contain up to 77 herbs distiller in alcohol. They reproduced the formula which can be purchased for about $15 for a small bottle. It looked like a tequila mini to me. Hmm. Actually, I think this is a picture of the elixir of love. Well, as a former science teacher I found it pretty interesting as I have never seen a place like this before.


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Location:Prague, Czech Republic

Florentina boat hotel

Experimenting here to see if I can get the blog up and running again. Fingers crossed!
Prague is an ancient and historic city. It has beautiful old buildings, cobblestone streets, and a language which is the most foreign I have ever encountered. The street names seem incomprehensible. It is a very tourist oriented city, however, so there are lots of signs with pictures to help you out. We rode the subway today and it was much easier than London or Paris.

I am staying in the Florentina Boat Hotel which is actually a river barge moored to a street side dock in the old part of town. The location is just about perfect. The view across the river is simply beautiful with the St. Vitus cathedral across the way and big white swans paddling by.




The other thing I love about this place is that the breakfast is included everyday and it is quite extensive. I eat a big breakfast and also make a small sandwich and get a piece of fruit for my lunch and I am good to go until the evening. They also have a restaurant that serves a different daily special everyday for seven euro which is not bad for three courses. Tonight it was beet soup with sour cream and pasta with capers and olives. Walnut ice cream with whip cream was the dessert. This is the beet soup below.



Here's the view from the dining room.this evening there were fireworks right across the river. Beautiful! Not sure what the occasion was!


All in all, I like my little,boat hotel!

Location:Prague, Czech Republic