Where did I Ieave off? The opera. That feels surprisingly long ago. After a lot of fuss and preparation we finallyl left the apartment and made our way to the opera house. I was pretty excited, especially because I had some vague understanding that we had pretty good seats; the dollar is worth a lot more than the Czech crown and so tickets were pretty cheap. But I had no idea. The opera house was beautiful, built in Baroque style with an elegant Neo Classical exterior and a stunningly floral interior. There was a giant--and I mean giant, taller than a person--chandelier, a gorgeously painted ceiling, and floral designs and statues everywhere. We walked up the carpeted marble stairs and found our way to a door. I was so nervous and excited I had to step back and let someone else open the door for me! What I saw was breathtaking.
We had our own personal balcony!!! There was beautiful floral wallpaper, marble statues on either side of us, a SPECTACULAR view of the orchestra . . . it was amazing. The opera was really fun, too. The music was beautiful and it was actually really funny. Before then my impression of a comedy was any opera that wasn't a tragedy, but I was actually cracking up at this one a lot. Of course, my brother didn't understand a lot of the humor because it was relatively adult, but he still had fun. If you remember, we saw Die Fledermaus. It was about a man who played a trick on his friend, and the friend got revenge by inviting him to this ball and calling him by a different identity while at the same time inviting his wife, maid, the jailkeeper (the main character went to the ball instead of going to jail as he was supposed to) and a prince. It was pretty hilarious even though it doesn't sound like it. There was a lot of mistaken identity, disguises, and people laughing at the guy's back while he made a fool of himself. There was one really funny scene where he thought he recognized his maid at the ball and she had a whole song about how she was a famous actress and how insulted she was that he thought her a housemaid!
We had our own personal balcony!!! There was beautiful floral wallpaper, marble statues on either side of us, a SPECTACULAR view of the orchestra . . . it was amazing. The opera was really fun, too. The music was beautiful and it was actually really funny. Before then my impression of a comedy was any opera that wasn't a tragedy, but I was actually cracking up at this one a lot. Of course, my brother didn't understand a lot of the humor because it was relatively adult, but he still had fun. If you remember, we saw Die Fledermaus. It was about a man who played a trick on his friend, and the friend got revenge by inviting him to this ball and calling him by a different identity while at the same time inviting his wife, maid, the jailkeeper (the main character went to the ball instead of going to jail as he was supposed to) and a prince. It was pretty hilarious even though it doesn't sound like it. There was a lot of mistaken identity, disguises, and people laughing at the guy's back while he made a fool of himself. There was one really funny scene where he thought he recognized his maid at the ball and she had a whole song about how she was a famous actress and how insulted she was that he thought her a housemaid!
So that was the opera! The next day (our last day in Prague) we went on a boat tour. It was my brother's idea--my dad was convinced it was a tourist trap--but it turned out to be really fun. Our tour guide was this British dude who actually knew a lot about the area, and the views were gorgeous. Then we went to the John Lennon Peace Wall, which is this wall dedicated to peace where people can basically legally graffitti whatever they want. It was originally built when John Lennon died back when Czechoslovakia was under communism. So I'm sure the graffitti was a lot more interesting and meaningful under communism than it is now, because then it was a way to have free speech, but it's still a pretty cool idea.
The next day we left Prague and headed for Vienna! On our first day here we got up late in the morning and didn't get to do much, unfortunately. We saw another Gothic cathedral and made our way to the Hofburg Palace, home of the Habsburgs. Seriously, it's a MASSIVE building built by this OUTRAGEOUSLY wealthy family. We didn't get to go inside, unfortunately, but we're planning to tomorrow. Then we made our way to this beautiful café where we had pastries and hot chocolate and hung out for an hour. When we came home we watched Amadeus, which is a movie about Mozart and his career in Vienna. Seriously, the Viennese brag about Mozart at every possible opportunity, but from what I can tell from the movie they didn't treat him all that well. I mean, he went bankrupt here and they brag about all the operas he wrote in the city but those operas got really bad reception in Vienna especially compared to a lot of other cities. Anyway, it was especiallly interesting because the movie, though it's supposed to take place in Vienna, was filmed in Prague, which we had just left. Pretty good movie, I would recommend it.
Today we went to a museum! Yay! What I learned today more than anything is that if you have enough money, by default it will make you go INSANE. It is crazy, the lavish gifts that the Habsburgs bought for each other! There was one gift that was a solid gold salt and pepper box. Yes, I repeat, a SOLID GOLD SALT AND PEPPER BOX. Told you they were crazy. So I guess that way everyone can know how freaking crazy and rich you are when you put salt and pepper on your salad, in case they didn't know already? I don't know, I don't get it at all. It's actually pretty sad, because these people were responsible for taking care of their people, but instead they taxed them heavily and used the money to buy all kinds of REALLY expensive but useless stuff. And that is why the French Revolution happened. ;) Sorry Marie Antoinette. Actually, did you know that Marie Antoinette was a Habsburg? She was the daughter of Maria Theresa, the famous Habsburg queen, and was actually named Maria Antonia but when she got married to Louis XVI her name was switched from the Austrian form to the French form. Fun fact for you today, if you didn't already know it!
Anyway, tomorrow we are going to two different Habsburg palaces! Yeah, they were that rich. Seriously, we wouldn't be able to afford one of those if we saved up for the rest of our lives, and they had TONS of them. So, if I happen to remember and find the time tomorrow, be sure to look forward to lots of juicy facts about the crazy Habsburg family! ;)
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