WorldWideKittyGlassesProject : September 2020

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Kafka: The Trial Ballet (Prague, CZ)

For the month of September, all the shows from Narodni Divadlo are on discount. Luckily I remembered the article and was able to find the code. The first show I decided to watch was a ballet called Kafka: The Trial. An Italian choreographer was so inspired by Kakfa's story, that he decided to make a ballet based on it. While I was purchasing the tickets, I noticed that there was a free tour based on Kafka's life before the ballet. It was such a unique experience to be able to walk around Prague to the places that were important to Kafka's life before watching the performance. I was able to go down some streets I have never been to before and learn about places that I often walk by, but didn't know the history behind it. The Kafka statue is a combination of three of Kafka's stories. The first is metamorphosis and that is represented by the cockroach that is on the base of the statue designed with black bricks. The second story is Description of a Struggle and the third is Judgement. I have seen this statue so many times, but I had no idea that it represented three of Kafka's stories and I found that so interesting. A week later, I went to watch the opera Tosca and this weekend I will watch another ballet. My friends and I want to watch as many shows as we can using the discount.

poster of the ballet I watched

about to start the free Kafka tour

brothel where Kafka's father made him a "man"

never been down this street before

evil Mona Lisa?

Kafka's father owned a chocolate store near here

a place where great minds would hang out: like Kafka and Einstein

walking around Prague to see important places for Kafka

school building Kafka attended

empty

learning about the Kafka statue

Kafka's statue representing three different stories

Czech Republic 10,125

Czech Republic

beautiful chandelier

ground floor audience

great show

bow again

the main dancer

had to take a pic with the chandelier

friend I went to the ballet with

great display

appetizer

pasta with squid ink and calamari

Monday, September 14, 2020

Escape Room Prague, CZ

During the summer, I did two escape rooms with my students. Before the summer I had never done an escape room. I always wanted to do them, but for some reason I never did. My student's mother chose the best escape room in Prague and I was hooked. The first one we did was a decently scary one and I wasn't sure if the students would be able to do it. We managed to solve it in 59 minutes and some seconds. I think we were very close to the one hour mark. After that we did an "easier" one. However, the escape room place mentioned to me that they had one that was VERY SCARY and only for adults. My friends and I really wanted to do it, so as soon as I got back from my trips, we went. The puzzles weren't as hard as the first room I did, but there were lots of jump scares. There was even a live actor following us around. The actor liked my name the best and kept saying my name is a creepy way. We managed to solve it in 57 minutes. There were lots of jumps and screams on our part. It was very very good!!!! If we get the chance, we might even do the other scary one they have. Thank you so much to the actor and the one who gave us the clues.

after we finally solved all the puzzles and escaped

Czech Republic

Czech Republic 10,124

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Monte Carlo, Monaco

I have never been to Monaco, so when it was decided that we were going to go to Nice, France, I made sure that we went to Monaco as well. Monaco was the second new country for the year. Now I have been to 102 countries. The situation right now makes me think that I won't be able to go to any more new countries this year. I really hope things change and get better. Driving into Monaco was very easy. It is a rich country and everything looked very nice and lavish. There were so many huge yachts in the harbor and lots of nice cars on the road. The casino was beautiful (of course we didn't gamble, I just wanted to see the interior). Before entering the casino we had to get our temperature checked to make sure we weren't sick and of course we had to wear masks to enter. Then we went into a shopping mall and there were gorgeous chandeliers. For lunch we just stopped by a bakery and had a quiche and almond dessert. I didnt take a photo of the dessert, but it was so tasty and one of my favorite sweets we had on our trip. Maybe next time we go to Monaco we'll be able to go on a yacht, haha!

entering into Monaco

map of the city

narrow street with lots of stairs

outdoor escalator

nice view in front of the casino

nice flowers

great view of the water fountain and casino

empty

casino display

interesting statue....taking money blindly?

harbor behind me

world at my finger tips

nice roof

obviously people like to touch a certain part on the statue

church

no one around!!!

reflections

must wear a mask in the area, even on the streets~!

inside a shopping mall

made of resin

banksy rat light bulb

quiche

Friday, September 11, 2020

France (Nice, Cannes, etc)

The covid-19 situation around the world has really changed traveling this year. Basically the only places that are safe for me to travel to are countries in Europe. I was able to find decent summer price airline tickets to France, so I decided to get them. The last time I was in France was when I was 16 years old and I went with my parents to Paris. This time I went to the French Riviera and was by the beach the whole time. We went to so many place and were able to try so many delicious foods. It was a great trip.