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Friday, October 16, 2020

Macocha and Brno

 My father suggested to me that I visit the caves and abyss in Macocha.  I finally found a weekend where the weather seemed decent, so we decided to make a reservation and go.  The reason a reservation is needed because you must have a guide in the caves and the caves are so big that in some parts a boat is needed.  The caves were really impressive.  After we enjoyed the caves we decided to walk around Brno.  It was the first time in my adult life that I have walked around Brno and it was nice.  Since so many people from Prague say bad things about Brno, I wasn't expecting much, but it was really nice.  The next day before going back to Prague we went to Zelena Hora.  The autumn colors were so beautiful and the views were really nice.  It was a great weekend.

                                                had to take the cable car to get to the tour in time
                                                              going down to the cave area
                                                            diagram of the depth
                                                                        the cave system
                                                            first stop in the cave
                                                            nice reflections
                                                            more reflections
                                                                lots of stalactites
                                            in the distance you can see the ones trying to connect
                                                                        angel
                                                                    outside in the abyss
                                                        pics from the boat ride
                                                            so many stalactites
                                                        last impressive cave in the system
                                                                exiting the caves
                                                                far way down
                                                                    the tiny dots are people
                                                                            Brno
                                                                    Brno's clock
                                          didn't see a bat in the caves, but a dead one in Brno
                                                        Japanese art on a tram in Brno
                                                                            main square
                                                                    inside the main church
                                                         view of the castle from a distance
                                                                        nice sunset
                                                                        nice reflections
                                                                    house covered in leaves
                                                                    going up some stairs
                                                                    nice panorama
                                                                        couldn't go inside
                                                         in the hallway around the church
                                                                            nice archway
                                                                            nice lake
                                                   flowers with the church in the background

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