The Czech National Theater, and more wanderings in Prague

We set out Saturday morning to walk down to the National Theater, which is just a few blocks down the street that our hotel is on.  Here Gabriel is talking to us outside the hotel entrance.

On the way, we stepped through an unmarked passageway into a delightful garden with houses and a church forming the enclosed area.  You just have to know it's there; maps won't tell you about it.

This is a memorial to a group of students in a peaceful protest against the Communist government.  They were herded by the security police into an area under a set of arches and severely beaten.  Not long afterward, Communism collapsed in the Czech Republic; this was one of the demonstrations leading up to that.

At the end of the street, just before the river, we came to the entrance to the theater.  Our guided tour started in the basement, where we saw a model of the building and some of the foundation stones that had been sent from all the various regions of the country to be part of the construction.

From there, we went to the main floor and got a look at all the gilded decorations in the hall.

This is the presidential box (on the second level).

Painted ceiling in the main foyer.

We then tried out some seats in an upper balcony.

After the theater tour, most of the group took the tram up to Prague Castle to see the castle and cathedral.  This was my third time in Prague, and I've been to the castle twice, so I elected to walk around the old city on my own.  This picture is of the castle area and the arched stone Charles Bridge from the bridge that's adjacent to the National Theater.

On a Saturday noon in Prague's Old Town Square, you can't stir 'em with a stick.

Yes, everybody and his dog were there.

The statue of Jan Hus, from a different angle.

A most important sign.  No, not the one that says "Zdeněk".

From the square, I wandered the back streets, marveling at the architecture.

I passed by the Spanish Synagogue again.  It looks much more interesting in the bright sun rather than in the rain.

Horse-drawn carriages are popular with tourists.

More architecture.

The old and the new.

I returned to the Rembrandt Cafe, where our group had stopped on the previous day.  I had the best hot chocolate I've ever had.  Shops like this are all over Prague, and most have outside tables.

In the same little square was a marionette shop.  They had amazing marionettes, and didn't mind my taking photos of them.  I've included lots of pictures here because I think they're wonderful.  Note that they are staging Don Giovanni with marionettes, but I didn't see one for Il Commendatore.

There are at least two more restaurants on this little square.

Back into the Old Town Square.  There's a chocolate museum...

I walked up to the municipal hall where our concert will be tonight.   Pražské Jaro means Prague Spring, and our concert is one of a series each year called the Prague Spring International Music Festival. 

I rejoined the group for our final lunch in Prague, this time at the Louvre restaurant.  Wonderful food, and dessert servings so large that I don't think anyone managed to finish one.

The meal ended with thanks for a wonderful time. 

Our concert Saturday night was the Pittsburgh Symphony with Anne-Sophie Mutter as soloist in the Brahms Violin Concerto.  The second half of the program was Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony.  The music was really wonderful.  Ms. Mutter had to play several encores, as did the orchestra after the Shostakovich.  I have no pictures of my own because I managed to leave my camera's memory card behind, so here are two that I've grabbed from web sites about the Prague Spring 2010 series and about the concert that we attended.  The gorgeous hall is named for Bedřich Smetana, the Czech composer.

Tomorrow about half the group will head home, while the rest continues to eastern Germany (Dresden, Leipzig, and Berlin) for a few more days.  I'm part of the second group, so I'll continue posting blog entries.