Back in the game

After a couple of days of sleep I am feeling much better and actually got out today. This afternoon I headed out to the house where Mozart lived when he was in Prague. It used to be a country house, but as the town has grown it has all but over taken the property. Even so, from the backyard there was an incredible view of the city. The property is on a hill and as you move further back in the yard the hill slopes up. I climbed to the top and found a neat little spot with a stone bench and spent some time writing in my journal.

Even just walking from the metro station up to the house had winded me, reminding me that I am still on the mend. It turned out to be the beginning of a music festival today, so I stayed for the afternoon concert by an incredible quartet. The concert was supposed to be a garden concert, but it was too hot and sunny so they moved the concert inside. It was in a small room and there were about 35-40 of us there. The music was incredible. That was perhaps the best concert I've ever seen. They played Mozart, Schubert, Dvorzak and one other that I can't think of at the moment. Sitting there enjoying that music and the beauty around me (in the house and the garden) was exactly what I needed today. I got out, but for the most part the day was pretty restful.

This evening Elizabeth and I met up for some Czech pizza. Not much different than ours other than it was such thin crust that it was nearly non-existant. After that we went out for coffee and ice cream. The waiter asked us if we wanted a small coffee or a large espresso. We both answered small coffee, wondering what was going to show up when he brought it. Sure enough he delivered two cute little demitase cups with a shot of espresso in each, accompanied by cream, a packet of sugar and some mineral water. So we drank espresso (which was quite nice) alongside our pistachio ice cream at the cafe that Franz Kafka, Albert Einstein and various other intellectual types used to regularly meet at. It's a wonder they let us in.

As we sat at the cafe we began to hear thunder and see lightening. As we left the cafe and began the walk to Charles bridge the skies opened up. Luckily both Elizabeth and I are Oregonians at heart (even if southern California is borrowing her for now) and we continued our trek. And then it just flat out poured. At this point we stepped into a little market where many others had run into before the deluge began. Soaking wet, we wandered through the maze of souvenirs (everything from magnets to shot glasses to t-shirts and of course the famous bohemia crystal) we dried off a bit. About that time we came to the other end of the market and the rain had subsided. We continued across the Charles bridge, which is incredibly beautiful and amazingly uncrowded at night! And again with the rain. At this point we stepped into a little pub to sit out this round. After about half an hour the rain calmed again and we made a dash for the metro.

And that brings us to now. Tired and hungry we are heading upstairs to take care of both of those issues. Tomorrow evening we head out for Kiev. And the train adventures continue...