Czech Republic

We’re just leaving the Czech Republic and heading to Budapest. We spent the first three nights in Prague. We stayed at a hotel outside of the main downtown and tourist area. But it was easy to get into town by tram. Actually that was almost easier than waiting for everyone to pile onto the two busses we’re travelling on …and more fun.

We sang our concert at St Simon and St Jude. It’s by the river near the Jewish Quarter. This Catholic Church is now primarily used for concerts. We sang up in the organ loft. And the organ was an old, small manual organ. There were over 200 people in attendance and it seemed we pulled it off. After the concert we had a lovely dinner cruise on the Voltava River seeing the skyline of Prague by night.

Yesterday we were in Brno. Brno is the main town in the Moravian part of the Czech Republic, while Prague is in Bohemia. It’s a smaller city and very beautiful. We didn’t get to see much of it though. We basically just went there for the concert that evening. We sang in the main cathedral at the top of the hill. Very acoustic. Sound swirling all around. The organ there was more modern and had a very different sound. I heard from people sitting in the audience that it was very loud. Sometimes drowning out the singing.

We had lunch at an outdoor café restaurant in the town square. Either because it was Sunday or a national holiday or both, all the stores and businesses (except restaurants) were closed. The streets were pretty empty. It made for a nice quiet, peaceful afternoon.

What strikes me about these cities, is how beautifully they are all being restored. On the plus side of having suffered under communist regimes is that now they have the chance to restore their buildings in an era where there is value and money, I suppose, to stay true to their historic architecture. I can imagine that these cities have become, and are becoming more beautiful than the cities of Western Europe with their many cores of high towers and glass boxes. Though I do, to some extent see Peter’s point that the newness, fresh colourful paint, perfection, make them look a little bit like Disney towns.