6 Jul 2013: From Prague to Vienna

On 6 Jul 2013, the orchestra was ready to head to Vienna for the Summa Cum Laude International Music Festival's Opening Ceremony. The coach journey took more than four hours as best as I could remember. On the coach, I was either catching up on my winks or watching the beautiful scenery from my seat. 

I was feeling thankful that the moving of instruments had been well planned. There were numerous instruments on board.

When we reached Hotel Airo Tower, our group merely left our luggage and instruments in a holding area before taking another coach to head for the St Stephen Cathedral. We were to be there for the SCL Festival Opening Ceremony.

As no coach is allowed to park near the St Stephen Cathedral, we had the pleasure to do some good walking along the streets of Vienna after the coach allowed us to alight near a tram station. Vienna has beautiful trams in my humble opinion. 

It was a pretty hot day that day. Thankfully we were wearing polo T-shirts as our attire for the Opening Ceremony. More meaningful days in Vienna were to come.

5 Jul 2013: The Prague Loreto and the rest of the evening

5 Jul 2013:
After visiting the Prague Castle, my friends suggested visiting the Prague Loreto Chapel. It is said to be a remarkable Baroque historic monument. I do not quite understand the historic significance of the place, yet it is a beautiful chapel to admire.

This chapel, I learnt, houses liturgical treasures including the famous star-shaped Sun of Prague which is studded with 6222 diamonds. I did not have a chance to see the Sun of Prague. Nevertheless, I marvelled at the beauty of the Prague Loreta Chapel against the evening skies.

When the skies were about to turn dark, we took tram service number 22 to head to a place for dinner. While waiting for the tram, we saw a red car speeding about.

Eventually, we decided upon having dinner at the Music Club located in Hotel U Zlateho Stromu, Prague. The pizzas there were reasonably priced and pretty delicious. This is a place for value-for-money pizza. I would have preferred outdoor seating. Then again, there were no available seats outdoor, so we had the indoor seats. Dinner was good.

After the dinner, we took a leisure walk about Charles Bridge. The Prague Castle that was located at a distance away looked beautiful against the evening skies.

5 Jul 2013: The Prague Castle

The Prague Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It consists of palaces and buildings of various architectural styles, from Roman-style buildings from the 10th century through Gothic modification in the 14 century.

The Prague Castle is open daily from 05:00 - 24:00 in the summer season. Be prepared to walk quite a bit. A good pair of walking shoes will be essential when visiting the Prague Castle.

The views from the Prague Castle was breathtaking. I fell in love with Prague thanks to the lovely views.

For reasons that I do not know, the St. Vitus Cathedral was closed by the time my friends and I reached at about 4.40 p.m. The best way I could get a glimpse of the interior of the cathedral was through a copy of the postcard that I have managed to get my hands on.

St Vitus Cathedral.

During my visit, I saw the guards of the Prague Castle from a relatively close distance. That was an unexpected pleasant surprise.

St Vitus Cathedral. Photo courtesy of Terence Low.

The visit to the Prague Castle felt as if it was a short one. Then again, I had left the place with the impression that it is one of the most beautiful castles that I have visited yet.

A beautiful evening that we had. Many thanks to my friends for leading the way to the castle and for their travelling companionship.

5 Jul 2013: Prague's Old Town Square and more

5 Jul 2013:

Musicians play!

A day of adventure started. I took it as an opportunity to learn about a new country and to spend time getting together with friends.

Getting to the platform of the train station nearest to the hotel where we stayed at proved to be a special challenge. Perhaps I was too used to taking lifts to avoid taking lengthy escalators, the lengthy escalator that would lead us to the train platform did not suit me well. Thankfully, with the kindness of my travelling mates who looked out for me, I managed the ride up and down the escalators.

In Prague, the metro train stations did not use the gantries that the MRT train stations in Singapore use. A visitor to Prague would need to purchase the appropriate ticket and then just before they entered the train station or board a tram, they would need to validate the ticket. The validated ticket will state clearly the date of travel. There may be checks conducted by the staff to ensure that each passenger has a validated ticket. The penalty of carrying a non validated ticket or a ticket that is not properly validated for that day of use would be a fine.

I was feeling thankful that it was a day of good weather. We were on our way for the Old Town Square. To get there, the metro stop would be Staromestska (line A). I felt very thankful that there were a few people in the group who have done their research to find the way to Old Town Square. While I had prepared sketchy directions to get there, those were last minute attempts just the day before the departure. On our way there, we passed by Powder Tower.

The Powder Tower, as I learnt much later, is one of the original 13 city gates in Old Town, Prague. It is a Gothic tower. While its history did not stick into my mind, I remembered it as a majestic tower.

The shops in Prague offered a different treats for my eyes than those in Singapore: Bohemia Crystal, Slavonic Art and more. At the Old Town Square, we saw many temporary market stalls being set up. There were stalls selling hand-crafted products.

For lunch, I had goulash soup in one of the eating places, named Pizzeria - Cafe. I love the taste of the potatoes with the tomato flavoured soup base.

That afternoon, I had the opportunity to visit the Astronomical Clock Tower. At the viewing gallery of the Astronomical Clock Tower, there were plaques that described some of the important buildings in Prague. At the viewing gallery of the Astronomical Clock Tower, I had the privilege to listen to a trumpeter playing his trumpet to announce the time. When asked, he said that he would do so every hour, when he is on duty.

The view from the Astronomical Clock Tower, Prague.

The trumpeter played.

Looking down from the viewing gallery.

St Nicholas Church. Prague.

The view from the Astronomical Clock Tower.

The horses on the streets of Prague attracted my attention. I suppose it was due to the novelty of seeing horses on the streets? Against the backdrop of the streets of Prague's Old Town Square, I felt as if I was in the land of the fairy tales. Old Town Square was a charming place in my opinion.

After exploring the Old Town Square, we walked to the Staromestska's metro train station to take a train ride. We were on our way to the Prague Castle.

5 Jul 2013: Waking up to a good morning

5 Jul 2013 (Sat):

Early in the morning. Prague.

Earlier this July, I was visiting Europe with the orchestra. We were on our way to Vienna to participate in the Summa Cum Laude International Youth Festival. To get to Vienna, our orchestra flew to Prague to travel to Vienna via coaches.

On our second day at Prague, I woke up pretty early to enjoy breakfast at Hotel NH Prague. I have a special liking for breakfast. A good breakfast marks a good start to any day! I soon learnt that breakfast at Hotel NH Prague was always worth looking forward for. The breakfast buffet provided a wide ranging choice of delicious and hearty food. I love the cereals and the serving of a variety of cheese. The company of good friends added joy to the morning routine of feasting on our breakfasts.

Sunrise took place as early as before 5 a.m. during summer in Prague, I was told. Yet, my body was possibly wanting a bit more rest from the long hours that was spent travelling from Singapore to Prague. I was not motivated to wake up early enough to walk to the Prague Castle to witness sunrise!

The plan for the morning was that where feasible, each section was to organise our own sectionals. In the end, since my section did not have double basses to practise on while we were in Prague, we did not have sectionals. I learnt that other sections had sectionals at the nearby public spaces near the hotel. It possibly did not prove to be the best idea for the residents living nearby and the lesson was learnt. Other sections probably met in their hotel rooms. I wonder if it would be a great idea to build hotels with facilities meant for travelling musicians who would like to rehearse during their free idea? I would prefer such facilities to swimming pools.

Anyway, close to noon, a group of us set off to explore Prague. Before I reveal more, here are photos to give a sneak preview of what we saw on our way to the nearest train station. The fruits at the nearby market place were extremely fresh!

I felt thankful for a lovely morning!

A stall selling cheese.

4 Jul 2013: Our first afternoon and night at Prague

4 Jul 2013:

When our orchestra reached Prague, it was already afternoon time. I have had good vibes when we reached the Hotel NH Prague.

After checking into our respective rooms, a group of us explored the neighbourhood of Prague on foot. It was a windy afternoon as best as I could remember. The streets of Prague felt refreshing to me! There were stalls selling cherry tomatoes and cherries. These were fresh, juicy and delicious. Furthermore, they were a lot more cheaper than the cherry tomatoes and cherries that were sold in my hometown, Singapore. Thanks to the generosity of my friends and travelling companions, I had the pleasure to sample a few of these cherry tomatoes and cherries. Yummy!

A park that we came across on our way to Charles' Bridge.
Photo courtesy of Terence Low.

Time was spent reaching the Charles Bridge, and to explore part of it. The beautiful sights that we saw at Charles Bridge were etched into my memory. Guess what was the river that ran under Charles Bridge? It was the Vltava River, otherwise known as Moldau. I was reminded of Smetana's Moldau. What a lovely river.

Charles Bridge

Moldau

Moldau.

I wished I could be less anxious and be more relaxed to enjoy our adventures about Prague. I must have been too disciplined to follow strictly to the agreed time to reach the hotel for dinner. In the end, despite walking back to the hotel at the fastest possible pace, I was still slightly behind the agreed time for dinner. Then again, if I could have been a bit more forgiving towards myself for taking a bit more time to travel, maybe I could enjoy the journey back to the hotel so much better? 

The buffet dinner at the Hotel NH Prague was sumptuous. I like the pasta especially. Having the company of orchestra mates made the dinner even more memorable. 

Prague in the evening. Photo courtesy of Terence Low.

After the dinner, we took a tram to get across the Charles Bridge. We were on our way to get to an organ concert that would start at 10 p.m. at the St Salvator Church. The organist was Robert Hugo and the soprano for that night was Marie Fajtova. The concert was marketed as "night organ concerto by candle lights'. I could not remember much about the concert. However, I could remember that the skies only turned dark at about 9.15 p.m. that night in Prague. I was reminded that it was summer.

Back to the concert, on hindsight, although it was extremely enticing to listen to an organ concert by the candle lights, I was simply not someone who could tolerate late nights. I was feeling too tired that I was half-asleep throughout the entire concert. Whatever organ playing and soprano singing that I had heard inside that lovely Gothic church of St Salvator Church somehow just felt as if they had happened in my dreams, pretty vaguely.

The organ concert that we had attended.
Photo courtesy of Terence Low.

After the concert, the temptation was to go for supper. Eventually, my choice was to take the tram service number 9 to get close enough to Krizovnicke Square before walking back to the hotel by foot. Thankfully, the streets of Prague was generally safe especially when I was walking on the streets with the company of several friends.