Prague Castle Vinobrani

You can find photos here and videos here, as they seem to take forever to upload onto the blog.

So, this past weekend Julie, my friend and colleague at VSE, invited me to the Prague Castle vinobrani, and later to dinner with her Norwegian friends and also to a Guns 'n' Roses tribute band concert. It was a busy day!

I met Julie at a central tram stop and we then took the tram up the hill to the castle making sure to walk in through the garden entrance rather than the main gate, as it's much more scenic that way. As we came to the end of the gardens we came upon a large crowd, watching a youth group perform a traditional Czech song and dance. These kids couldn't have been more than 15, but they were great and rather professional. Julie said that Czech youth are required to take these formal/traditional dance lessons, and it certainly pays off! They were so cute and fun to watch, as well as their peers in the orchestra off to the side. It's quite common for most people to have some aptitude at the violin, and according to Julie, it's because of the prominence of the violin in slavic music. Since I haven't really heard any traditional music yet, I'll have to take her word for it.

Right after the dancers was a skit done by an acting troupe of the classic story of pirates/brigands vs the nobles. It was pretty cheesy with the overacting (maybe for the tv crews) but pretty funny, especially when they incorporated material from the Three Stooges.

We moved on to a part of the castle which is almost never open for visitors -- the royal gymnasium, a small building with huge windows (think 1 story tall) covering one whole wall. While full of light, it also meant that it was very cold, especially because it was only about 45 degrees outside. Inside there was an exhibit on the process of making and storing wine which was of course in czech, so it was a complete fly-by.

We moved back to the area where the children were dancing to queue up for some freshly pressed grape juice (green grapes!) which was delicious. We followed the crowd into the main part of the castle, past St. Vitus' Cathedral (too many people lined up for us to go inside) and toured one section that was meant for kids' activities. I tried on chain mail, which was really narrow and heavy -- it must have weighed about 35 lbs! I grabbed a sword (also heavy) and tried to manage the shield too, but the pommel of the sword was long enough that I had to use two hands. Getting out of the chain mail was an endeavor, and almost impossible -- Julie couldn't lift it enough because it was too heavy and it was too narrow for me to wriggle out of. Finally I resorted to bending at the waist as if I were going to touch my toes and let gravity do all the work while trying to make sure my hair didn't get caught in the links. Whew!

We also saw a demonstration by a few Czech guys from a nearby town on common medieval weapons and how they were used. Everything was demonstrated slowly for our understanding and then demonstrated again in real time. Very cool, but I didn't get a chance to take a video.

We walked down the hill (Belli, this was the way we left before) to get a good view of Prague and Petřin Hill, but then realized it was almost the top of the hour -- time for the changing of the guard! We quickly made our way to the south entrance which connects the castle to the Malá Strana (Little Quarter) to watch, and at the last second, were rushed by tour groups. I couldn't see at all, and resorted to watching the change through my camera, which I had lifted (at full extension!) to catch the action. Upon later watching, I've realized that you can't really see anything, but I'll post it anyway.

Right on the square with the south entrance is a recently restored palazzo covered in sgraffito that is absolutely amazing. Next time I'm back in the area I'm going for a closer look at the art inside. The Italian influence here is very noticeable -- most of Prague would not be so beautiful without it! The Italians designed the buildings, convinced the Czechs to restore (rather than demolish) the dilapidated Italianate buildings, and now you can see the modern influence -- fashion, pizzerias, and an Italian company restoring the Art Noveau main train station.

After freezing our bums off looking at the fall foliate on Petřin, we walked to Malostranské náměstí (Mala Strana Square -- this is where the American Embassy is) to catch a train to the south east part of the city, where Julie's Norwegian friends lived. They had invited her to dinner and said it was ok to bring me too, so we stopped at Tesco for wine, soda, and cake and made our way to their flat.

So we walk in and I'm greeted by 4 of the most good-looking people I've seen in my life; blond Andreas with his I'm-a-punk-but-I-give-fantastic-hugs vibe; sweet, sensitive Mats; redhead Christian (ohhh...); and petite spunky Sigur, who is incredibly beautiful (think non-Disney Snow White). Btw, Andreas, Mats and Christian are men, Sigur is a woman -- not sure how much you know about Norwegian names! And even more impressive, they're all here at medical school -- the boys in their 3rd year, Sigur in her first. She arrived in Prague about when I did, and our birthdays are a week apart -- weird!

Dinner was at Mats and Andreas' apartment, which was a galley kitchen, two bedrooms, living room, and a small wc (no sink) with the shower and sink in a separate closet -- a little weird. The group effort produced a scrumptious meal of what was basically mac 'n' cheese (eidam though!) with boiled fish (maybe cod) covered with more cheese and breadcrumbs, and then baked. Soooo goood. We finished most of it, though I heard that later Mats and Andreas finished the other pan between the two of them -- and they're built like Thomas, but a little taller, so they really put food away.

They were all so nice and accepted me right away, with no awkwardness at all! I guess a friend of Julie's is a friend of theirs, or somesuch... I spent most of the night talking to Christian, who I was really into; he's tall, a year or two older than I am, redheaded with a beard and dark blue eyes, which was a killer combo. I found out a few hours later that he actually has a girlfriend, when said girlfriend joined the party. Bummer.

Anyway, we were all going to go to a music club to hear a Guns 'n' Roses tribute band, but Mats and Andreas tend to be homebodies and Sigur had a cold, so it was just Julie, Chrisitian, Michelle (the Czech GF) and me that went on. I was surprised that Andreas gave me a hug upon leaving, but apparently that's just his MO; he gives bear hugs, which are the best of all!

We arrived at the club not too long before the start so we got our beers and found a seat near the stage. However, this club was a former bowling alley, so the accoustics were awful and I felt really deaf by the end of the night. I enjoyed myself for a while and even danced a bit (with the teenagers, wanna-bes, occasional normal person, and druggies), but it wasn't really my scene.

All in all, it was a great day. Next week is the vinobrani at Křivoklát Castle, so be prepared for more wine madness! And remember, in vino veritas...