Thursday, May 14, 2009

Tour: Goodbye, Prague!

I think all the Singers will agree that Prague is a beautiful city. Everyone was very excited to have one more day than we'd originally planned here. On our first day, even though we were all so tired, we were still very happy about being here!



We took a walking tour through the city and got acquainted with some of the cultural history of the area. Part of the tour included the large cathedral in the center of town. It is so beautiful inside! We all wanted to sing there, but unfortunately it wasn't on our list of concert stops. Next time!



The walking tour included the famous Charles Bridge, which many of us returned to the next day on our own free time. The bridge is crowded with merchants and tourists and locals just going from one side of the Moldau River to the other. Yes, that's the Moldau, or the Vltava, as it is called here. The composer Smetana lived in Prague and wrote a whole piece about the country. The Moldau is the central movement of the work.



Our first concert of the tour was in a local church. The audience was very appreciative and we had a great time. It was a wonderful way to start the concert portion of our tour!



Today, Thursday, we drove to a nearby town called Nymburk to sing in a church there. The acoustics were amazing. We shared the concert with a local Czech choir and really enjoyed each other. There's nothing quite like singing liturgical music in a cathedral that's built for it.



We had a small reception with some representatives from the Ministry of Culture in Nymburk. Dr. Allred got the key to the city! Okay, not really, but he did get some very thoughtful and beautiful gifts. We felt very welcome in the area and were happy to be there.



Tonight is our last night in Prague, and tomorrow we move on to Hungary. We've enjoyed it here, and we look forward to what's ahead!

3 comments:

Scott and Penney said...

We're so glad you have a blog! Fun to follow the tour! Especially since we haven't heard from Ali yet!

Susan Olson said...

Good on y'all. We wish we could be there. Kylee made productions!Love Hungary too. S Olson

Kerrin Gates said...

Congratulations all! I've been hearing wonderful things about your experiences so far--I'm so glad you get to have them!