PICTURES: CZECH REPUBLIC & SLOVAKIA TOUR - FEB-MARCH
2006
What an amazing trip/mini-tour. Such a beautiful country, very
warm people, breath-taking architecture and very tasty food! Many thanks to George Janecek, the owner
of the historic Hotel Continental
in Plzen, for making this trip possible. The only
unfortunate thing was the fact that I got sick - 5 hrs into the 11 hr flight
from Los Angeles to Amsterdam (then to Prague). A horrible sore throat, insane
congestion and severe headaches. Other than that, the trip was perfect!
On every day (except for day 1), we were accompanied by
Jakub Korinek, a wonderful blues
musician/our opening act/guide.
Few people spoke a little English (at shops, train stations, restaurants, or at
my concerts). And some people spoke a few words of Russian. And some words in
Czech language are similar to Russian words, which was helpful. It was really
fun to communicate. One time I ended up speaking to a Czech man in Spanish - the
only language he & I both knew!
P.S. Check out the press clippings from a few publications:
MarinaV-CZpress-2006
P.P.S. The first night we got to the hotel I managed to blow the
fuse by plugging my hairdryer in. I supposedly had the proper adapter, but
obviously not. After 10 mins of trying to explain what happened to the hotel
electrician who didn't speak English or Russian (and we clearly don't speak
Czech!), they ended up calling another electrician who spoke a little English,
who fixed the electricity in 20 minutes. The hotel was kind enough to loan me
one of their hair dryers. And a big jar of hot water every night - I had to
drink hot water ("horka voda" in CZ) all the time - to keep my throat feeling
better.
P.P.P.S. People in CZ & Slovakia were just so kind to us and very very helpful.
We'll never forget them.
Day 1 & Day 2: Praha (Prague) (radio interview/performance on
89.5FM) Sun, Feb26 & Mon, Feb 27
CLICK HERE FOR PICS
We stayed in Plzen most of the nights (except for Cesky Krumlov and Skalica).
Took a train to Prague (1hr 45min) on Sunday, and were 1 minute late to catch
the train. The next one left an hour later. It almost became a problem because
we had tickets for Mozart's "Magic Flute" at the world-famous Estates Theatre in
Prague (where Mozart himself debuted "Don Giovanni" in 1787). What a great year
to see the opera (250th anniversary of Mozart's birth). Anyway. We arrived (ran)
to the theatre exactly at 1:01pm. We were so lucky they didn't start exactly on
time. After the opera, we went to see Stare Mesto (Old Town Square) and then
went on to Karluv Most (Charles Bridge) and Prazsky Hrad (Prague Castle),
including the Zlata Ulicka #22, where Franz Kafka lived when he was writing "the
Castle". No words can describe the beauty of Prague. Just walking around was a
magical experience. See the pics. It was snowing!!! Magical.
I took tons of medicine to stay semi-well.
On day 2 we took the car to Prague, met with my aunt's friends (Valya & Vlad)
who took us to dinner (great potato pancakes, beef goulash, garlic soup and
great Czech wine - Frankovka & Modry Portugal) and showed us more of Prague.
Then I had the radio interview/performance. Although the host Tomas Berka
happened to speak Russian and not much English, the interview was conducted in
Czech and translated into English for me & Nick, and then translated back into
Czech. It was fun!! It was hard to sing with a cold, but I did my best. James
(from UK) who wrote the amazing article for the Prague Post, and his friend
David came to the studio to check out my performance. Valya & Vlad stayed
too. And Jakub as well.
For more info: prague.cz
Day 3: Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) (concert at Spa 5 sal), Tues, Feb 28
CLICK HERE FOR PICS
I needed to sleep in to get better, so we didn't leave until 2pm for Karlovy
Vary. It was snowing again, and just beautiful. Karlovy Vary is a resort town
known for hot springs and has a large Russian population (for hot springs: see
the pics of the Colonnade - people just come up with a cup and drink this
naturally hot water full of sulfur. We were advised not to - it's known to mess
with your stomach if you're not used to it *laugh*). We performed at a huge &
beautiful historic spa building to a primarily Russian-speaking audience. Then
friends of the host (Jiri, Alice & Marek) took us out to dinner for a
traditional Czech meal (roast duck with bread dumplings and cabbage). They also
had me taste Becherovka,
the drink invented 200 yrs ago in Karlovy Vary and gave me a gift - a special
porcelain cup for Becherovka drinking. The host's dog, whose name was Bastard
(yes, Bastard!!!), tried to eat my gloves, and Nick had to play tug of war with
Bastard to get my gloves back. "malyi pes yist rukavitsy" - means "little dog is
eating the gloves." That is one Czech phrase I'll never forget. Then they
asked me to sing something for them on the piano, so I did "Here, There &
Everywhere" by the Beatles, and everyone sang along. For more info:
karlovyvary.cz
Day 4: Cesky Krumlov (concert at Fairytale house), Wed, Mar 1
CLICK HERE FOR PICS
Took about 3 hrs to get there from Plzen on a tiny (sometimes 1 lane) country
road. We got there, unloaded the gear, got keys to our hotel room (called
pansion - like a furnished apt) and looked out the window. And saw the devil!!
See the picture... The concert itself was across the street at the Fairytale
house/puppet museum (it was beautiful yet a little creepy, especially the attic,
where they say lives a ghost of an old woman). I have to also mention that Cesky
Krumlov is considered one the most perfectly preserved medieval towns in Europe,
with most buildings being 700-800 years old. Unbelievable. There were some
tourists at the concert so I spoke English. Afterwards, the friends of the host
took us out for dinner - for some traditional Czech food. Nick had this
incredible gypsy pasta with beef and I had some sort of goulash. Yum! I also
tried a very traditional Czech hot wine - I loved it so much, I had 2!!! They
say it's a great way to stay warm, and it's sold at every cafe/restaurant. Nick
& I took a little walk at night, the town was so quiet. Not many tourists in the
winter. In the morning Nick, Jakub & I spent 3 hrs walking in the town, met the
mayor (twice), climbed up to the castle... It was really cold, so I had my Czech
hand-knitted hat AND the hood on... I looked like to total dork. For one
picture, Nick set the camera to the timer mode so that he could run in and
join us. But, when he ran over to join us, he slipped on the ice and fell
on his butt in front of a small group of American tourists. Enjoy the pics:)
For more info: krumlov
Day 5: Skalica, Slovakia (concert at Dom Kultury), Thur, Mar 2
CLICK HERE FOR PICS
A long drive from Cesky Krumlov, about 5 hrs. Crossed the border, arrived to
town. We stayed at the hotel on the main town square and
played next door at Dom Kultury, the Culture House, where the events are
organized & promoted by the city of Skalica itself. It was an amazing vibe that
night, and I got to play a beautiful baby grand. Most people could understand
some Russian, so I spoke to the audience in Russian and did a couple of extra
Russian songs for them. I ended up playing 2 encores.
Lubos Bena, the wonderful and the
sweet host/organizer, took us out for dinner afterwards and gave us all kinds of
cool town info. I tried the typical Slovak dish - halushki. It was really cool.
In the morning we got up and walked around the main square before leaving at
10am.
The town of Skalica is over 1,000 years old with a lot of history.
Day 6: Driving through the country to Most (concert at Jazz & Blues Pub),
Fri, Mar 3
CLICK HERE FOR PICS
It wasn't a long drive - we took the main highway (and cruised along with
traffic at 85mph) - and stopped for 3 hrs in Prague for lunch and took the metro
to see Old Town & Karluv Most once more. Then the snow started to fall heavily,
and it took us 2 hrs on small country roads to get to our gig at Most. It was
beautiful but almost impossible to see the little road. Quite dangerous, we were
all a little nervous. The concert at the Pub went well, except that the venue
didn't have much ventilation and almost EVERY person was smoking. That was the
only downside to the show. My friend George, whom I met 10 yrs ago in
Springfield, IL, where we were both exchange students, came to the show and then
had dinner together.
Day 7: Plzen (concert at Hotel Continental), Sat, Mar 4
CLICK HERE FOR PICS
We woke up, walked around the city (bought a cute little blue kittie made
out of the famous Bohemian glass), climbed a very tall city tower (the tallest
in all Bohemia), tried grog (a typical CZ hot drink - mix of hot water, CZ type
of rum and lemon). Then my friend George & his girlfriend Yvonne, Tomas Berka
(from Prague radio) & his 11 yr-old son & his friend all went for a tour of the
world-famous Pilsner-Urquell Brewery. It was awesome!! Then we had dinner at the
brewery restaurant, and I had 750ml of Pilsner. I couldn't believe it myself (I
normally don't drink anything except for some wine at dinner). But I did it! All
750ml!! It was very tasty. The concert at the Hotel Continental went really
well, I played a baby grand. Some people came from Prague for this show.
Afterwards, I was so tired, I had to go get some sleep. Had to get up at 3am to
go to the airport. The trip went too fast.
For more info: plzen
ALL VIDEOS (.avi) - give them a couple of minutes
to load:
right click to save the videos
Becherovka.AVI
08-Mar-2006 14:32 4.8M
Cesky_Krumlov_at_night
08-Mar-2006 14:25 1.6M
Cesky_Krumlov_gang.AVI
08-Mar-2006 14:26 2.7M
Cesky_Krumlov_puppet
museum 08-Mar-2006 14:27 3.6M
Cesky_Krumlov_square
08-Mar-2006 14:24 3.6M
Having_fun_in_Karlovy
Vary 08-Mar-2006 14:29 4.3M
Jakub.AVI
08-Mar-2006 14:19 8.0M
Josefov.AVI
08-Mar-2006 14:35 1.3M
Karlovy_Vary_gig.AVI
08-Mar-2006 14:35 7.1M
Marina_Charles_Bridge
08-Mar-2006 14:40 852k
OLD_Town_sqare_Prague
08-Mar-2006 14:42 3.6M
Pilsner_Brewery.AVI
08-Mar-2006 14:20 675k
Pilsner_Brewery_2.AVI
08-Mar-2006 14:19 1.4M
Plzen_Train_Station.AVI
08-Mar-2006 14:42 813k
Plzen_pan.AVI
08-Mar-2006 14:22 3.5M
Plzen_tower_stairs.AVI
08-Mar-2006 14:21 2.8M
Prague_astronomical
clock 08-Mar-2006 14:37 3.7M
Prague_old_town_square
08-Mar-2006 14:38 1.6M
Prague_pan.AVI
08-Mar-2006 14:39 2.8M
St_Vitus_Cathedral_Prague
08-Mar-2006 14:40 1.7M
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