Prague is a very cultural city: there is always something happening in any immaginable art field. However in some of them there's the language barrier which is totally understandable obviously. My basic Czech skills aren't of much use when attempting to see a play for instance.
There are fortunately some very good workarounds: I discovered here the non verbal theatre which can be fascinating really as I've already seen two such shows - it emphasises how speech is merely one of the many forms of communication, many times not necessarily the best one.
The second workaround is actually proper theatre in English. Thanks to the large expat community in Prague and to the people who care about their theatrical cravings, there is the Fringe festival every year for 8 or 9 years now.
And since i have a weakness for theatre I fully profited from this veritable 'theatre season' and saw 7 performances, some better than others. If you read till here you might be wondering about the title - well here it is: I saw a really good performance of George Orwell tonight, he was telling the audience stories from his life 'through' a really good actor who spoke at an alarming pace which really kept me attentive for the full hour and a half.
Apart from reading 1984 which is a chilling experience and an mind opener in respect to world politics I didn't really know much about him. Turns out he was a very interesting character, an idealist escaping from life's unfairness in his work. A thing he failed to mention in tonight's performance however - quite unforgivable for an Englishman trying to set the world on the proper course - was how to make proper tea!
Tori Amos has a new album only 2 years following her previous one and more excitingly, she's on tour again visiting Prague. I can't wait to see her again!
You can listen to her new album on we7. For me it happends that initially her songs don't get to me that much (maybe also because the lyrics are hard to understand) but after listening to them a few more times, I really become addicted to some of them! I guess it's just the same with people, it takes time to start apreciating the ones who really matter.
Enjoy and really, do go and see her if she comes on tour somewhere near you. She's the one of the best live acts (if not the best!) i've seen so far!
I was very nicely surprised when i heard that my county will represent Romania at the European Regions' festival called Taste Europe that was organized in Prague as part of a summit related to the Czech EU presidency.
They had a really nice stand at Mustek, decorated with traditional handcrafted quilts, wooden masks and icons. The hosts were also dressed in what i believe is the local traditional costume (each region has one specific costume). To my shame, I am not really a connaiseur of folklore dress etiquette so i couldn't really say if it was authentic or not but it sure looked very nice.
They were present there for only two days, leaving before the weekend so even if I'm not a hardcore folklore fan, as i said earlier, i still sacrificed my lunch break to attend a concert from 'Tara Vrancei', a local folklore group who put on a very nice live representation.
It was almost surreal to meet these people from my hometown's local administration and have a chat with them about how things are going back home, how some really good wines are totally unpromoted abroad but how at least they could bring some to give a taste to praguers.
They also had this delicious smoked cheese called cascaval(from italian caciocavallo) which is prepared by the villagers in the mountains and shaped in nice artistic wooden casts.
Vrancea is a very culturally rich area where people have kept old rituals and crafts but it's unfortunately very little known even to the locals (myself included) due to poor or nonexistent promovation. It's sad to see that even the historically flourishing vineyards are slowly degrading and badly managed. It's also a bit embarrassing for me that I've visited quite a few places in Europe but have seen little of my own small county. I'm planning to set out to the wild and remote Vrancea sometime in a future holiday.
But all in all, their presence in Prague was enchanting an very well set. Despite being a legendary set for a definitory and rather fatalist Romanian pastoral lyrism and also the epicenter of earthquakes in the country, Vrancea's people are joyous through their lively music, colourful costumes and probably, most important, the delicious wines.
You can find some more photos on my picasa album here.
"Ring the bells that still can ringTo visit Prague:
Or Bucharest:
And I thought these places are geographically kinda close, sheeeesh...
As of this evening, after almost 21 moths of outrageous monstrous behavior, officially I'm not a monster anymore! yeeey!
Well, I hope it's gonna be a yeeey at my new work place: Barclays Capital!
They've just opened a dev office in Prague and I'm gonna give it a try!
Prague spring, music festival that is, quite a famous festival of classical music here in CR and among connaiseurs worldwide. Of course, not given much credit by young people, international media or such other things, since last time i read the tabloids, P Diddy didn't take on playing the flute.
I've been last night to one of the many concerts in the beautiful Prague Municipal House, after a good tip from my colleague Ioan (yep, from Romania, Ion Creanga's home actually :) ). As usual, many fancy dressed people mostly overaged, but also quite a bunch of youngsters. While I personally don't understand why all the fuss for a music concert, I'm sad to see that this music isn't given much credit by the young people, as I noted in the beginning. The very classical bits can be indeed a bit obsolete, but I've heard a very modern piece by Wojciech Kilar, a Polish contemporary composer.
Here's a very impressive fragment of Orawa:
Honestly, I was quite impressed and I'm not a fan of symphonic orchestras in particular. For such kind of modern works, I'd definitely go more often.
When was the last time you've been to a live symphonic orchestra?
Chiar daca natura n-a fost prea darnica cu darul masculinitatii facandu-te o reprezentanta a sexului slab, nimic nu este pierdut, nu trebuie decat sa fi participat la evenimentul de dans sportiv organizat de World Class Gym si mustata obtinuta cu atatea sacrificii va fi pusa in valoare cu maiestrie de catre cele mai prestigioase produse cosmetice cu coenzima XY dedicate unei mustati mai fine, mai stralucitoare, mai unduitoare.
Dupa cum bine stiti, o mustata sanatoasa in stil Ghingis-Han, este dovada incontestabila a unei tinere independente, avand deplina incredere de sine si fiind o exponenta emblematica a ideii de girl power, care prin exercitii asidue si costisitoare cel putin energetic (o luna de abonament la world class costa cam 60 euro - noroc ca subventioneaza monster...) reuseste cu succes sa-si puna in valoare testosteronul latent si sa dovedeasca tuturor misoginilor adevaratul simbol de egalitate dintre barbati si femei.
Sper sa nu fi luat foarte in serios pe seama acestei erori abominabile de design si sa nu inhib pe nimeni in a-si undui mustata pe cele mai nebune ritmuri de dans si de-acum incolo :)
Happy dancing :)
Today at 17:10 in the busy metro station 'Muzeum' in Prague, there was a 1 minute moment of coordinated 'freezing' for which I took a 20 min break from work to see :)
I would have expected something similar to the NY Grand Central station freezing but this is what came out instead:
There were too many people who took part in the event so anyone could hardly move through the station but the interesting effect was, that through all the noise an agitation of an overly crowded metro hallway, all of a sudden, the majority of people made complete silence and stood still while a few confused 'outsiders' wondered what the hell was going on.
I'm somewhat proud of having overheard the following conversation (in Czech, of course) between two elderly women that had no idea what was going on:
woman1 (towards shop assistant): what's going on here?
shopAssistant: ... (totally into the experiment)
woman1 (puzzled, towards woman2): i just want to go to the metro, are you going to the metro as well ?(asked as if expecting an important confirmation that she still had a grip on reality)
woman2 : yes, sure, i'm going to the metro.
woman1: sigh of relief (i made this last one up)
It's amazing how so many people made their way to this apparently trivial and meaningless event and took it so seriously. If only other causes would have the same impact...
And to finish, the event coincided with a larger Prague and Czech Republic, actually, Central Europe, freezing. No, not the people(unless forgotten outside) but the weather. It snowed as if X-mas Sunday is coming, not Easter. And yes, now it's freezing: -1 Celsius.
Here's another video (first was made by me) that shows the whole atmosphere better:
And, as expected, it's also in the news.
Chiar daca pentru Cehi (mai ales cei tineri) religia nu are un rol important (40% sunt atei, cam la egalitate cu procentul de catolici), Mos Nicolae sau Mikulash cum ii zic cehii, este celebrat cu mare fast, dupa cum urmeaza sa va exemplific prin imagini graitoare.
Traditia consemneaza ca 'patrule' formate din 3 personaje: Mikulas, Ingerul si dracu sa colinde strazile pentru a 'ancheta' copiii in legatura cu faptele pe care le-au facut in anul trecut. Daca copii sunt smecheri sinceri si il prostesc conving pe Sfant ca au facut numai fapte bune, primesc dulciuri din desaga mosului, daca nu, ii da pe mana lui scaraotchi care ii baga in lichituri* mai ales daca poarta costume realiste ca cel de mai jos:
Multa lume, agitatie mare cu Mikulasii, care mai de care costumat mai fistichiu, totul in arome de carnati, vin fiert, colaci secuiesti cam la o treime ca marime fata de cei din ro, care costa 2 euro, trasuri cu cai facandu-si cu greu loc prin multime si totusi o atmosfera destinsa, lumea vesela, aer de sarbatoare.
In comparatie cu Craciunul (care pare mult mai anost sarbatorit), Sf Nicolae este cam principala atractie a sarbatorilor de iarna la Cehi, ceea ce-mi aduce aminte de faptul ca desi, noi n-avem Mikulas, avem in schimb obiceiurile noastre fermecatoare cu colinde care ar stoarce o lacrima si lui mr Burns, capra si ursul care pentru niste copii mici pot fi la fel de grotesti ca sarsaila de mai sus. Carevasazica nu ducem lipsa dom'le de sarbatori fericiti :)
Iaca si un slaidşou (de vazut cu captions on)
Si sa nu fiti cumva tentati sa credeti ca o spiridusa e neaparat gingasa si fermecatoare, nuuu... spiridusele pot fi surprinzatoare prin grotesc, luand chipuri neintelese din lumea lor care ne pot speria sau coplesi, incantandu-ne simturile in egala masura. Spiridusele traiesc mai mult decat oamenii si de sub aparenta fragilitate te pot deruta complet prin experienta dobandita atata timp pe care si-o destainuie criptic in simboluri si poezie. Iti gadila imaginatia si te trec fara menajamente prin toata gama de sentimente la care poti rezona.
Si cand mai exista si un pian care pare sa aiba o vointa proprie, desi nu este decat un fel de alter-ego al spiridusei lucrurile scapa total din control si brusc te trezesti cu implanturi de coarde de pian in urechi, doar pentru cateva ore .
Bineinteles, pentru fiecare este diferit as zice, pentru mine cam asa a fost, in masura in care am reusit sa descriu in cuvinte, concertul lui Tori Amos la care am fost aseara.
A fost total remarcabil si intens, 2 ore si jumatate de melodii consacrate presarate cu melodii de pe noul album, trecand de la piese exclusive de pian la dezlantuiri aproape halucinante de rock ale trupei de 3 oameni foarte talentati.
Luminile si sunetul au fost formidabile, iar una din performantele care m-au impresionat cel mai tare a fost a lui Tori care canta simultan la pian, pianina(armonica? oare asa se cheama?) si voce. Cred ca daca mai avea vreo mana sigur o folosea la un alt instrument...
Un moment foarte intens, mai ales pentru cehi as zice, a fost la piesa Velvet Revolution de pe ultimul album in care, pe langa versurile melodiei, a improvizat foarte mult pe tema eliberarii de sub comunism ca si simbol al libertatii de opinie din care retin cu aproximatie urmatoarele versuri: "5000 miles from here there are people that want to be like you - in 1989" si "1000 years from now, all this will be a fairytale with princesses standing on charles bridge in 1989". Sunt curios daca o sa adapteze tema si in Bucuresti...
Deci in concluzie, oriunde ati fi, nu ratati un concert Tori Amos, iar cei din Ro, nu-l ratati pe cel din iulie, merita fiecare ban :)
Click aici pentru a va deschide putin gustul, tocmai am gasit linkul asta.
A, si in deschidere a cantat foarte fain un tip gen Damien Rice asa. Am uitat cum il cheama din pacate.
Enjoy!
Since it's been quite some time since my last post I'll be mixing some of the events that just happened in some kind of wintery tale which is actually not so wintery (it rained a lot these days).
For you own good I'll split it into smaller chapters so that it's easier to digest.
Part I - za bighining
Being my first x-mas without my family and also in another country I expected I'd get less into the atmosphere but actually it turned out to be quite nice. It all started with the x-mas decorations from Ikea, very nice and cheap. Having the decorations we had no excuse for not getting a x-mas tree. In the search for the tree we ran into some guys that were also selling the traditional x-mas meal to-be: the wonderful carp! They were selling it right next to the x-mas trees so there was a high chance we'd get a slightly different smell than we would expect in our living room. We found then another place where me and Raluca got a really nice one. They were nice enough to chop the bottom to fit in the support as well and nicely wrapped it in a net. The tree was a hit! It's still vigorously pointing its branches towards the ceiling.
Then there came the visitors, 10ks of maize flour for the long craved 'mamaliga' which will last probably the whole year, fried home-made sausages in lard, hard-core sheep cheese, smoked cheese, 'belly' cheese and all other kinds of such romanian x-mas delicacies. And what would x-mas be without the magnificent sarmale? Well we had to make them so they brought the appropriate leaves :D and they turned out to be delicious. For those of you whose mouths are already watering as you're reading, I apologize but I really felt like sharing this . To the others, well you've either had them recently or you don't know what the f**k i'm writing about in which case you need to come to Romania :D
So having ended the food paragraph, I'm moving on to the x-mas morning. We had nice presents under the tree in the morning and then we had lunch again which was thoroughly quenched by Jidvei, Cotnari and such other kinds of Romanian wine :p
Having ended the drinking paragraph (for now), I'll get to the next days in the next post.
Isn't it ironic, don't u see...
It's like having a tram pass for two months
And never get checked.
Forget it once because of changing coats
And you're fucked.
Les controleurs...
The good thing in all this story is i got away with it eventually. The guy knew a bit of English, I tried explaining it was at home and I could get it for him, and that I had no id whatsoever.
Still he called a policeman in the station who didn't know any English, so I got as expressive as I could trying to show him I had nothing in my pockets and stuff. He probably thought of the trouble I would put him through if he were to take me to the Police (and about losing the morning dough nuts and coffee?)
Anyway, unlike in Iasi for example, I heard that here u only pay a small amount of money if you have a subscription but you don't have it with you, it's like 50CZK if you show it afterwards (cinzej'de mii) and also the controleurs seem to have kind of a human side. Anyway I still have a couple of unpaid fines in Iasi for similar things, so I refresh my message for those obtuse brutes: 'Screw you', the tram is also way much better and smoother here even though they look the same. I guess it's the tracks that matter, alllooooo primariaaaaaaaa Iasi, trezireeeeeaaaa...
Okay, mind that last part...
So I guess it's a lucky day after all, or I'd better see how it goes from now on.
Cheers!
Hello again :)
It's been a while since i blogged and this is a good occasion to start this good habit again.
It's almost a week since I arrived to the Czech Republic, Prague to be more precise, as you probably noticed in the entry title. Haven't had Internet access from home so I'm 'abusing' the brand new computer I have at work* on my first day at Monster , world's biggest job site
Getting here was quite adventurous as I took Atlassib for the trip which is the WORST thing u can travel with. Last year I also used it, was bad but not as bad as this time, so I'm never gonna use it again. Anyway, there were all these 'damaged' people travelling to Prague drinking in all the stations and wearing deodorant 'au naturel'. After a few hours and during the breaks of the air conditioning you don't wanna know how the 'breeze' blew.
