Old Friends, New Friends, and Opera

This was Lindsey's last day in Prague and we hit the usual tourist places, joined by Kate.  First, the Charles Bridge.

Then we climbed the castle walls and posed as a couple of American tourists.

To make things interesting, we then posed as typical Russian tourists.  The Slavs are a dour people....

We toured the castle and came to realize there was a reason the Hapsburg royals chose to live in Vienna.  This place isn't heated!!  None of it!  The cathedral, the basilica, the palace....all icy cold.  Hilariously, there are three ceramic heaters in part of the palace but none are in working order.  I didn't tell Lindsey and Kate that I had put on long underwear this morning, because I was was worried about mockery.  So glad I did.

I think I could get a job in Prague as a copy editor.  I'm pretty sure this doesn't mean what they think it means.  Or if it does, I am wildly curious.

The last stop in the palace was the armory.  My peasant genes came to the fore - I picked the pitchfork as my weapon of choice.  

Following the castle complex, we met up with Kate's friend Natalie who is living in Prague with her State Department spouse.  We hit Cafe Louvre, famous for its clientele including Kafka, Einstein, and now us.  We have a lovely meal and scooted out of there to go see our last opera of the trip - Rossini's 'The Barber of Seville'.  Dropped into the St. Augustine for after-opera drinks and dessert.  Between the four of us, we are a scary well-travelled group.  Considering most Americans don't have passports (I think I read the statistic that only 20% have them), every one in this crew has lived abroad in multiple countries and travelled in many more.  I now have a goal - 40 by 40.  I should be at 36 by March, so I'll have to get a bit creative before my birthday.  It's doable.

Kate P., Lucy Z., Lindsey H., and Natalie S.