neonazis on the way to the opera.

Loyal readers!

The week has been going very well... Reading a lot of Kundera for one of my classes, but I'm discovering that I actually like him- who'd have thunk it? Amazingly enough, I'm still on a strange sleeping schedule from my over-night bus from Berlin and that whole sleeping-8-hours-in-the-middle-of-the-day-thing. But I need to get to sleep soon, as I'm leaving for Budapest at 5am tomorrow! But, more on that in a moment... Back to our regularly scheduled broadcast.

If you know me, you know how much I adore opera. I know, it's strange that a 20 year old, motorcycle riding, amateur welding, toddler nannying chica such a myself would be so enamored with this dying artform, but I truly can't help it! And tonight, well- tonight was Carmen. The crown jewel of Maria Callas' stunning career, Carmen- one of the most famous and beloved operas ever written. I am not in anyway immune to this craze, so when I discovered my program was taking us to see it, I made sure 2 months in advance that NOTHING would stop me from being there.
So I head from class to the opera house, and what do I see but a large group of what appears to be protesters being escorted by police toward Old Town Square, chanting at the top of their lungs. At first I thought- how cool that they can protest here now, without communism or people telling them no. But later I discovered from an acquintnace who speaks fluent Czech that they were shouting "clean our people".
Wait- what?
Yep, they were Neo-Nazis. On the way to the opera.
Just proves that for everything good in the world, there are equally appalling counterparts- we just rarely see them at the same time.

But, I did not let it ruin my anticipation for the opera- my hopes were high for the performance, and I was still elated to be going.
I wasn't dissapointed. The lead's voice was no Maria Callas, but she still embodied the role seamlessly. The stage design was gorgeous and very well setup, one set for the whole performance- and speaking from the perspective of someone who has taken theatre design, that's no easy task. The costumes were very well done, classic Spanish garb with a hint of contemporary flair. The whole thing was wonderful..
I couldn't stop myself from humming along very softly the majority of the performance... But no one gave me any dirty looks, so that makes it alright! And I would also be ever so remiss if I didn't admit that I've been listening (and singing along) to the music all week, because I was so enthralled with the idea of going.
It was an amazing experience, and I hope to rememeber it the rest of my life.

And now that I've spilled my guts about opera and exposed one of my very girly traits, we can move on :)

I'm headed to Budapest, Hungary in the morning. A city full of markets, turkish baths, and yet another castle on a hill. My fellow travelers are Rakel and Katie, both who are just a little bit older (and therefore inherently wiser, right?) than others I've traveled with. I'm excited about that, because I know I won't have to 'mother' them.

There will be memories, and oh so many pictures!

But for now, bed- early wake up to catch the bus.

Cheers,

Erin