Bertramka, Mozart, Swans, and the Louvre

On Thursday I went to Bertramka with Julie and Ondine. What is Bertramka, you may be wondering? It is the name of the villa in Prague where Mozart stayed when he visited. And he visited a lot. Prague apparently adored Mozart; his music was always very well received here. No wonder he kept coming back!

Bertramka was owned by some friends of Mozart, the Duseks. When Mozart was alive, the house would have been outside the city but now it is right by a very busy shopping center near Andel. Here is the villa.

Now it is a Mozart-in-Prague museum, but unfortunately the museum is closing in October. From what the man at the desk said, the house has been sold and the new owner is going to do something different with it.

But it is not closed yet! We wandered around the small rooms, decorated as they were in Mozart's time. I do not know much about Wolfgang, but it was neat to be in the room where he composed, and to see various letters and programs. The museum focuses on the music and operas that Mozart created in Prague and for Prague, and on his stay in the city. So there are letters about him and the music, and pages of sheet music, and images of Prague as it looked when he was here. Pretty cool. I did miss my little musical sister, as she could have helped me make sense of it all.

It is a small museum but the house and the gardens are very well-kept and peaceful.

Mr. Mozart in the garden:

They still have concerts and other events at Bertramka. The concert hall was through those French doors. Ondine is French, so naturally I made a stupid comment about how the doors are French, and "so is Ondine!" Oh, terribly clever.

Enough cultural improvement for the day. We had a delicious lunch at Jama, a burger place with Rolling Stone magazines and Bob Marley posters all over the walls.

On Friday we rode a swan

boat.

Julie and I took a paddle boat out on the river about 6 weeks ago, but this time we took a swan boat. Ondine and Julie paddled and I sat on the back, clutching my backpack. I had spent the morning at Starbucks using their wireless internet, so I had my laptop with me for the rest of the day. Pretty stupid for me to take it on the boat, but I didn't have any other options. We did not capsize.

Here is Julie and the swan head.

It is so fun to paddle about on the river. I highly recommend it. I had my handy Prague map and was able to situate myself on the river because I had several bridges, the National Theater, Prague Castle, and some islands as landmarks. Even I could do that.

I love this next picture. Julie took it. Self-portraits never turn out well when I take them, but this one sure came out great!

After our watery adventure we walked to Cafe Louvre, a fancy cafe with killer hot chocolate and cakes. The cafe was started in 1910 and has a lovely inside with dark pink and cream walls and mirrors and elegant furnishings. It did feel a bit Parisian. I had the hot chocolate--so thick you had to use a spoon--and a fresh waffle with ice cream. Yum.

I had to scurry to catch the last bus home--a 7:00 one. As a girl who is used to driving herself on those good 'ol American highways, having to depend on infrequent (and early!) buses to get home is rather frustrating. But I am trying to adapt.

In the next installment--I take you to the church of human bones...get ready.