Tuesday, May 30: Czech Music Lecture, Dancing Building, Kafka Sculpture, Alcron Restaurant

May 30, 2017

It is a leisurely morning as we start our excursion to the Museum of Bedrich Smetana for a lecture on Czech music by Ourania Menelaou, a lecturer at the New York University in Prague.

We learned about the history of Czech music from the 11th century, through the progressive era of Rudolf II, Baroque in the 17th century, classic style, and Mozart and Dvorak in Prague.

The museum contains a room with unique musical stands

controlled with a magical wand from a conductor's stand.

A sculpture of Smetana sits just outside.

The museum is located along the Vltava River next to the scenic Charles Bridge.

Since we are next to the river, we take a leisurely and scenic walk along the river and come upon the "Dancing Building" designed to look like Ginger Rodgers and Fred Astaire. I am not making this up.

For lunch we pause at the National Theater which has a very beautiful interior.

Unfortunately, access to the auditorium can only be achieved during a performance and the only performances during our available time here is another opera. I think that I have a one opera limit per visit to Prague.

Yes, I am sticking with beer. We are eating light by splitting a sandwich since we are having dinner tonight in a Michelin starred restaurant.

The restaurant on the second level (third floor US) even has a cozy library

and a spiral staircase (taken from the bottom).

Late this afternoon I check another box on my list by visiting the Franz Kafka sculpture by Czech artist David Cerny.

Our dinner destination this evening is the Michelin starred Alcron Restaurant in nearby Radisson Blu Hotel.

With only around ten tables, it is an intimate experience. This evening we were the only table of four, the rest were tables of two.

The experience was unbelievable. I am at a loss for words. One could individually order from four courses to seven courses with wine pairings, of course. One of my favorite parts was the wine steward selecting and explaining each individual wine for every course.

And then there were the amuse bouches, pre-dessert, post-dessert, palate cleansers. I lost count and I am completely at a loss for words. Enjoy the food pictures. This is all from our meal. I may not have the descriptions correct.