Střižovický vrch

 We did a trip to Střižovický vrch and passed Mariánský bridge, the symbol of Ústí nad Labem.

There is a spring on Střižovický vrch with a model of ruins of local castle Střekov.

Lilies are rare in Europe, this is I think the only species that grows naturally in the Czech republic, Lilium martagon. We were lucky to see it, it's rare. Today I saw it for the very first time in my life.

Home we rewarded ourselves with svíčková. Together with "vepřo-knedlo-zelo" (pork, dumplings and sauerkraut) this is considered to be the Czech national meal. It's cream sauce served with sliced dumplings, beef (originally it should be sirloin) and  cranberries. Yum!

And banana shake as a dessert.

Last few days

Me, Aussie and my friend attended an event dedicated to Russian cuisine. There were the Russian teaching us how to make some of their traditional meals, there was also some Russian music and a short talking about Moscow.

Aussie's own "pirozhok" stuffed with seasoned meat. 

 Borscht.

This guy was hilarious. He was very talkative and when he wasn't singing and playing Russian folk songs he was wandering around and showing everybody his magic tricks :D

This is so called "herring under a fur coat". Something I don't need to eat again in future. It's salt herring covered with numerous layers of boiled vegetables and mayonaisse. 

Look who Aussie found home :)

We also visited my grandparents for a day. They live in Vilémov, a village in which I spent a large part of my childhood.

This is the old graveyard. Vilémov is located near the German border so mainly Germans lie there. Most of the tombstones are so old it's impossible to read them.

This is the "miraculous spring" in Vilémov. The legend says that in 1646 two angels said to girl Anna who was ill that the water from this spring would heal her and it really did. Nowadays the water is slightly radioactive.

Grandma's garden.

And our half portrait in the old little cottage where I experienced many adventures as a child.

Lazy afternoon at the countryside.

Kleopatra

I sneaked Aussie to the performance of original Czech musical Kleopatra althought he didn't have a ticket- it was worth! :)
I first saw this musical as a little girl and loved it since then. It was also the first impulse that made me fond of ancient Roman history. I can sing all the songs by heart. Years ago they stopped playing it in the Prague theatre but now they play it in various cities in the republic outdoors. That was a great chance for me to see it again.
The cast has changed, in my opinion it's now much worse than it used to be- however the only actor who stayed in his role (Octavian Augustus) is my most favourite one so I was satisfied.

Waiting...

 

My favourite scene in the senate. I love togas. Men look so dignified in them!

This is the most popular song from the musical. It's Cleopatra's triumph when she became the queen of Egypt. I don't like it so much, maybe because I've heard it like for a milion times. When the musical came out this song was on the radio whenever you'd turn it on...

(Note the bald guy, my favourite character! :))

Oh, and enjoy our beautiful unpronounceable language! :)

The scene with angry Ptolemaios promising revenge to Caesar :) The part "nesnese se se sestrou" is an actual sentence, famous for how it sounds. It means "he can't stand his sister".

1 AM, coming back home by the red church.

Science fair

We went to Brno (Southern Moravia) fro three days to present my research on roundworms contamination. It was a great event, the most important competition for young scientists in the country, however I didn't have time to take photos :( The original plan was to spend in Brno 2 more days and use them to see the interesting places of Southern Moravia, but my cousin at whom we were supposed to live cancelled it.
We lived in a hotel in the university part of the city. What's better than a fresh pair of towels with a little cute soap after a whole-day journey by bus?

The view from the balcony:

It was pretty hard to orient ourselves- accommodation, breakfasts, lunches + dinners, conferences, ceremonials, excursions... each of them in different buildings. I get lost easily but luckily Aussie was there to help :)

We learnt a lot from the other projects and researches and especially from the conferences. We also visited a greenhouse collection of orchids.

My project won the 8th place which means I definitely should be accepted to the Charles University (so much relief!) and I got a new microscope. We only tried it quickly yet. It's the first light microscope I've ever used that has a display instead of an eyepiece. It's not very good but sufficient for using at home for some easy biology fun :)

Francouzský večer/ Le soir français/ The French Evening

Still exhausted from the long double journey to Prague we almost immediately headed to the museum.
At the moment there is a festival in Ústí nad Labem called "Napoleonské slavnosti" (Napoleonic Celebrations). That's because at the nearby village- Chlumec- took place one of the most important Napoleonic battles, Battle of Kulm (Kulm is the foreing name for Chlumec which is otherwise unpronounceable for most of the foreigners). That was in 1813 so we are now celebrating 200 years anniversary of this important event of European history.
The festival will take place whole month. Each week is dedicated to one of the nations who fought in this battle- there was the German week, now we are in the middle of the French week, then there will be the Russian and the Austrian ones.  
 Aussie pretending he's a soldier. Looks quite real, doesn't it?

The main theme of these celebrations is Napoleon and the mentioned battle but the events- lectures, courses, concerts etc.- are dedicated to the four nations and countries in general.
Today in the museum café took place an event arranged by my (now ex) school- a cultural evening with French poetry, music and some interesting facts about France and its culture. I didn't expect it to be so good as it was!

 See me there? I actually went there just because I was asked to recite Prévert's Déjeuner du Matin- and I'm glad I did!

This young lady sang some songs by Edith Piaf- Padam, Mon Dieu and of course Rien de Rien. She was great and her voice was so strong it made everything vibrate :D
It isn't so intense but I made a short video (there's about a half of Mon Dieu and whole Rien de Rien):

 

Prague II

We went there again, for the second part of the exams.

In train, 5 AM to be there in time :)

Yesterday Aussie saw the famous statue of St Wenceslas and today I took him to see the newer one in Lucerna Palace. This art nouveau place is used for many social events, concerts etc., there are also many cafés and restaurants. The statue was made as a parody by David Černý who is notorious for creating Entropa. I personally don't like it much but many people who like controversial art do.

In Prague for a while

We spent a few hours in Prague because I had the entrance exams for the Charles University there. We didn't have much time but Aussie saw at least the Wenceslas sqaure. You can see the national museum in the background. In front of it is a large statue of Saint Wenceslas (kníže Václav). He lived in the 10th century and became the patron of Czech lands. It's a pity you can't smell the picture- the flowers had such sweet aroma!

And we stopped in the largest Prague bookshop because it's the only place I know where are sold many Czech books in English. Aussie bought himself a book- they didn't have the one I wanted for him (R.U.R., the play where was the word "robot" used for the very first time, and also the book I drew in my maturita exam :)) but we picked another cool one, a very Slavonic and very Czech classic with classical illustrations :) A little teaser:

It will be dark and maybe a bit scary, but good read ;)

Ústí pod Labem

The name of our city- Ústí nad Labem- means literally "Mouth upon Labe" (Labe is in the rest of Europe known as Elbe). We have a flood here right now, which hit most of Bohemia but in Ústí nad Labem it's the worst, so the rest of the republic makes fun of us and calls our city "Ústí pod Labem" (Mouth under Labe). We live on a cliff called Mariánská skála so the flood didn't affect us (except the fact that it's not possible to use many services and to travel easily).
So today I took Aussie with me to the top of the cliff to see the flood from above. It's usually empty there but today there were loads of people who wanted to see the river too.
On our way we passed the ZOO, which is technically our neighbour :)

We crossed the nearby meadow...

And I showed Aussie local phonolite quarry.

Nice colour of the water, eh? :)

The yellow building in the background is chateau Větruše. I plan to take Aussie there soon. Maybe if the river gets a little bit higher we can swim there. And at the right edge of this picture you can't see the trailway station because it's under the water. From there I'm soon supposed to go to Prague to my University entrance exams. Wish us luck so we get there at all... :(

Our city on BBC from about 00:35: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22750897