Night on the Town

Last Friday we used some of our Christmas money for a night on the town, including some culture. We decided to go to a concert at the Rudolfinum, the home of the Czech Philharmonic. It's a beautiful building, obviously constructed to be a first-class concert hall, and with a great location on the Vltava River. From the little square in front of the hall you can look straight across the river at Prague Castle.
The Philharmonic performed three pieces that night: "Prelude to an Afternoon with a Faun" by Debussy and "Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra" and "Symphony in D Minor", both by Cesar Franck. The Debussy piece, which opened the performance, was my personal favourite, although all three were very good. "Symphonic Variations" had a guest piano soloist, Masako Ekazi, who was outstanding. Chelsey and I were sitting in the balcony along the side of the theatre in a great position to watch her fingers as she played. She was so quick and so precise that it was difficult to follow her fingers - she seemed to be playing more keys at once than should be possible.
After the concert we walked through Old Town for dinner at an Afghan restaurant. It was delicious. I had a dish called mantu, which was meat-stuffed pastries. I couldn't get enough. Chelsey had a curry dish, which she also really enjoyed. It was closer to Indian curry than Thai curry, perhaps not surprisingly. The only part of the meal that was less-than-stellar was my drink, "dogh". It is a yogurt drink with cucumber and salt. I thought it was interesting so I gave it a try. It wasn't terrible, but it probably won't rate another order.
-Jason