pennywise, poundfoolish

Sonia Prina sings Cara sposa from Handel's Rinaldo

   Sometimes Scrooges don't know when to leave the counting house I fear.

        Since Prague is such a walkable city we had become accustomed to getting around town either on foot (mostly) or using the trams and the metro for a very reasonable monthly pass fee. Of course that was before I broke my leg. Old habits die hard, however, and unrealistic expectations about the rapidity of recovery from a broken leg cloud your judgement I reckon.

techie explaining the mysteries
of a smart phone

        I had been stuck in our apartment due to a string of bad weather days that left the streets treacherously slippery with ice and snow. Our son came down for the weekend from London in the midst of this. I had planned to go out for dinner, at least, since I couldn't possibly walk enough to see the sights, which he and road buddy would do together. But the conditions on the streets were too dangerous for me to go out at all and we all ended up doing take out here at the apartment. Something of a lost weekend for me, although it was good to spend some time with my son.

Rudofinum auditorium

        The streets and sidewalks were finally safe enough for me to try walking on them. I also wanted to try getting on a tram. There are different kinds and vintages of trams here in Prague. The newest ones are handicapped friendly in that they are low to the ground and an easy step up to the car. The older ones have three steep steps getting to the floor of the tram—very challenging for a recent broken leg. We were planning to go to a Baroque Ensemble concert at the Rudolfinum concert hall and took the tram for a practice run in the early afternoon. In the end I decided it would be better to go by taxi at night.

Sonia Prina singing an encore

        We called a taxi for 6:30 p.m. which picked us up at the front door and drove us to the Rudolfinum. The concert was excellent and the Italian alto soloist, Sonia Prina, was spectacular doing the agitata (agitated) style typical of Baroque composers such as Handel and Vivaldi. She sang a beautiful rendition of Cara sposa (Beloved wife) from Handel's Rinaldo. I found a recording of it on YouTube. [See link above]

        We had planned to take a taxi back to our apartment, but there was only one unmetered taxi which tend to cost two to three times as much as a metered one. I felt confident enough to try a tram, so we walked to the tram stop. There were no handicapped trams listed on the board and I was too impatient to wait for the next one so I stupidly decided to climb the three steps on an older car. Halfway up, the door that I was holding on to started to close and I lost my step and balance but managed to grab onto a pole for support, when a couple of very kind and concerned gentlemen helped me get back on my feet and to a seat, but I was rather shaken and still had to alight from the tram on the same high steps at our destination stop. I stood with with some trepidation and moved over to the door when the tram stopped. One of the same gentlemen, clearly concerned, helped me down the steps. People can still be good Samaritans it seems, although, if you go by the latest crop of Hollywood flicks since 911, the whole messed up world is in revenge mode. I guess it brings in big box office.