Culture Weekend - Part Dva!!

Saturday morning we slept in a little, then crept around quietly as we got ready, to not wake the other gals in the flat, who had both been up late!  We had errands to run, so we headed out for a couple of hours before lunch.  Our church back home - Immanuel Lutheran in Waukee - had contacted us in December about supporting our mission here with funds to purchase needed items for our school here.  We were unable to find all of the specific items we had in mind here in Liptovsky Mikuláš, but we had better success in Bratislava.  The big item was a large paper-cutter!!  We've never taught in a school without one before, and our colleagues here think it will be a big help.  There were a number of other items we picked up at the larger office supply store in the big city too.  :-)   THANKS, ILC!!!  :-)   

We don't really know much about these statues or the buildings in the background, but we went by them on the pedestrian mall.  

This is a beautiful Catholic church across from the Tesco where we shopped.  It was awesome hearing the bells pealing from this church and many others at noon!

The door was ajar, so we went inside the church - it was very ornate, but unfortunately, the i-touch doesn't take very clear indoor photos in dim light, so you can't see much detail.  Sorry!

We did a little wandering around, and found this square, which we saw on our walking tour of Bratislava back in August.   :-)  

Story time now ......  as we we were walking around downtown, we randomly ran into Kathleen, our hostess for the pot-luck Friday night.  She had volunteered for some project in the morning, and when the volunteers left, they were each given a bag of food and instructions to give it to a hungry homeless person.  It was raining, and she needed to do some other things, so she asked us to carry out her "mission", and we agreed.  Well, since it was raining, there weren't exactly homeless people sitting around outside all over - HA!  We didn't know where to look, but headed back towards Katie's flat.  After walking about 50 meters, we were approached (for the first time ever since we have been in Slovakia) by a man who looked quite bedraggled, holding out a 20-cent piece and obviously begging us for money.  After my initial surprise, I just smiled, reached into the bag, and handed the man a large baguette sandwich and some cookies.  He thanked us profusely, tucked the cookies into his pocket, and immediately began chowing down on the sandwich.  Wow - we were amazed!!  God evidently had that all planned!!  So the rest of the way to Katie's I kept looking for someone else to receive the two large cinnamon rolls in the bottom of the bag, but there was no one around.  So I kept the plastic wrapped tightly to keep the rolls fresh, and carried them around everywhere we went!  

We finally headed back to the flat, took Katie out for lunch, met up with Ben, another teacher in the program, then went back to change clothes for the opera.   

Waiting for the bus to the opera with Cathy and Bill  --- and the Bratislava Castle up on the hill.   :-)

Before the opera, we decided to have supper near the opera house, which is right by this huge, really modern shopping mall.  

Another side of the mall - it was quite impressive, and right along the banks of the Danube River, so quite scenic as well.  

We found the coolest restaurant for supper -- it was actually a free-standing, glassed-in structure out between the mall and the Danube, with beautiful views of the pedestrian area along the river and overlooking the river itself.  Very romantic!!  We both had French onion soup and quiche, which were delicious!  

We took our seats early in the ultra-modern opera house.  What a contrast with the Baroque symphony hall Friday night!!  Both venues were really impressive, and acoustics were terrific.  

The orchestra pit before the curtain opened.  We saw Verdi's "La Traviata", which I'd never seen, and it was spectacular!!  

Ooops - I happened to snap a picture of the stage accidentally during the first act, before I read in the program at intermission that photos were prohibited.  ;-)  The costumes and set were breath-taking, and the singing and acting were fabulous!!  

In the opera house lobby during the first intermission.  Again, everyone else was super dressed up, and we enjoyed people- and outfit-watching!

The Fredells - thanks for arranging all the tickets for our cultural weekend in Bratislava!!  :-)  

After the opera, the Fredells invited us back to their flat for a cup of tea.  On the way there, we walked near St. Micheal's Gate and the entrance to Old Town, and there was one guy sitting on the pavement with his hat out for people to throw coins in.  So, I finally found the recipient for those two cinnamon rolls!!  God is so good!  This guy thanked me at first, but then when he opened the bag and took a bite, he really seemed very pleased, thanking me even more enthusiastically.  Kathleen's mission accomplished!   :-)   

Sunday morning we got to church a little early, and the small choir - 4 gals - was rehearsing.  So I was immediately conscripted to join them, which I was happy to do.  We sang an anthem during offertory, and the responsorial psalm.  The church was packed, it was Pastor Miriam's first Sunday back after her maternity leave, and it was a wonderful service.   

After church we went to the fellowship time, then went back to change, pack, and head for the train station.  We ended up having a little over an hour before the next train, so we enjoyed a pizza for lunch at a tiny restaurant right next to the station.  

The little pizza restaurant near the train station.  

Our 4-hour train ride was relaxing, though we did finally experience the reason some Slovaks complain about their ancient train cars.  Our car was REALLY old and fairly decrepit.  The window in our compartment would randomly open and close when we hit bumps sometimes, and the window in the aisle outside would just stay open, so it was quite drafty and chilly.  It was pretty rattly and noisy too.  Oh well - another adventure!  HA!  

Sunday night involved laundry and skyping, as you might expect.  :-)  We did NOT stay up to find out who won the Super Bowl, though I was sad to miss all the commercials, and getting together to eat food and have fun watching.  Now if the Green Bay Packers had been playing, that would have been another story!!