Recap and roundup

So I rang in my 27th year last Friday night here in Praha. Beth had planned a multi-component party excursion in my honor, and it couldn't have been better! We started off with pizza from Lucky Luciano's (by far the best Italian in Prague, as far as I'm concerned) then headed out to the Letenske Sady Beer Garden, where we met up with Kelly, Mellisa, Scott, Molly, Nick, Jo and Jules. We didn't have much time to linger here, as we had to buy tickets for component #2...

...which was the nighttime fountain show at Krizikova in Holesovice, which is something I'd been wanting to check out for some time! Farrah and Jennifer (who'd taken me out for lunch at Radhost - yum) met up with us here. It's basically like a mini-version of the Bellagio's choreographed fountains, but featuring out-of-date American music (think early-to-mid '90s hits, along the lines of Aerosmith and Celine Dion). By far, the best part was the "Titanic" section, which featured the orchestral score and "My Heart Will Go On," WITH Kate & Leo's dialogue played in loop over it while the fountains were lit in blue. Of course I loved it!

Next up: dancing at Valentino, where Paul met up with us, along with his very attractive friend who was visiting from Toronto. We stayed here until 4:00 a.m. Among the more memorable events: shots of Bechorovka (a.k.a. Christmas Juice), dancing up a bluestreak, Jo and Farrah's "chemistry," and Jenn puking behind the bar stools. Ahem!

Among my gifts was a CD of Helena Vondracova, essentially a Czech version of Cher or Barbra Streisand. She's turning 60 this year, but has enough plastic surgery so that she doesn't look a day over 35. It makes for a great conversation piece: it's a whole album of Broadway and movie songs! All the classics are represented: Les Miserables, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Phantom, Miss Saigon, The Wizard of Oz, even a Liza Minnelli cover...and so on...sung COMPLETELY in Czech! It's amazing to listen to Andrew Lloyd Webber tunes sung in a Slavic-based language.

Which, of course, brings us to this weekend. Enjoyed Molly's housewarming party in Vysehrad last night with Jules, Beth and Kelly. Met some new folks (it's hard to believe exactly how many ex-pats there are here in Prague...and each one has a different story). Unfortunately, Mellisa is out of commission due to a back injury.