Mosaic House Official Grand Opening

The official grand opening party for Mosaic House was last night. We are so proud of Chris and his team, as they have turned vision into reality for this unique place, which is a mixture of hostel beds, high-end hotel rooms, and a "happenin" bar.

With the availability of 330 beds, it is no small feat to manage the design, construction, and daily operations here. Chris and his staff had a great reason to celebrate!

Owen is having a private tour before the party begins.

This is one of the hotel room terraces - nice view, right?

The official Chris - welcoming his guests.

There was a lot of entertainment during the party- Big Daddy and his Blues band, a DJ, and some original entertaining acts. Before you ask, the chick in the funky dress helped to arrange many of the party details, even after she left Prague this summer to get married in the States. She was happy to be back to see the fruits of her endeavors.

The young man on stage in the red t-shirt is what is called a "beatbox" artist. He creates sounds that are recorded somehow, (like a rhythmic drum beat, but he makes the sound with his voice) and played repetitiously while he adds more and more musical strands until he has created a very melodic song. Apparently this is now an art? Who knew. Anyway, this particular young man has performed on the Czech version of one of those talent shows, and has reached the finalist stage.

We were also treated to a yoyo demonstration by a 15 yr. old expert in the art of spinning yoyos. Not exactly the way we used to play with them. He is also renowned in the Czech Republic for his craft.

And the highlight of the evening was Chris's partner Mathias. Besides being an astute businessman, he is also an accomplished street performer specializing in juggling and riding a unicycle, sometimes at the same time.


This isn't the best photo, but here he is spoofing some members of the audience into "helping" him mount the unicycle. He's a great guy!

Some party-goers.....

Actually, Daniel and his wife are newly married.

Daniel is one of the managers.

Laura is standing behind them - those are her shoes you can see!

Laura and her Dad.....

And a short video of Mathias' juggling skills.

The lady in the center is the wife of the investor who made Mosaic House a reality.

Young glass blower

Laura's parents were here in Prague last week, and we four "grands" took the kids to a glass factory. Tom drove, and we practically had to mutiny to get him to stop at the right building. We were in a very (very) small town, and he didn't believe that the building that said "Glasstar" was the place we were seeking. Let's just say that Corning has nothing to fear.

But the folks were nice, and allowed Owen to work with a piece of glass.




The "factory" interior was about the size of our garage in Groton, and a "tour" consisted of walking in the door and watching the three crafstmen create their wares. They were making flowers the day we were there, which did not entail any blowing but was still a fascinating process.

Here Owen is learning how to blow a large glass bubble.

It's been quiet here in Prague

We have not done anything exciting lately. School is out for a week for the mid-term break, and it came not a moment too soon!

Now I can sleep in, and go for some long walks to enjoy the fall colors.

Our little park around the corner has been undergoing a renovation. They have changed the flower beds, added the arbors, added a fountain, and protected the grass with those fences. The Czechs are very serious when they start a project like this. As you can see in the photo, there are several men painting the metal arbor frames. And that grass? It wasn't there a day earlier - that is all freshly laid sod. The evening before this photo was taken, I counted 16 men working!

I think this will be a pleasant place to sit in the summer!

Hanging out around a movie set

There is a small park that I walk through on my way to work, and the other day I noticed that there was a lot of unusual activity going on. I quickly realized that a film crew was setting up for a shoot, and I texted Tom to let him know about it. He wandered down and took the following photos:

Notice the black-haired lady in the green coat sitting at the table?

Apparently the star...

Or maybe she was only secondary to the dog.....

Too bad we'll probably never know!!