Prague in Easter with Carmen

Prague in April.  A great city and great fun.  This Easter it was swarming with tourists, mostly in groups and entirely well-behaved despite the city's reputation for occasional loutish behaviour. (On my return to work a colleague professed herself equally in love with the city and determined to return, but with more people, her own 'group' because, she felt, 'Prague was a city that would be more enjoyable with more people around you'.  Having experienced both ways of seeing Prague, I'm not sure I agree.)  The weather was glorious, the food filling, the beer tasty, the wine from Moldavia a pleasant surprise.  Our hotel overlooked the Vltava river towards the Charles Bridge and allowed us to enjoy a morning walk along the riverside and downstream to the cafe Phoenix for our breakfast.   For a week or so we happily tramped the streets of Prague doing nothing very much of anything, although we did go to the state opera to see Carmen.  It turned out to be an exciting evening.  We thought a man had died in the row in front of us, just before the end of Act One. Turned out that he was comatose through drinking too much.  After he had thrown up over the row in front of him, he was carried out into the corridor and we never saw him  again.  Carmen was also notable for an excellent production, wonderful playing from the pit band, a very good chorus, and equally fine principals -- with the exception of the toreador who was execrable in the first half and only slightly better in the second.  I almost booed but glanced at my wife and thought better of it, but refused to clap when he appeared onstage for his curtain call. Stories about the Cafe Kafka, outrageous pricing in popular tourist spots, begging, breakfast, Prague restaurants, prostitutes, art galleries, city walks, trams, taxis and beer to follow.