Dubaj

For 15 years of existence of Sextet+ we visited different countries and types of performances. This year's, the annual one, was after all exceptional, especially in its logistics. I would like to summarize our adventure once again. From Sunday, February 6 to Friday, February 11, we stayed in the United Arab Emirates and on Tuesday, February 8, we performed two concerts in the Czech Pavilion at Expo 2020. After the Czech band Mirai, which performed at Expo on Saturday, we were the next ensemble that offered the visitors of the Czech Pavilion vocal compositions by Czech and international authors. Sextet+ was a success with both Czech and foreign visitors and was an unusual decoration of our future pavilion. We represented the Czech Republic, Nový Jičín and of course our Gymnasium in English moderated entries. We are glad that the whole event was a success and we are again richer for the experience. Thank you very much for the whole opportunity and we are looking forward to more events together!

Sixth day was again one of the busier days. After we got up relatively early, we took the subway to get to a district called Dubai Marina, which is known not only for a beach, but mostly for its canal and the scenery of the local skyscrapers. After short walk by the canal we went to the beach, which is directly lined with skyscrapers and has a beautiful view of the largest "Ferris wheel" in the world and our next stop - Ain Dubai. But before that we swam in a sea! Then we moved to Ain Dubai, which, due to covid, allows only 10 people in one cabin.
Our only luck was, that it was the exact number as members of this expedition so we had a cabin all by ourselves. We were rewarded for the previous rush with beautiful views from an altitude of 250 meters. Then we took a taxi, then the metro and finally a boat to Old Dubai, where we explored the district and its narrow streets, but most importantly, we shopped for valuable souvenirs! Then it was the daily routine, transfer to the metro, hotel and dinner. However, we were nearing the end of our trip. Tomorrow we have a flight back to Prague in the afternoon and then a we´ll move to NJ. So keep an eye on the radar and see you back in the Czech Republic!

Wednesday was again in sign of EXPO, but compared to Tuesday also in sign of Burj Khalifa. We got up late, enjoyed the breakfast and tried hotel pool. Around 12 pm we arrived on EXPO where, thanks to Czech Pavilion, we got to Japan Pavilion, which is the most wanted from all of Pavilions. All of was were really exited about it and it wasn´t surpassed by any other. After that we went our separate ways around the EXPO premises and explored various corners and presentations of the countries until 6 pm. Next we got by subway to Burj Khalifa, because we bought entry to 124. floor of this skyscraper. View from the highest building of the world was breathtaking. We definitely enjoyed it and took enormous amount of photos. After that we took a walk in the Burj Khalifa neighborhood with singing fountain. The melody with graceful choreographic of fountains was, by my opinion, unforgettable experience. Then we had dinner and we got to the hotel. Tomorrow a lot awaits us, That´s why we´re going to sleep. Keep following our expedition and bye!

PS: For everyone who missed our performance, don´t despair! You can find the whole video recoding on our Instagram.

The fourth day was crucial for us as it was the day we were exhibiting at EXPO 2020 in the Czech Pavilion. We woke up early, had breakfast, got ready and headed to the EXPO. The journey itself was quite long as the huge EXPO complex is located outside the city centre. Upon arrival, however, we made it through security without too much trouble and headed to the Czech Pavilion, located on the north side of the expo. Once we arrived at the pavilion, we were greeted very nicely and the guided tour was interesting. We did a short sound check and got a break, which we mostly used to try the street food. After lunch we explored a few pavilions and towards the evening the promised concert followed twice - at 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm local time. To our surprise, there was a lot of interest and even locals came to listen to us. Both concerts were successful and we could relax and enjoy the beauty of the evening expo with a feeling of good representation of our town. After that it was just a journey to the hotel and sleep. This was a ride! See you tomorrow EXPO!

The third day started much better than the previous one, mainly due to the fact that we slept in very comfortable beds in our accommodation. This was followed by breakfast, which was really delicious. We then got dressed, got ready for a full day of travelling around Dubai and the adventure could begin. First we explored the beauty of Dubai Mall and the adjacent Burj Khalifa area. This building amazed us not only with its architecture, but especially with its height, as it is the tallest building in the world. The area around Burj Khalifa is filled with countless skyscrapers and interestingly, most of them belong to one company - Emaar. After exploring the area more than enough, we took the metro and then a bus to the beach - La Mer. Here, despite it being February, we rinsed our feet and enjoyed a beautiful view of the sea. Next, we had to go back by the familiar combination of transport - bus, metro and we headed towards Emirates Mall - the largest shopping mall in the world, which incidentally also has a ski slope. Here we got a free time to explore the mall and we spend a lot of money here. Then we got to the hotel and went to sleep. Tomorrow is a big day. See you later!

It´s really here. Alarm wakes us before 5:00 am and we are slowly heading to Václav Havel´s airport in Prague. Check-in was smooth, quick and the same could be said for our six-hour flight. However, it has to be said that a slight fatigue was caused by the three-hour time delay. Upon arrival, we were given the usual identification by the local police and then transferred by metro to our accommodation, which is about 45 minutes by metro from the airport. On arrival at the hotel we checked in and had a well-deserved meal. We were greeted by very friendly service and dinner was delicious. Now we´ll take a short walk around our hotel and off to bed. See you tomorrow!

Our dearest friends, it is here! After yesterday´s successful, and most importantly, negative PCR test our dear members of Sestet+ (René, Radek, John, Dejv, Maty, Kuba and mistr Dos) packed themselves and moved to meeting point - to Prague. Departure is coming up, tomorrow morning at 9:15 sharp. You can look forward to the pictures from the plane and our first impressions of Dubai tomorrow evening. Your Sextet+

During the existence of the vocal Sextet+ we have faced various challenges... Performances on Czech Television, in Aleš Cibulka's Toboggan or at a Czech-Turkish wedding in Nový Jičín. Now we have the challenge of performing in Czech Pavilion EXPO 2020 in Dubai. Our two performances will be on Tuesday February 8 In the afternoon and evening hours. We will try to bring to United Arab Emirates some of the our, Czech, vocal culture. Please wish us luck and if anybody is near, please come and support us!
See you on EXPO 2020