Prague Blog

The city part Troja is away from the Prague centre offering a large amount of historical attractions and travel tips. But you can find here three objects, which are worth seeing during your stay in Prague. These are the Botanic Gardens, the Zoo and Troja Castle. You can spend a whole day visiting each of these places, but it is possible to merge all visits into one with Troja card. It is a join ticket for all three places during the whole season.

It is sold since April and its validity lasts till the end of September. You can buy it in cash boxes of all the three objects and also in the City Gallery of Prague. The entrance fees are naturally advantaged, you will pay much less for the card than for the three admissions individually. The entrance fee costs 200 CZK for adults, 100 CZK for children and 500 CZK for families with two children.

Let´s describe shortly the three objects you can visit. The Prague Zoo is the most frequented zoo in the Czech republic and welcomes more than one million visitors every year. It is situated on a 60 hectare area in a valley, which is geologically very interesting due to rocks, grass fields, woods and water sheets. Visitors can see here more than five thousand animals of 500 species.

Now we move from the animals to the flowers. Local Botanic Gardens are charming and full of aromas. They are located high above the city so you can find here many places with beautiful panoramas. It is possible to walk outside in the gardens or go into the tropic glasshouse Fata Morgana.

The last invitation of the triple card is the Troja castle. It is build in typical Czech Baroque style. Around the castle is a beautiful french garden. Inside the castle you can see a permanent exposition about the history of the building, then the collection of historical dog and horse paintings from the aristocratic mansions.

These three places are real aces and it is worth seeing each attraction separately in one day. The best way how to get there is by the bus no. 112 from the metro station Nadrazi Holesovice on line C.

What do you imagine when you hear the word Shakespeare? Yes, what a foolish question… Who would not know this storied English poet and playwright and his famous plays like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest and so on. In honour of this famous personality, The Summer Shakespeare Festival is just taking place in Prague and the showcase of theatre productions is being performed in the courtyard of the Burgrave Palace at the Prague Castle.

Originally this festival was initiated by President Vaclav Havel. In 1990, as the new elected president, he appealed to performers to open the Prague castle to public. In 1999 and 2000, President V. Havel granted the festival his personal support with his patronage. The Czech Republic’s current president Vaclav Klaus has also granted the festival with his support.

Due to huge public interest another stage was added and the performances can also be seen at the Lichtenstein Palace which is located on Lesser Town Square. For the eleventh time, this festival is presented under the open sky and it is a big cultural event in the Czech Republic. Do not forego famous Czech performers and personalities, attractive surroundings of Czech architectural sights and come to see this significant event.

Right next to the Charles Bridge, on the bank of the river Vltava where there is Prague Castle, is a lovely exhibition of fabric toys that is worth seeing. It is in a corner house on Drazickeho namesti. And because it is so close to the Charles Bridge, it may as well serve you well when there is another downpour, as it rains quite often these days in Prague.

This exhibition takes place only in summer. And this year, just like a year ago, the exhibition is held at the same building, although it offers rather small room.

The fabric toys are really cute. Very colorful and optimistic. I think they are designed for little children especially. And since any fabric things are easy to carry around, it might be a nice souvenir from Prague.

Last year, this exhibition was for free. There was a chance to buy any of the items which were presented. Whether this policy has stayed unchanged, I don’t know, but I believe so. Open is till 9 pm.

You can reach it by taking trams 12, 20, 22 or 23 to Malostranske namesti and walk toward the Charles Bridge and just before entering the bridge, turn left and there it is. The exhibition is open till the end of August.

Have you ever been wondering how Zoo might look like at night? Ever wanted to see sleeping tigers and polar bears? Well, you have a great chance right now. Prague Zoo opens up for public at nights as well!! But hurry up, this special offer takes place in August only! So don’t miss it.

When I was little, I wondered whether animals sleep on their backs just like I do. And do they snore??? Those and many other questions that may bother you will be answered during the night visit in Prague Zoo. It is great since the Zoo seems to be all yours. There are no crowds so you can enjoy your visit at full.

You will be in a group of maximum 25 people. The visit takes 2 hours. It starts by the home of pandas. You will have the chance to see polar bears, kangaroos and famous Indonesian Jungle, which is a beautiful place for all kinds of monkeys, fish, turtles, birds as well as trees and flowers from Southeast Asia. Beyond orangutans, gibbons or macaques, you will have a great opportunity to see flying foxes or brush-tailed possums and other kinds of monkeys which are active at night. That is why a night visit is the best way how to see them.

The evening guided tours are every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, starting at 20:30, 21:00 and 21:30. Adults pay 160 CZK and children 80 CZK. However, a reservation is needed either by phone (296 112 230) or via e-mail (pr@zoopraha.cz).

And how to get there? From subway station Nadrazi Holesovice take bus number 112 to station Zoologicka zahrada. The bus is there in about 10 minutes. Don’t forget that at night the intervals of busses are not as good. After 20:00, the bus 112 has cca 20 minutes intervals.

Do you want to visit an exhibition? Then visit the Prague Airport Ruzyne. Do you think I am joking? Exhibition at the airport? It is true that most common place for exhibitions is a gallery or a museum, but this exhibition is special. It celebrates the 70th birthday of Prague Airport.

70 years have already passed since the first planes landed and took off at Prague Ruzyne Airport. How many passengers might have checked in and out over the time? That is probably impossible to count. It is to say that Prague Airport is the second biggest airport in Central and Eastern Europe.

With this exhibition you have a chance to travel the world although not leaving the building. On more than 200 large colorful photos by Czech traveler and photographer Jiri Kolbaba you will see the beauty of all continents and will “visit” about 120 countries.

The photos are displayed all around the airport so that not only passengers can admire them. You do not have to be actually departing, arriving or picking up friends to be able to visit this exhibition. The exhibition is for everyone and it is for free.

So celebrate the wonderful anniversary together with Prague Ruzyne Airport and enjoy the truly marvelous photos. The exhibition is held till August 26.

You can get to the airport from subway station Zlicin (yellow line B) by taking bus number 100. It is about 15 minutes ride with the bus. Or you can travel from subway station Dejvicka (green line A) and take bus number 119 which is there in about 20 minutes.

Prague is unique, among others, also by the fact that directly in the city a couple of natural locations are preserved. To one of these belongs Divoka Sarka (Wild Sarka). If you want to get to this western reminding county, go to the terminal mentro station on route A – Dejvicka. From this stations take a tram along the Evropska street up to the station Divoka Sarka. Then go straight from the station by the red tourist mark and you will get directly into the bottom of the Sarka valley.

Sarka has probably got this romantic name from the czech word sery – which means dark, deep…and the valley around the Sarka´s stream is really such a dark, somewhere frightening place. The valley is very narrow which originates in the long lasting water stream activity. If you continue by the stream flow, you will see two rocks on the left side. This location was settled already in the stone period.

Now we get to the small swimming pool and you can leave now the red tourist mark, walk across the stream and set out around the high rock ridge called Girl´s Jump. This place is famous for its well known Czech legend about Sarka and Ctirad. Treacherous girl Sarka, which was leading the girl war, followed Ctirad to this place but then betrayed him. She was later pursued by the reproaches, so she decided to jump from this rock and come her young life to an end.

We will continue further to the romantic building of a red mill. After several metres we get to a tent camp and follow the red tourist mark again, which will lead us to the valley pool, where is very nice and clear bathing. But be careful, the water is here very cold even during the hottest days. Refreshed with pleasant swimming we can walk to the tram, which goes back to the centre.

If you try this journey, which is not very difficult, you will walk about 6 kilometres. But in Sarka you can walk a lot more kilometres, or ride a bike. Maybe you will meet a western cowboy on a horse. This place really reminds the wild west and is popular for various western actions and entertainment.

Prague is the site of many sport events, national stadiums and teams. Every Czech knows the two most famous football clubs Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague. It is always a festival for the Czech nation when these two rivals play the match.

Sparta was founded in 1893 and in 1906 played in their typical dark red jerseys for the first time. Club symbols: blue, red and yellow colours were the typical colours from the beginning. Now it is maroon colour and the big S. The name Sparta was inspired by the fighting spirit and courage of the people from the ancient city of Sparta.

Slavia was founded in 1892 and from the very beginning it was the elite Czech club. Currently there are some economic problems. Their symbols are: white colour – the symbol of fair play and olympic idea, red colour – the symbol of heart, red star – the symbol of hope and good mind. The fact that the jersey is half white and half red should symbolize the dichotomy of life.

First time when Sparta and Slavia met on the football pitch Císařská louka was on 29. 3. 1896. Sparta won 1:0. The club Slavia had more money and their own football stadium on Letná while Sparta was poorer and had no stadium. But what is strange it is the fact that Sparta always defeated Slavia. Later Sparta moved to a big new stadium on Bubeneč so it became the equivalent rival. Supporters of Sparta were mostly working-men and journeymen so Sparta were considered more democratic and people’s club. Slavie had supporters from the “brain power”, the wealthier people.

Currently supporters are not divided according to money but mostly according to tradition in their family. Sparta has their new large modern stadium on Letná. It began to be reconstructed in 1994, now it has places for almost 21 000 onlookers and got the new name – Toyota Arena. Slavia will have the new large modern stadium as well. The old stadium Eden in Prague 10, city district of Vrsovice, has being reconstructed since October 2006. Eden has capacity of 21,000 seats and should be built by March 2008. All Slavia supporters are looking forward to the first match.

Informations about these clubs are on their official websites: http://www.sparta.cz/ and http://www.slavia.cz/ . If someone would like to know some more informations about history of these clubs or some famous players look at the websites http://www.wikipedia.org/.

This tram is great fun! You can hear it long before you actually see it because fun music is played there quite loud. And when it approaches you may be surprised since Kofola tram is nothing like “normal” trams. It is so much better! Why?

Inside this tram you will feel like attending a party and not driving a tram. Great music is sweetening your trip through Prague while you enjoy Kofola drink for free! And you are not limited to one drink only. Oh no. When any of the young hostesses sees you with empty hands, she immediately brings you another Kofola. So I was given one right after I boarded, then when I finished my first drink, and when I was getting off I was offered another one.

This tram is special indeed. It has one wagon only. In the middle there is a bar. Yes, a real bar where Kofola is being tapped. Cool, right? Music is playing and there are even two plasma screens and cup holders in front of every seat! And this all is for free!!! You don’t pay for the drinks, not even for the ride. The only negative point is that this tram rides only on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 1pm to 7pm.

Kofola tram follows a special track but for the most part it drives as tram number 9 – through stations Andel (yellow line B), Ujezd, Narodni divadlo (National Theatre), Vaclavske namesti (Wenceslas Square). The intervals are also very special. You may wait for it on tram station Narodni divadlo (trams 6, 9, 10, 14, 17, 18, 22, 23). It will be there at around 13:45 when following the direction over bridge towards Andel, or at around 15:01 going the other way.

This tram may be hard to catch but when you see it, don’t hesitate and jump in. This special tram will ride through Prague only till August 18!

And what is Kofola? It is a carbonated soft drink produced in Czech Republic and Slovakia. Its taste reminds you of Coca-Cola or Pepsi. And because “western” drinks were not available here in communist time, Kofola was a great substitute. But, maybe surprisingly, Kofola stays popular till today. It may be thanks to fresh ideas and creative advertisements. The Kofola tram being the best example of all.

Summer is without any doubt my favorite season. I associate it with holidays, traveling, ice-creams, sun and fun, and also with open air cinemas. It is truly different experience to watch a movie under the starry sky and among trees. It is very romantic indeed.

However, I know it is not always so rosy, especially if it gets cold or starts to rain. But if you prepare yourself well, there is nothing to disturb you. So bring an extra sweater and visit Open Air Cinema Strelecky ostrov, because rain will trouble you here no more – they have a large tent which can be erected in case of unpleasant weather conditions. The only thing that can spoil everything is a lightning. On this account only, screening will be cancelled. But I don’t think any stormy weather is expected anytime soon.

Don’t worry if you can’t speak Czech. Czech films that are screened there are with English subtitles and English films are not dubbed but subtitled again. You can choose from variety of films. From Czech films (all with English subtitles) I recommend you Roming on August 11, or Sileni (Lunacy in English) on August 19.

For kids, or anybody who is interested, open air cinema screens also Shrek the Third on August 8, The Simpsons movie on August 25, Spiderman 3 on August 29, and Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix on August 31.

Of course there are much more films, one every night. So if those movies I mentioned don’t interest you, don’t hesitate to visit Strelecky island, and I am sure you will find something you would like to see. If not the films, then maybe concerts or theater performances, which are also held there, will please you. Not to mention that a bar is there for you as well, open until midnight.

The screening starts at 9 pm and the tickets are available one hour before the screening. The price is 100 CZK but there are discounts for students. The Open Air Cinema Strelecky ostrov runs till September 1.

Strelecky ostrov is one of the islands in the river Vltava. You will reach it by taking trams 6, 9, 12, 20, 22, 23 to station Ujezd, or trams 6, 9, 10, 14, 17, 18, 22, 23 to station Narodni divadlo. Walk towards the middle of the bridge where there is a stairway.

If you are tempted by the combination of history with practicality or art with craft, if you want to adapt to how our ancestors have been living in real life, what they have been clothing, decorating, dining and globally to get know what was their lifestyle like, don´t forget to visit The Museum Of Art and Industry (Umeleckoprumyslove muzeum). Is it not usually the main tourist destination, but it is a shame. Although it is situated in very attractive location, it is shadowed by its neighbours. The Museum resides in the street of 17th November, only several metres from the station Staromestska. Right over the way we can find the jewel of new renesasaince architecture – Rudolfinum, besides stands the building of Charles University philosophic faculty. The Old Town Square is also couple of steps away.

You can only turn off a little from classic sightseeing tours and dive into the history of ordinary life, which can be seen everywhere in the museum. The museum was founded in 1885, its seat was first in Rudolfinum and later a new building in the style of italian renessaince was built. First expositions were opened in 1900.

In these days the exposition is divided into two parts, mainly the permanent exhibitions, where we can admire the history of glass, textile, print, jewels and clocks. The other parts contain the exhibitions with varied scale. In the past we could see for example the exhibition of Scandinavian design or history of sport dresses. The current exhibitions in the musem are the photographs of Jan Lukas, Czech Glass of the Second World War era, the work of Alfons Mucha and many others.

The other unique of the museum is the library, which contains more than 160,000 books about art, its history and using. It is allowed to study these books only in the library. Other part of the museum is a coffee bar, where also sometimes small artistic presentations or courses are held. Near some of the exhibits you can find the symbol of a hand. It means that these objects are included in the system called “Touch your musem“. You can touch this thing and even try how it was used. Of course this contains only the objects which cannot be destroyed by the contacts of the visitors. Come to see that in this museum you can spend quite pleasant and didactic afternoon !