Prague Blog

March has come and that means that Febio is here as well! And that is great news!! At least for me, because I love good movies and Febiofest is about good movies only.

The official name goes like this: Prague International Film Festival Febiofest. And this year it will be already 14th edition!! So it is no novelty or non-professional festival. Not at all! It is the best event in Prague!!

Febiofest is not a typical film festival. It is a special event for fans of films which cannot usually be seen in cinemas – besides the premieres of the most relevant films of contemporary cinema, it also presents low-budget and alternative films, experimental cinematography, documentaries as well as retrospectives.

With Febio you travel the whole world. It introduces films from all regions. You can choose from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, etc. Last year, festival presented 336 films from 65 countries! The spectrum of movies is incredible. Everyone will find his or her film here, I am sure about this.

Febio grew from a small club event into the largest audio-visual festival in the Czech Republic. It is the second most prestigious festival in the country right after Karlovy Vary. But this is maybe only a question of time.

This all takes place within nine days -this year from 22nd to 30th March. Visit Village Cinema Andel on subways station Andel (yellow line B) as soon as you can to buy tickets! They cost 79 CZK and are usually very soon gone!!!

The Prague part of the Febiofest is then followed by a small representative program selection presented in six largest towns of the Czech Republic.

Prague Krizik´s Fountain (Křižíkova fontána), often referred to as the Dancing Fountain or Musical Fountain, is a spectacular show of water, light, music and dance. It is truly magical and I would recommend it to everyone! It is not only for couples, although the performance can be really romantic, it just depends which show you choose.

The musical scale will address everyone. There are four shows at night, starting at 8 p.m., and after full hour another show follows so that the last performance starts at 11 p.m., ending at midnight. Those four shows are usually very different from one another – one being a classical piece of Mozart, and the other one is from Metallica. As I said, everyone will find there the music of his/her heart.

The best shows are at nigh when it is already dark out because only then you can fully enjoy the light show. If you pick the show with music that you like there is no possible way for you not to love it! The music and light arrangements goes so well with water creations that one can hardly believe it is not a fairy tale. Only here you can really feel the music! Only here the water sings to you and dances for you!

There are also musical performances presented by a top dance ensemble, such as Romeo and Juliet or the Swan Lake, usually starting at 10 p.m. They dance in the middle of the fountain pool! With the play of lights, high water geysers, hundreds of dancing water drops and the most beautiful melodies it is just unforgettable!

The Krizik´s Fountain is equipped with incredible 3,000 nozzles managed by fifty water pumps, and with 1,200 underwater floodlights of various colours.

The shows take place even in inclement weather as most of the seats are roofed. So you won’t get wet unless you get too close to the water geyser.

To name just some music that is played there – for classical music it is Antonin Dvorak, Bedrich Smetana, Antonio Vivaldi, Giuseppe Verdi, W.A. Mozart; for film music it is Titanic or Gladiator; great shows are with music from the Queen or Michael Jackson.

The massive fountain is located at the Vystaviste – Prague Exhibition Grounds, constructed for the Prague’s Exhibition in 1891, and is easy to reach by tram – 5, 12 and 17, station Vystaviste. It is not far from the subway station Nadrazi Holesovice (red line C).

There are few things quite like this fountain in the world so you should definitely pay it a visit!

Spring is here!! And that is great because spring is my favorite time of year in Prague. It is easy to see why – the beauty of Prague is in its peak when everything blooms! There is no doubt about that. Prague is just magical with all the flowers so wonderfully colored.

Although this winter was neither long, nor cold – I would rather call it long autumn – I couldn’t wait for spring. And it is finally here! In Prague it is the best season. Why?

First of all, Prague is unbelievably beautiful when in bloom. And secondly, spring time is usually not so tourist-busy. Spring is also great because it means that daylight hours are greater and every day increasing. Moreover, the temperature is growing rapidly. This all means that it is more pleasurable to walk around Prague.

And where it is the best to go for a walk? Any garden is a great choice. I would recommend you to visit above all the Petrin Hill and Vojanovy sady.

Petrin Hill is great because there is an orchard of I don’t know what trees, maybe apples or pears, that is not important. Important is that this park is just amazing when you see it bloom with the Prague Castle on the background. It is marvelous scenery! The best way to approach this part of Petrin Hill is either from the funicular railway, not far from Ujezd tram stop (trams 6, 9, 12, 20, 22 or 23), or from the tram station Helichova (trams 12, 20, 22, 23).

Vojanovy sady is a beautiful little garden in the very heart of Prague. What is special about this garden is a wonderful tulip tree. When it blooms, there is nothing more beautiful!! It is very romantic!! Vojanovy sady is situated between the Charles Bridge and Malostranska subway station (green line A).

So don’t hesitate. Flowers and trees are blooming right about now. It would be really pity if you missed it!

Sherwood Forest is probably the best known forest in the world. It is connected with the famous legend of Robin Hood. In this forest, Robin Hood and his fellow men were robbing the rich and feeding the poor, always fighting against injustice and tyranny. How great, right?

Well, there is a place in Prague that is by many called “Sherwood Forest”. It is the park around the Main Train Station in Prague (in Czech Hlavni nadrazi). It is called “Sherwood Forest”, however, not for some second Robin Hood who is defending all needy, but because around this Main Train Station is the biggest concentration of homeless people in Prague.

I don’t know why this place attracts those people so much. It is true that inside this station, which is the biggest and busiest railway station in Prague, there are many benches and corners out of sight. And it is warm here. What is more, not far from the station is a missionary and charity organization Nadeje (in English Hope) which provides services to people in need.

Hlavni nadrazi is not the most dangerous place in Prague, but it isn’t nice place to walk through. You sometimes see those poor people sleeping on the floor, who usually don’t smell very well, and that is not the best first impression of Prague for those who arrive by train. It is a pity, especially because the building is a beautiful example of Art Nouveau style.

It is true, though, that since the end of 2006, a great reconstruction of Hlavni nadrazi and its surroundings for about 650 million CZK has started. This reconstruction should turn this slightly dirty station into a modern and representative building within 3 or 4 years without affecting the traffic.

Homeless people should find their home on a new boat that anchors on Vltava river from January and serves as a permanent home for homeless people in Prague.

The park’s real name is Vrchlickeho sady and is located just few minutes walk from Wenceslas Square.

Wedding day is the most important day in life for every bride and every groom. It is a day that you want to remember forever. The way everyone celebrates this great event varies significantly according to country’s traditions. So what are Czech wedding traditions?

The Czech Republic has many wedding traditions dating back through the ages. Some of them, however, are long forgotten, some of them are quite new. I am going to tell you about those traditions that have prevailed, and are being celebrated nowadays. Without them, Czech wedding would be incomplete.

The most important thing on every wedding is the bride. Czech bride has to wear on her wedding day, beyond the wedding dress, something new, something old, something borrowed, and something blue. Blue is usually the garter, which will come handy later on the wedding day. Something borrowed is usually from some happily married girlfriend, so that the newly married couple will be also happy. Something old comes from the bride’s family, mostly some family jewel. Something new represents the new period of life that the bride is going to start.

Most traditions follow after the ceremony. When the newlyweds step out of the ceremonial place, their friends and family shower them with rice, lentils or peas to ensure fertility. At this moment, the groom may receive a horse-collar meaning that he might become henpecked.

Shortly after that, the bride throws her bouquet into the crowd. The crowd consists of unmarried girls only. The girl who catches the flowers will get married within a year.

Before the young married couple enters the restaurant for wedding reception, the owner of the restaurant breaks a plate since glass cullet brings happiness. What is more, bride and groom have to clean the place and by doing that show everyone how synchronized they are. This tradition points out that bride and groom will work together now on.

Bride and groom eat soup together. They have one spoon only and are bound together. This tradition shows how husband and wife will have to overcome all difficulties that will arise together. Moreover, it represents the need to go halves in a marriage.

Garter belt can then play two roles. It can either be thrown by the groom into unmarried men (results are the same as with the bouquet), or it can be auctioned off. Money will help to start the new life.

When the atmosphere is at its peak, the bride is being carried away by friends of the groom. The groom has to find his wife as soon as possible. If he fails to find her, he has to buy her back from his friends. This symbolizes the girl’s separation from her parents and a new phase of life. It also shows that the groom should be watchful!

All this ends when the married couple arrives at the place where they live. The “fresh” husband should carry his wife in his arms over the threshold. This tradition should secure the demons not to wake up.

So if you are thinking about getting married in Prague, maybe it will be nice to add some Czech traditions. But whether you will or not, congratulation and good luck!!

W. A. Mozart and Prague – those are two words that just belong together. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart visited Prague three times in his short life, and it was in Prague where Mozart and his music found inspirational acceptance, friendship and admiration.

Of the thousands of musicians only few reach such fame as Mozart. He showed musical gift at a very early age, composing when he was only five! His music is played for centuries around the world. Even those who are not classical music lovers know who W. A. Mozart was. That is why in 2006 the whole cultural world remembered 250 years from the birth of W. A. Mozart (January 27,1756) and at the same time 215 years from his death (December 5,1791). Prague joined the other European cities that commemorate the anniversary of Mozart’s birth and his musical legacy by concerts, theatrical performances and exhibitions recollecting the genius composer.

When you are in Prague, you have a great opportunity to get acquainted with the places that are connected with Mozart’s life and work. Among other places such as the Estates Theatre or Lichtenstein Palace, villa Bertramka is special.

During his stays in Prague Mozart spent a lot of time at the villa Bertramka. This house from the turn of the 17th century used to be a summer house of the outstanding Czech singer Josepha Duschek and her husband, piano player, teacher and composer Franz Xaver Duschek. The Duscheks are credited with inviting Mozart to Prague. Duscheks and Mozart were close friends.
Here Mozart found a second home. In the idyllic environment of Bertramka he finished his masterpiece Don Giovanni just before its memorable Prague premiere on October 29, 1787.

Today, the house serves as the W. A. Mozart’s museum. The villa has kept the atmosphere of the times when the brilliant composer lived and worked there. It is definitely worth seeing. The exhibition shows all memorabilities of Mozart and the Duscheks, such as personal belongings, letters, pictures, musical instruments, above all the piano, which Mozart played in 1787, and others. It is like going back in time!

Regular chamber concerts are held at Bertramka as well. Either in the authentic music salon or in the romantic garden during the summer season.

The villa Bertramka is next to the Mövenpick hotel, near the subway station Andel (yellow line B). You can reach it by trams 4, 7, 9 and 10, station Bertramka. The museum is open every day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The entrance fee for an adult is 110 CZK, students pay 50 CZK. Special discounts for group over 10 people is offered. Indoor concerts are for 390 CZK, garden concerts for 450 CZK. Students again can join the show for special price of 250 CZK.

You don’t need to go inside the museum. Just the villa from outside and the garden, which is open to public, itself is a magic place. You can just visit the Café place there, drinking coffee just like Mozart did at this spot years ago. And you can say: „I was there where the great Mozart stayed 215 years ago! Pity, I just missed him!“

Is the current generation more tolerant than the one before? Is intolerance still present in democratic states these days? This and other questions are coming to mind when walking through the Klementinum, which is the National Library of the Czech Republic.

Until March 15 you have the great chance to see an exhibition called Tolerant – Intolerant. This unique exhibition consists of anti-racist posters made by Czech university students as well as students from the Prague Goethe-Institute.

The main themes of the exhibition are racism, racially motivated extremism and neo-nationalism. Organizers of the exposition want to stress the unsetting reality – alarmingly, there are still people who doubt such events as the victims of Holocaust; there are nationalistic parties in power of some European countries… Those are things we should not hide but talk about. So that there is no second WWII since nationalism caused all the wars that happened in Europe in the last century, including the recent military conflicts in the Balkans!!

The exhibition is held in the ground floor exhibition corridor of Klementinum, which is not far from the Old Town Square. It is open from Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 19:00. The entrance fee is 5 CZK only.

The partner of the Tolerant – Intolerant project is the Czech-German Fund for the Future.

On this banknote could be no one else but Tomas Garrigue Masaryk – the chief founder and first president of independent Czechoslovakia.

He was a Czech statesman, sociologist and philosopher who was also an advocate of Czechoslovak independence, but not from the very beginning. He always supported democratic policies. He, however, did not openly support the idea of independence before First World War, but rather the transformation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire into a federation of self-governing nations.

When the WWI broke out, he knew that being part of the Empire is no longer possible, and had to flee the country to avoid arrest for treason. In the exile he formed the Czechoslovak national council, which was with the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, recognised by the Allies as the provisional government of Czechoslovakia. Masaryk proclaimed the independence of Czechoslovakia on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C..

It is no wonder that Masaryk became the first president of the Czechoslovakia, and was reelected three more times. Masaryk resigned in 1935 because of his advanced age. He died two years afterwards at the age of 87.

Masaryk enjoyed and still does almost legendary authority among the Czech people. He was the great example of a perfect president. He was a man remarkable not only because of his personal courage and devotion to democracy, but for the harmony between his personality and work – the astonishing unity of his words and deeds.

During his presidency, Czechoslovakia became an island of democracy, a great educational workshop and a powerful industrial country. It developed a political system marked not only by free and fair elections but also by the rule of law, separation of powers, and the protection of fundamental liberties of speech, assembly, religion and property. This, however, lasted only 20 years. With Hitler and the Munich Agreement, but that is another story.

An interesting thing about Masaryk is that he married an American woman – Charlotte Garrigue – from whom he took his middle name, which is a radical move even by today’s standards, much less those of a century ago!

Masaryk gained the nickname of the „President-Liberator“ or the „daddy Masaryk“, meaning that he was close to everybody’s hearts. Many refer to him by his initials: TGM.

On the other side of this banknote there is Prague architecture.

See also Czech crown

Czechs have always loved music. How else could you explain so many famous composers like Smetana, Dvorak, Janacek from a country this big? And when we talk about Czech music we can’t leave out Emma Destinova, or Emmy Destinn (1878-1930), who was one of the greatest opera singers of all time – and yes, that is the lady on the 2 000 CZK banknote.

Her real name was Emilia Pavlina Venceslava Kittova, but she adopted her music teacher’s last name for the stage. And soon she became an international opera diva performing in Berlin’s Court Opera, London’s Convent Garden as well as New York’s Metropolitan.

She was known for her ability to learn very quickly. She was fluent in German, Italian, French and English, all in addition to her native Czech. This skill helped her learn roles in several languages without problems. Not to mention that before beginning her vocal studies, she learned how to play both piano and violin so well that she could read any music at sight.

Her roles were various. To name only some – Verdi’s Aida, Mozart’s Pamina and Donna Anna, Wagner’s Eva, Elsa and Senta, Strauss´s Salome, Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. She sang the first Carmen to be recorded, although in German and not French.

Her life was really extraordinary. A movie about her was made in 1979. It is a Czech movie called „Divine Emma”. She gave her final concert in London in 1928, at the age of fifty. She died at the relatively young age of 52.

On the other side of the banknote there is a Muse with violins.

See also Czech crown

On this banknote there is Frantisek Palacky who was a significant Czech historian and a politician. He was born in 1798 and died in 1876 which was, thanks to Palacky himself, a time period of the Czech National Revival – a movement which aimed to revive the Czech language, culture and history.

In this time, Czechs were part of the Austrian Habsburk empire – German was the official language back then. Theatres, newspapers, schools, just everything was in German and Czech language was fading away. And that is when Palacky came up with his monumental work The History of Bohemia, the first great synthesis of Czech history.

This book, which comes down to the year 1526, was founded on laborious research in the local archives of Bohemia and in the libraries of the chief cities of Europe. This book, although first printed in German and then translated into Czech, shook Czech national consciousness by reminding the nation’s past. And that is when the Czech National Revival started. It took few more decades till people were not ashamed to speak Czech anymore.

Palacky is the founder of modern Czech historiography and a leading figure in the political life of 19th-century Bohemia. Without Palacky, Czechs would most probably have spoken German by now.

See also Czech crown