Prague Blog

Being in Prague and not see Don Giovanni is like being in Paris but not up the Eiffel Tower! If you are a fan, it is a thing of life and death. Do you think I am exaggerating? Not at all. Don Giovanni performed some place else but Prague’s Estates Theatre is a totally different show!

Prague’s Estates Theatre is the authentic theatre that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart chose to premiere Don Giovanni, on October 29, 1787, also conducted by Mozart himself! Prague audience loved it and so it has been played ever since. Don Giovanni has become a traditional opera and means a climax of the cultural life in Prague.

I have seen it twice and even my American friend that is not really an opera-lover liked it and said he wants to see it again!

Don Giovanni is one of the most famous operas of all time. In Prague you can experience the atmosphere of seeing the „opera of all operas“ in the theater where it all started. The Estates Theatre is one of the most beautiful and historic playhouses in Europe, built at the end of the 18th century. The Czech anthem was first performed here as a part of a comic opera Fidlovacka.

The Estates Theater will be forever linked with the great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who chose this stage to premiere not only thrilling Don Giovanni, but another of his best-known operas: La Clemenza di Tito, in 1791. A statue in front of the Theater called „Commendatore“ or „Pieta“ serves as a reminder that the Mozart’s Don Giovanni had its grand opening here.

The nearest Don Giovanni performance is on 15th February 2007. Starting at 7 p.m. at the Estates Theater, located at Ovocny trh 1, Prague 1, about 5 minutes walk from subway station Mustek (line A and B). Price is from 390 CZK higher, depending where you want to be seated. If you have your student ID with you, don’t forget to show it when buying the ticket. You may get a discount up to 50 per cent for it!

You might have seen the beautiful blue-velvet interior in Milos Forman’s movie Amadeus, which was about the life of the music genius.

Prague is the capital city and at the same time the biggest city in the Czech Republic. Because of its beauty and magic it attracts thousands of tourists every year. Impressed tourists, however, tend to pay more attention to the historical buildings and forget all about their belongings. It is therefore no wonder that Prague is attractive not only for tourists but also for pickpockets! That is why you should always think of your bags and purses at all times!

Try not to tease the pickpockets! What do I mean by that? First of all, don’t walk around carrying a bigger financial amount. Secondly, don’t have your wallet within grasp for others. And always keep and eye on your handbags. Try to avoid crowds if possible. But if you find yourself in a crowd, hold your handbag to impede its opening or snatching. Don’t be an easy victim for them!

You should be more careful in the streets near tourist attractions and in crowded public transportation – notorious are trams number 22, 23 and 9. And never change money on the street since you will probably get ripped off.

So, to sum up – anytime you see a crowd put a hand over your bag and hold it a bit tighter or have your bag where you can see it all the time. For example, when I am in a crowded tram or subway, I wear my backpack on my stomach.

So don’t let the pickpockets spoil your vacation and be more careful! You never know when you may come across those people. But if you are wise enough they will have no chance!

Did you receive Christmas presents on Christmas Eve? Than they weren’t from Santa Claus but from Jezisek. Jezisek is a Christmas gift-giving figure in the Czech Republic who can be translated as Baby Jesus.

Jezisek is the one who brings the presents to Czech people and it has been Jezisek for centuries. After the Velvet Revolution, Santa Claus started to appear in Czech Republic – especially in shop windows, but Jezisek is enrooted in Czech hearts.

The great thing about him is that nobody actually knows how he looks like! Have you seen him? I haven’t! Jezisek usually comes after a Christmas Eve dinner when everybody walks out of the room where there is a Christmas tree. That is because Jezisek needs solitude for his work. Otherwise he wouldn’t bring his presents!

So children are usually in their rooms looking out of windows to see Jezisek visiting their home. Meanwhile, parents put the presents under the Christmas tree, then ring a bell and unseen slip out of the room. The ringing of bell announces that Jezisek has finished his work and is leaving. Children rush into the room with the Christmas tree to see Jezisek, but are always late! Maybe next year…

Jezisek is therefore a mysterious figure. Some people imagine him as a small child in a crib, but how could little baby bring so much presents? That is why some see him as a grown-up Jesus, some see him as an angel or a star. I’ve always imagined him as a mist or a ghost because he can walk through walls. Everyone has his or her own idea of how he might look like. And that is why Jezisek is so loved!

What do you think? How does he really look like?

If the answer is no, well, of course I won’t sing it to you for you would not hear a thing – you can consider yourself lucky because I can’t sing, that is for sure. But at least I can tell you something about it. And even those who have heard it will, after reading this article, understand it much more.

The Czech National Anthem has its origin in the opera Fidlovacka, which was a patriotic opera written by Josef Kajetan Tyl (lyrics) and Frantisek Skroup (music), first performed on December 21, 1834 in the Prague Estates Theatre. At the time, Czechs were only an ethnic minority in the Austrian Empire where the German language dominated. The main goal of this play was to strengthen the national feeling and break the cultural oppression.

A song called Kde domov muj, in English “Where Is My Home” was performed in the opera by a man portraying a blind violinist. This scene was very emotional and the song became widely sung. It is thus no surprise that it was recognized as the official National Anthem in 1918, when the independent Czechoslovakia was born. And in January 1st, 1993, the song became the anthem of the Czech Republic.

If I had to describe the anthem with one word only, it would be the word peaceful. The Czech National Anthem is really more like a love song – slow and praising the beauty of the Czech land. There are no battle cries or praise of king or kingdom, there is just the humble admiration of the people for the beauty of Czech rivers, woods, meadows, and majestic mountains. In the Czech National Anthem there is a reverence to homeland as a paradise on earth.

It goes like this:
Where is my home? Where is my home?
Waters murmur through the meadows,
Pines rustle over the mountains,
Spring blossoms glitter in the orchard,
Earth’s paradise on sight,
And that is that beautiful land,
Czech land, my home! Czech land, my home!

When it gets cold and windy outside or when it rains or snows, which happens a lot in winter, the best is to slide into a café for a hot tea or coffee and wait till the weather gets better. Or, in order not to waste the whole day, you can visit a museum! There are tons of them in Prague! For example there are two museums of music in Prague! And that is only what I know of!

Why do you think there is more than one museum of music in Prague? It is because Czechs love music. There is an old saying from the 16th or 17th century which goes like this: Every Czech is also a musician. And it is more or less valid till today. Almost every Czech can play some musical instrument because Czech children often attend musical courses after school. Maybe some of them will become composers of such fame as Bedrich Smetana, Antonin Dvorak or Leos Janacek.

The Czech Museum of Music, which is open from Wednesday to Monday from 10 am to 6 pm, presents not only a large collection of musical instruments, but also other valuable sources illustrating the history of Czech and European music. You can listen to the historical instruments in nearby headphones. Concerts are often held here as well.

The location of the Czech Museum of Music is in the former Baroque church of St. Maria Magdalena, in Karmelitska Street 2, built in 17th century. If nothing else, the renovated building is worth seeing. You can reach it when taking tram 12, 20, 22 or 23 to the station Helichova. It is not far from the Charles Bridge.

The Museum of Mechanical Musical Instruments, which is on Hradcanske Square 12, is near the Prague Castle. They present a unique collection of the orchestrions, street organs, gramophones, music boxes and more rarities from 1870 to 1940. The exposition is accompanied with the demonstration of the instruments. This museum is open daily from 9 am to 6 pm.

Do you wonder how Prague can possibly be unpleasant? Well, very easily. At least for me it is every winter season when it gets cold outside. Every year, when the temperature forces me to wear winter jacket and a scarf, I know it is coming. At this time I hate to use trams! And the time is here again!

Why I hate driving by trams right now? You have probably noticed yourself. When it’s cold outside you can come across homeless people in trams. It is understandable – they have nowhere else to go to warm up. They usually go by trams because in subways there is the chance you meet a controller face to face much higher than in a tram. Controllers don’t like black riders in general, and homeless people are no exception. You don’t encounter many controllers when driving by bus, but buses are very short and bus drivers can therefore pay attention to who is on board. That is why homeless people are mostly seen in trams.

I feel sad for them in a way. It has to be terrible to have no place to go, no place to call your home. I can’t even imagine it!! And I don’t mind that they don’t pay for the ride. They don’t have enough money for that. On the other hand I don’t like to drive with them in a tram because they usually smell very bad. I know it is stupid from me because they don’t have many opportunities to wash themselves but I just don’t like it.

However, there is a great chance that all this will be solved in a very near future. Municipal authorities of Prague are working on a boat that will anchor on Vltava river and will serve as a permanent home for homeless people in Prague. It will not only provide a higher comfort of living for them but will help them to return to “normal” society as well. This boat should be running from this very winter 2006, latest in January 2007. Now that I call a great idea!!

It is a bit strange how Czechs love and follow most of the Christmas traditions although many Czechs do not profess a religion. Since Christmas have Christian roots, one could easily jump into conclusion when watching the Czech people around Christmas time that the whole country is very religious. However, the opposite is true.

Nevertheless, everybody just loves Christmas! Even Czech atheists. Czech Christmas are accompanied with many nice traditions that are still alive. You can see it on your own eyes for example on the Old Town Square. There is a big Bethlehem manger scene – little baby Jesus with his parents in a barn. Little version of this scene is in all Czech flats on the Christmas Eve, no matter if you believe in God or not. It just belongs to Christmas.

Another tradition that belongs to Christmas is cutting few branches of a fruit tree on December 5th and bringing them home. If those branches come into flower on the Christmas Eve it means that a girl in the family will get married within a year. My branches usually bloom too soon! But maybe this year, who knows.

My favorite tradition is the one connected with the Christmas Eve dinner. Czechs eat carp, not turkey or anything else, but fried carp. When preparing the food you have to clean it from fish-scales and that is when Czech tradition comes in hand. If you put one clean fish-scale into your wallet it should bring you more money into your wallet in the new year. I am practicing this one every year. I have to say I am more or less successful.

And one great tradition for all who suffer from diabetes – Czechs bake tons of special sweets all December long. Then finally on Christmas Eve you serve it on a nice plate and eat it while opening the presents. It is really great!! Then of course your New Year’s resolution is to lose all the extra weight you just gained!

What will be your resolution?

Czechs celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, that is on December 24. This day is the most important day not only for children but for parents as well. Yes, Czechs open their presents on this day and not the day after as in many countries.

It all starts in the morning on December 24. Television is switched on in most families because the program is simple and beautiful – all day long only fairy-tales!! Czechs are proud on their fairy-tales. All members of the family watch those fairy-tales while decorating the Christmas tree. Typical breakfast on this day is a special Christmas cake with raisins and almonds called vanocka in Czech.

However, if you decide not to eat all day till the big Christmas dinner you will not suffer. According to the Czech tradition, if you fast, you will see a golden pig! Now you decide whether it is worth trying! If you don’t want to see the golden pig, there is usually only little lunch. You can eat Christmas sweets.

Christmas dinner is huge though! It is a great social event too. Everybody dresses up nicely in their “Sunday best” – women in dresses, men in suits, children too. It starts at around 5pm with a fish soup, followed by potato salad and fried carp. Every family has a slightly different potato salad. The recipe is sometimes a family secret. My favorite is with ham, pickled gherkin, egg, mayonnaise mixed with white yogurt (so it is not as caloric) and of course potatoes.

After big dinner at about 7pm, when children turn their attention back to the Christmas tree, it is surrounded with presents. Opening presents in Czech Republic is therefore very different – firstly, Czechs open them in the evening on December 24, secondly, everybody is dressed in the best cloths, perfect hair, not in pyjamas. And this is what I like so much about Czech Christmas – it is more polite, or … sophisticated – don’t hate me for this, it is just my opinion.

Czech way of celebrating Christmas has many positive aspects. First of all, you don’t have to force your children to go to sleep; secondly, you look good on pictures, and lastly you can sleep on the 25th as long as you wish. Don’t you want to put into practice the Czech Christmas now?

Czech Republic is known as the country famous for its beer production and consumption. Beer is ingrained in Czech culture so much that the beer industry is considered a part of the national heritage. Czechs rate beer as part of their lives. They even call beer the “Liquid Bread” and they very often consume it in that manner. Now once you are in a „Beer Country“ there are things you should know about Czech beer – it’s a necessity in Prague!

There are some sayings about Czech beer – one of them says that “Beer makes men beautiful bodies”. Just look around you and you will understand – Czechs call it a „Beer Belly“. If those bellies are beautiful or not that depends on your personal taste only.

Another saying about Czech beer explains why Czech women are more bosomy than other – it is because especially among women dark lagers are popular (they are usually sweeter), and there goes an old wife’s tale, that consumption of a dark beer will enhance breast growth. Whether this is true, you will have to find out on your own. This is definitely a much cheaper version of a beauty operation, and it is natural as well. So girls, drink more of Czech dark lagers and you will see!

You may feel a strong sense of patriotism in Czech beer consumers – the Czechs drink mostly Czech beers. Many foreign breweries have tried to get Czechs drinking other than Czech beers after 1989, but they haven’t had much direct success in the Czech market. Foreign importers are left to scrap over less than 1 per cent of the total national consumption! What does it say to you?

The reason is quite obvious – Czech brewing has a long history and Czech beer is among the best in the world (Czechs would swear that it is the number one), not to mention the price! Half a litre costs approximately 20 CZK. Now there can be no wonder about the reasons for the beer-tourism! More and more tourists come over to Prague only to drink price pleasant and at the same time high quality beer.

Most popular Czech beers come in the 10° and 12° versions. Those numbers don’t refer to alcohol but to the brewery method and the hops share. Alcoholic content of Czech beers is mostly between 3.6 and 4 %. To name some brands – Pilsner Urquell (Plzensky Prazdroj), Staropramen, Gambrinus, Krusovice, Radegast, Budvar and other smaller breweries.

The most widely exported Czech beer is Budvar, abroad called Budweiser Budvar or just Budweiser. It is important to distinguish between Czech Budvar and the American „Bud“ since they have nothing in common what so ever but the name. Budweiser is the name of a beer from the city of Ceske Budejovice in Czech Republic, brewed since 1265. Its name is derived from the German name for the town, Budweis – in German, something from Budweis is called Budweiser.

In 1876, the name Budweiser was adopted by Anheuser-Bush. Few years later, when the Czech brewery wished to export to the States and the U.S. Bud wanted to expand to Europe, this caused huge problems and years of legal disputes. The problem was settled not long time ago by re-branding the Czech beer on American market – it is called there Czechvar.

One last thing is important about Czech beer – it is preferred by Czechs to drink it in bottles instead of in cans, and in the pub rather then at home.

Christmas is nearly knocking on the door, that is without any doubt. One can tell! Even if I had no clue about the actual date today, I would know it just by looking around. In all shop windows there is Christmas decoration. This decoration I don’t like, however. I prefer the one on streets of Prague. To be more precise – on the squares.

On almost every Prague square there is a huge Christmas tree, which all children love, and sometimes a Christmas market as well.

You can find Christmas markets nearly on every big square – most favorite ones are on squares near subway stations Namesti Miru, Namesti Republiky, Andel, of course on Wenceslas Square and the nicest on Old Town Square. What can you buy there?

You can find there everything from Christmas decoration, scented candles, and mistletoe to typical Czech hand-made gifts such as Czech crystal, wooden toys, along with hot food and warm drinks.

When talking about food that is sold there, it is usually something sweet. And when talking about drinks, they are mostly alcoholic and warm since outdoor shopping is much nicer with something to get you warm. Most famous drinks are hot wine (svarak), grog and warm honey liquor (medovina)

Soak up the Christmas atmosphere!