Prague Blog

From the end of November until Christmas, the city of Prague comes alive with beautiful decorations, the sounds of traditional music, and the mouth-watering aromas of hot wine (svarak) and delicious local food!

The most impressive Christmas atmosphere is without any doubt on the Old Town Square! The square is dominated by a beautiful Christmas tree (of course it is real) jeweled with hundreds of lights that are lit every evening at dusk, which is usually about 5pm. As it is set against a gothic skyline, it is a spectacular sight!

On the Old Town Square there is also the most beautiful Christmas market in Prague. Hand-made gifts and traditional Czech food and warm drinks are sold there. The whole atmosphere is accompanied by live Christmas concerts since a stage is erected on the Old Town Square every year. You may hear local or international choirs along with musical ensembles singing Christmas carols on open air. Wait till you see it! Now that is a holiday spirit!

In Prague’s Old Town Square there is also a mini zoo. Children can enjoy pony rides and pat sheep, goats and even a lama! Next to this is a Bethlehem manger scene – a large wooden stable with a straw floor shows Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and the three kings.

Christmas in Prague is simply wonderful

Christmas is a special time of the year in Prague and the Christmas markets go hand in hand with it. Prague Christmas markets, which have a long tradition, bring people together to share the holiday spirit. It is really worth a visit.

The markets start every year four Saturdays before December 24, which is the Christmas Eve, and run until the beginning of January. They are open every day of the week and still they are always busy despite the weather! Why?

Prague Christmas markets are not mainly about the shopping. It is all about the special Christmas atmosphere that is there. The markets offer you not only a great opportunity to buy some unique gifts, but especially the experience of nice traditions that are still alive. They bring the true meaning of Christmas to life.

The most popular markets are on the Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square where Christmas items are sold in 70 to 80 stands. Smaller ones are located on Namesti Republiky, Havelske Trziste and Namesti Miru. They are all easily accessible by subway.

The markets themselves consist of traditional wooden chalets that line the market squares and are nicely decorated. You will find there traditional Christmas decorations, holiday items and hand-crafted gifts together with fresh food and drinks. They are usually open from 9am to 7pm.

Browse the stalls and enjoy the festive atmosphere! See you there!

Prague is beautiful during Christmas season, don’t you think? Streets are decorated with Christmas lights, Christmas trees stand proudly on Prague’s squares, you can hear Christmas songs here and there, and Christmas markets invite you to try the traditional hot wine, called Svarak in Czech, which goes so well with the cold weather and completes the whole scene.

I just love those little walks round Christmas Prague. Everything is so bright and peaceful if you put aside the crowds you bump into on nearly every step. But even those people you see everywhere now look somehow happier or relaxed, which is quite unusual for Czechs one may think.

Of course I am not talking about people you meet in supermarkets. Those people are even more irritated than usual because they are on a hunt for Christmas presents. Don’t you dare to cross their way!! For those poor people the word Christmas is not connected with time of peace and happiness, for them it’s only stress and stress and even more stress. I hope you don’t belong to those people!

Just look around you! Prague is so beautiful when dressed in Christmas robe. And it doesn’t necessarily have to snow. One can’t be mad at people if he or she sees the beauty of it.

The most magnificent in the time of Christmas is the Old Town Square, of course! Especially after last weekend when the main Christmas tree in Prague was lighten up by the mayor of Prague. It is worth seeing and the hot wine is worth trying!! Trust me, you will not regret it!

But if you find you have enough of all the Christmas craziness, I have bad news for you – you can’t hide from it. Prague is and will be full of Christmas till the end of this year! So my advice to you is, take some more hot wines or grogs, which is hot tea with rum, and you will soon love it too!! Merry Christmas!

This is without any doubt right after my Birthday now my favorite day of the year – December 5th. If you find yourself in Prague on this day, you have to make sure you will be outside when it gets dark – preferably on some big streets or squares, the best is of course the Old Town Square. And why? On this day you may meet in the streets of Prague face to face the St. Nicholas with the Devil and the Angel!

When I was a child I didn’t like this day. That is to say, that as soon as it gets dark out, St. Nicholas with his helpers walks in the streets of Prague handing out small presents to children. He is tall with a long white beard, dressed in long red robe, mitre on his head, with a golden bishops’ staff. He is a very wise man who knows everything. And that is why all kids are so nervous on this day! He even knows whether this or that child was good during the past year!

If the child was behaving well, he or she will receive a present from him, usually some candies, nuts or fruits. However, if he or she was not behaving well all year, the Devil will put the child into his sack and take him or her to Hell! That is why all Czech children are unusually good on this day.

I find this very educational for the children. On this day, all children thing about what they have done in the past and usually come into conclusion that they could be better – clean their rooms, eat the vegetables, brush their teeth, listen to parents and so on. So when it comes to the question of St. Nicholas: “Have you been good this year?” they usually promise to the St. Nicholas that they will be better from now on.

If St. Nicholas wants to make the child to think about his or her behavior, the Devil with a tail and horns will rattle the chains and open his sack. At this moment, Angel, who acts as a counterweight to the Devil, dressed in a white gown and with wings will start pleading for the child. If St. Nicholas is still unsure, children usually sing a song or say a poem and that will convince St. Nicholas that they are good.

Czech parents hire sometimes “St. Nicholas and his helpers” to come to their home to threaten a bit their fractious children. It is a good one-day-job for students mostly, or some family friends who dress up and play St. Nicholas. This “St. Nicholas” is well informed by the parents and therefore is the performance very effective.

When unseen, St. Nicholas leaves his presents in the children’s room based on their pre-behavior. Good Czech children receive above all a chocolate calendar, which is a special calendar – there is a chocolate for every day till the Christmas Eve. Bad children usually receive potatoes or coal.

In Prague, streets are filled with Devils rattling chains, beautiful Angels and of course St. Nicholas himself. I would definitely recommend you to visit the Old Town Square around 4pm. Every year about this time, there is a contest for the best St. Nicholas, Angel and Devil. So hopefully you have been good this year… If not, have some poem or song ready at hand!

What is a name day? It is a great tradition in the Czech Republic as well as in many other European countries. If you open Czech calendar, you will see that every day of the year is someone’s name day. It is a great thing because in one year you have the right to celebrate twice – your birthday and your name day!

In short, it’s an age-old European custom in which those with the same first name have one day a year assigned as their name day. People celebrate it in the same manner as birthdays. All the namesakes receive congratulations and gifts from their family, friends but also colleagues since everybody knows it is your name day today. In effect, it is like having a second birthday, but better! Why?

The bad thing about birthday is that not everybody knows it’s your birthday. This can’t happen with your name day! In the Czech Republic you can hear on the radios: “Congratulations to all Michals today! If you know any Michal, don’t forget to wish him happy name day today!” Not only is it written in all calendars, it will be reminded to you in newspapers as well. Your friends can therefore never forget your name day!

The original list was the Catholic calendar of saints. For example Saint Michael’s feast was held on September 29th. As a result all Michaels, in Czech Michals, celebrate their name days on this day till today. Since name days are celebrated for centuries here, many changes were made to reflect the present-day usage of names so no one is left out.

In the past, parents were not allowed to choose just any name for a child in the Czech Republic. This has changed after the Velvet Revolution, although it is still common to choose the name from the name day calendar. If a person was given a first name that doesn’t appear in the calendar, he or she may very well be feeling left out for not being able to celebrate his or her name day at all.

The name day is commonly of a bit less importance than Birthday to Czech people. However since our names are one of the most important possessions we have in life, it is great that we celebrate it!

And yes, nobody asks you about your age on your name day!!

Did you know that Albert Einstein himself was in Prague? The famous German-born American theoretical physicist widely regarded as the most important scientist of the 20th century and one of the greatest physicists of all time was walking the streets of Prague some 95 years ago! He did not only visit Prague, he actually worked here!

Later Nobel Prize winner in Physics, Albert Einstein, came to Prague in 1911 when he was 31 with his family – his wife Mileva and two sons, Hans Albert (7 years) and Eduard (1 year). Einstein was appointed a full professor at the German University in Prague. He held lectures about mechanics and kinetic heat theory.

A new flat was built for Einstein and his family in the Prague district Smichov. They lived in Lesnicka 7 at the left bank of the Vltava River. But Einstein spent most of his free time in the salon of Mrs. Bertha Fanta on the Old Town Square where a debating circle met regularly. Famous participants apart from Einstein here were writers Max Brod and Franz Kafka. Einstein liked coming here with his violin and between literary discussions he took part in musical events to entertain his friends.

Einstein’s years in Prague are an important milestone in the life of this important researcher and philosopher. In Prague Albert Einstein found – according to his own writings – the necessary composure to give the basic thought of the general theory of relativity (1908) a more definite shape. During his 17-month lasting stay in Prague, Einstein wrote 11 scientific works, 5 of them on radiation mathematics and on quantum theory of the solids.

You can visit the place where famous Albert Einstein played his violin. Look for a memorial plaque outside a house on the Old Town Square. It reads:

“Here in this salon of Mrs Berta Fanta, Albert Einstein, Professor at Prague University in 1911 to 1912, founder of the theory of relativity, Nobel Prize Winner, played the violin and met his friends, famous writers, Max Brod and Franz Kafka.”

You may have already noticed on the streets of Prague those not very well dressed people who are standing outside at any weather conditions and in their hands holding magazine called NP. Who are they and what is NP?

Those people are homeless. They stand by most of the bus, tram or subway stations in Prague, selling NP. NP is a magazine that can be translated as a New Room. It is a street paper whose philosophy is to give the homeless the opportunity to earn their living through their own effort. The motto used is “a hand up, not a handout”, as work is seen as more sustainable than simple providing aid. Those homeless are not begging for anything, they want you to buy the magazine.

These publications help to build bridges between the very poor and the wider public and help people to understand the underlying issues to social exclusion and take action. The main goal is to make homeless people part of society. For the vendor, it is an offer of positive experience of self-help that breaks through the isolation that many homeless people experience. It is a direct help that costs you only 30CZK.

And how it actually works? The homeless vendors buy the magazine from the non-profit making businesses at 50 per cent of the cover price, which is 30CZK, selling it on their reader for 100 per cent, keeping the profit, which is 15CZK. The 15CZK that goes to the organization is used to provide social support for homeless people.

So if you are in the mood and want to do a good turn, buy yourself this NP magazine. Even if you don’t understand a word Czech, you will help a good thing.

However, do not mistake those selling NP for those offering “Strazna vez” (in English Watchtower), who are also standing near any public transportation. Those with “Strazna vez”, magazine which is half the size of NP, are very clean and in no need of help. They are Jehova´s Witnesses.

Now it is the perfect time of the year to visit the Museum of Communism! For Czechs, November and December are months when they remember their Velvet Revolution from 1989, which brought back democracy into this country after many years.

Especially now around November 17, which is the day commemorating the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy, in this museum you will feel like you went back in time. After a tour, you will be more than happy to walk out from this museum into a democratic world!

This museum focuses on the totalitarian regime in the former Czechoslovakia, especially Prague, from the communist coup in February in 1948 to its rapid collapse in November 1989. It presents the original items and meticulous installations containing authentic artifacts.

A variety of fields are represented, including daily life, education, arts, media propaganda, secret police and other. You get to see the historical classroom, the grocery store or even the interrogation room. There is also a room where you can watch a documentary film about the time period from the Soviet occupation in 1968 till the Velvet Revolution in 1989.

Museum is divided into three main rooms, representing the communist dream, reality and nightmare. There are historical explanations in Czech, English and German to every main event in communist Czechoslovakia, giving quick overview about the situation. You will be shocked after seeing the numbers of people, who were held in prison for political reasons, sentenced to work in uranious mine, or even to death!

It would be a great tragedy if Communism disappeared from the earth without leaving behind an indelible memory of its horrors. Public should be educated about the human rights violations of communist regimes, otherwise the future generations may experience it again.

The purpose of the Museum of Communism is therefore clear – to disseminate the awareness of people about those crimes committed by communist regimes on the example of Czechoslovakia.

The museum is located just a stone’s throw from Wenceslas Square, on Na Prikope 10, in the same building as McDonalds, a branch of that ultimate symbol of capitalism, how ironic! It is not far from the subway station Mustek (line A and B), or Namesti Republiky (line B). Entrance fee for Adult is 180 CZK, students pay 140 CZK. Museum is open daily from 9 am to 9 pm.

Yes, I am going to write about the National Museum since it is the oldest museum and at the same time the most distinguished and largest museum in the Czech Republic. Plus there are some interesting things you may not know.

So, the National Museum is dominating the top of Wenceslas Square. You can’t possibly miss it. It is a monumental Neo-Renaissance building, built in 1885 and 1890. It is a great symbol of the climax of the Czech national revival, a celebrated monument to Czech science and culture.

Many distinguished figures from the cultural and scientific life of the day took part in the founding of the museum. One of the most important of which was historian and Czech political leader Frantisek Palacky, who is now on the 1000 CZK banknote.

At present the National Museum shelters almost 14 million of items from the area of natural history, history, arts, music and librarianship, located in tens of buildings. Throughout the entire year, visitors may view the permanent exhibits of the National Museum as well as a number of temporary exhibits.

In the permanent exhibition you may wonder at collections such as palaeontological, mineralogical, zoological, which is most adored by kids, and other.

What you may not know is that this great symbol of Prague has been damaged twice already in its history. First time in 1945, during World War II, by a bomb. Second time it was damaged in 1968 Warsaw Pact intervention. The main façade was severely damaged by strong Soviet machine-gun and automatic submachine-gun fire. The bullet holes in sandstone pillars can still be seen because lighter sandstone was used during repair.

The beautiful interior of the National Museum is often used for movie shooting. To name some, for example many scenes of the Mission: Impossible movie with Tom Cruise, or the comedy Euro Trip, or lastly the new James Bond: Casino Royale with Daniel Craig, whose World premiere is scheduled for 14 November 2006.

The National Museum is open every day from 9 am to 5 pm. Only be careful about first Tuesdays of every month – that is when the museum is closed. You can reach it by subway A or C (green and red line), station Museum. Adults pay 110 CZK, student 50 CZK. Children under 6 have free entrance.

Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic in the very heart of Europe, is a truly romantic city that touches everybody’s heart. In fact, Prague is a synonym of romance for many people. Alongside Paris and Rome, Prague belongs to romantic destinations for special occasions such as marriage proposals, wedding ceremonies or honeymoons. That doesn’t mean that I want to force you into marriage! This article is not only for about-to-be-engaged couples or newlyweds. It is for all who love romantic walks. Whether you want to undertake this alone, with a good friend of yours or with your special someone, that is totally up to you.

Prague rates as one of the most beautiful cities in the world mostly because of its architecture and atmosphere. Prague is full of magical scenic views, historical sights, winding cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages, old-fashioned street lamps, charming gardens and many other romantic places inviting everyone to enjoy it. It is really fortunate that Prague has managed to survive the destruction of both World Wars, as well as Nazi and Soviet occupation almost unhurt! So now the beauty of Prague is here for you to enjoy it! Let the allure of Prague enchant you and your loved one!

At night, Prague is even more romantic and beautiful than during the daylight! Do you doubt this? Do you thing it is not possible for Prague to be even lovelier than as it is now? Just wait till it gets dark and see!

Starting by the National Theatre, when it is dark out, I would fully recommend you to walk along the river Vltava towards the Charles Bridge. You will have the chance to marvel at illuminated Prague Castle together with the Charles Bridge. And believe me, at night it is even better! Have a look at the river how it glitters with all the lights! I love this sight!

Continue slowly to the Charles Bridge and than across. Charles Bridge at night is with one world – wonderful! There is less people that during the day and that means you can fully enjoy the charm and spirit of Prague! It is really romantic and you get to see not just the magnificent view of Prague Castle itself, but the National Theatre, as well as St. Nicolas Cathedral and other bridges across the river Vltava! I would vote it the most romantic place in Prague, maybe even in the world!

And don’t forget the Old Town Square – which is a wonderful place as it is, but wait till you see it at night when all the lights are on! Here the pure romance begins! You so have to see the Prague Astronomical Clock, Church of St. Nicholas, Old Town Hall and Tynsky chram all lighten up! It is marvellous! Not to mention that it is not at all as crowded as during the day, so you have almost the whole square for yourself!

And final advice for the gentlemen – to create the perfect atmosphere, buy your lady a flower! In Prague florists, flowers are not expansive, and it will definitely impress every woman! Let those moments in Prague be unforgettable!