Dariya S., Author at Prague Morning

Launched a couple of months ago, ChciKrasu is the first beauty platform available in Prague.

Easier than ever, you can now choose English speaking beauty service based on your location, price, and timing preference.

Whether you want a facial, lash extensions, hair styling, manicure or hair removal, all you need to do is to choose a time slot that suits you on the platform and book it without having to call anyone.

Before your visit, you will receive an SMS with a reminder that will help you not to forget about your appointment. Once the booking verified, the last step is a quick confirmation from the salon.

You will also know the estimated price and the possibility to pay by card or cash.

“We launched the project on March 8th, one week before the quarantine. We were lucky to gather some valuable feedback and we had time to improve the service and get more partners. We tried to create ChciKrasu as simple to use as possible, so you won’t need any registration to book for a service you want,” says Valeriia from ChciKrasu.

“We are adding new partners every day, working on improving the system and usability. Currently, there are about 25 active beauty salons/specialists. Expats can book a beauty salon who speaks their language,” she adds.

ChciKrásu platform helps you find the right salon and service at the right time with no stress. The platform is constantly expanding its database of beauty specialists and services.

Follow ChchiKrasu on Facebook

Sometimes you are just too lazy to think of what to cook and what to watch especially with this cold weather outside. The Dutch Pub at Narodni Trida is meant to be the place you would love to hang out with your friends and family or your significant one. Come and enjoy homemade burgers, tv with over 500 channels, and even live music.

“Homeburgers” that is how they called here, are made with a unique recipe and include only fresh meat. Lunch menu would cost you 130 CZK with soup, main dish, and lemonade. The favorite beer here is Krusovice which comes directly from the tank. The kitchen is open so you can see the cooking process and maybe learn how to cook (joking). Also, it is possible to order fresh fish such as sea bass, shrimps and so on.

The capacity here is also reasonable – 180 people, the pub also has 2 sections: the first one is a bar area and the second one is more a restaurant section. Thus, you can choose according to your mood which area you go to today.

“It is not like a job for me, this place is like my child,” says Gabriela Košťálová the Dutch pub manager. The staff here is trying to connect special bonds with customers. “Customers for us are like friends, we like to have this friendly environment,” notes Košťálová. That is why some of the customers even spend the whole day here, ordering breakfast, lunch, and dinner and watching tv.

But that is not only the case, the staff also helped people if they lost the documents or needed any kind of help. “We are everything: google maps, nurses, lawyers, police,” she laughs.

You may have funny stories here and go a little bit wild at weekends and still come back without being embarrassed. “What happens in the Dutch pub, stays in the Dutch pub,” says Košťálová mysteriously

Nowadays, it became popular to have a healthy lifestyle. And certainly, those who are aware of good nutrition, also know that seafood is an essential part of it. Prague Mussel Week which is held from 23-29 September is an exciting opportunity to get to know more about seafood by tasting it in one of the mussel restaurants.

Mussels are not that common sea product to eat and that is a pity. Seafood is associated to be expensive and exotic for Czechs, salmon price usually is “scaring away” people for buying it. That’s why it is frequently easier to buy pork or chicken instead of that and nothing changes. “Eating pork every day is not very healthy,” says Pierre-Manuel Boels, HOPI CEE Fish Hub.

Mussels are not expensive (around 64 CZK per 1 kg) and are easy and fast to cook (4 to 6 minutes), it contains more of proteins, minerals and vitamins, and less of fat. “But be aware that mussels should be closed, if they are open, they are dead” claims Boels.

What might also be attractive is that Prague became a hub of seafood in Central and Eastern Europe. “We have the freshest fish on average in Europe because of our great location” says Boels.

So how does Mussel week work? For that you go online, select a restaurant, fill out the form and submit, after that you will get a special code, which you can show at the restaurant and get a discount of 50%.

“I am a mussel eater, every two weeks I eat 1 kg of mussels. I cook it in the Belgian style, which takes me exactly 4 minutes”, concludes Boels.

To select a restaurant and get your 50% voucher, visit the website

Okay, guys, calm down. Now you can loosen the reins of your visa questions a bit, and give it to Red panda’s hands. I know there are plenty of insurance agencies in the Czech Republic, but would they give you a cute panda? Or many other cool gifts?

Red panda is the largest insurance agency in the Czech Republic founded in 2011. About 56% of foreign students use its services. The agency also collaborates with all insurance companies for foreigners such as Maxima, pVZP, Uniqa, Slavia, Axa/Ipa, Ergo, pVZP Exclusive.

As soon as you become a member of Red panda (automatically right after you use its service), you can choose gifts up to 5000 CZK. Such tickets to Germany, a free meal at Brambor King, Italian wine and many more.

Usually, the process of preparing documents for a visa is stressful. Especially if you have a lot of stuff going on in life. “Our clients can fully rely on us and forget about doing everything on their own. We have people who leave for holidays and they don’t have to stress out about the visa by just signing the power of attorney under our company”, Rustam Galeev, Red panda’s founder says.

The office is located in the center of Prague, at Vaclavske náměstí, so you can barely miss it. As soon as you enter, a huge 2-meter panda will meet you in the waiting room. Kind and affable staff will offer you drinks and cookies while you can sit on a massage chair. The atmosphere is very relaxing and warm out there.

Red panda’s team not only provide service regards insurance but regards other important aspects. They are ready to accompany you to doctor’s or go with you to the police and speak Czech instead of you, answer all your questions for free.

“We basically provide full guidance to our clients and we pay attention and we care about small details”, Galeev states.

Maybe after watching movies or reading books like Gone with the Wind, Jane Eyre or Pride and Prejudice, you might want to dive into 19-20 centuries the same as I usually do. But how can you do it? For Praguers, there is an excellent opportunity to go to the Old Times Museum, which is located in one of the most popular areas in Prague – Mala Strana.

The exhibition Gentle Beauty of Cruel England runs until the 13th of October and illustrates the original costumes, accessories and other details of people particularly from 1850 to 1920. Moreover, the objects originally are not only from England but also from the US, Czech Republic, Australia, France, Canada, etc. The guides also turn on the old music related to those times, creating the atmosphere, as they also provide guests with imaginary situations, for example, tea-party in Victorian style. “People are usually surprised that they can be so close to everything and feel those times better,” says Zdenka Plchova the owner of the Old Times Museum.

And they can also see how memorial cards looked like, or even a sample of the marriage certificate issued in the Kingdom of Scotland in the 19th century between a couple who couldn’t do it in England. The parental consent was not needed in Scotland at any age; whereas England required signature usually from the bride’s father. There is also one of the dresses of Czech soprano Tereza Stolz, “she used to be Verdi’s muse’’, explains Plchova.

Women’s sizes of those times are shocking. The average size of the waist was 45 cm; the height was 160 cm maximum. However, men were also short compared to nowadays, -170 cm maximum. “We would love to wear dresses like this, we even tried to, but we are too big for them,” laughs Plchova, “Also we are scared to damage them” she adds. However, such a tiny waist was obtained by wearing lacing corsets from childhood, which obviously led to deformation of internal organs.

However, women slowly started getting rid of those “tortures”, as for instance, after the WWI (1920s) flapper dresses were created that were looser at the waist. In the course of time, we know that women’s rights have changed a lot. And that, of course, changed their dressing habits, for example, trousers and other “masculine” clothes became usual for women. In general, equality between genders somehow blurred the line between them. Old Times Museum shop offers original dresses and accessories from the 1920s and 30s or other actual objects for selling. This might help women of today to feel the times of “ladies and gentlemen’’.

Author: Daria S.