The Czech Republic is probably the most beautiful during fall when all the parks and forests are immersed in fall colors. There are various places to go to enjoy this picturesque season. The following four may be the best spots to enjoy autumn. Bohemian Switzerland This magical landscape is beautiful all year long but during Autumn it transforms into a full-blown fairy tale. The Czech Switzerland National Park is located in the north-western region of the Czech Republic and transcends the Czech-German border. Various castles have been built atop the sandstone mountains. Some of the most famous sights are the largest natural sandstone arch in Europe, a rock ravine, a rock labyrinth and the rock castle. During autumn the scenic mountains are outlined with fall-colored trees. It’s relatively easy to get to this region. It’s a 90-minute drive from Prague or you can take the train up to Decin and then a bus to Hrensko. Website: www.ceskesvycarsko.cz Bezděz Castle Located in the Liberec region just North of Prague, Bezděz combines historic significance and architectural beauty. Founded between 1260 and 1280, the Gothic castle was one of the most important in the Czech Republic until it was destroyed during the Thirty Years...
According to an analysis by Sodexo Benefity, lunch in a restaurant in September cost CZK 172 on average, CZK 5 more than in August and CZK 15 more than in January. People spent the most money on a lunch meal in a restaurant in Prague, at CZK 195. On the other hand, the cheapest price, on average CZK 153, was paid in establishments in the Olomouc region. “Given that the annual inflation rate reached 18 percent in September, and experts expect it to fall below the 10 percent mark by the middle of next year at the earliest, it is certain that people in Prague will pay an average of CZK 200 for lunch later this year. And with a high degree of probability, Central Bohemians will join them,” said Jan Michelfeit of Sodexo Benefity. At the beginning of this year, the average lunch cost CZK 157. The cheapest in September was in the Olomouc Region (CZK 152.6) and the Vysočina Region (CZK 154), the analysis showed. “Lunch prices have been rising continuously for the twelfth month in a row. They headed upwards in autumn last year, shortly after all covid restrictions were relaxed,” Michelfeit pointed out. The price is...
By: Abigail Calandra – Anglo-American University “Power(less)” or “(Ne)Moc” in Czech at DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague’s Holešovice neighborhood is an exhibition that combines works of contemporary and art brut artists offering unique perspectives on power and on mental illness. In Czech, “nemoc” translates to illness or sickness whereas “(ne)moc” means powerless and the exhibition seeks to explore these two central themes by featuring art brut artists. Art brut (“raw art”), or outsider art, is often intertwined with mental illness and it originated in psychiatric wards, as art projects by the patients. These outsiders create art out of a compulsive need— often secretly—rather than following the current trends of contemporary art. One of the exhibition’s three curators Otto Urban says there were several layers behind the creation of “Power(less).” Notably, the curators have sought to explore the themes of power and powerlessness and also to combine contemporary art with art brut in a way that required viewers to question which field the artworks came from. “We still believe that art has its specific power, not to change the world…but to point to certain questions, and certain problems,” said Urban. The extensive exhibition opens with a wall installation of...
Tens of thousands of Czechs gathered in the capital on Sunday to demonstrate their solidarity with Ukraine and their support for democratic values. The rally took place in reaction to three recent anti-government demonstrations where other protesters demanded the resignation of the pro-Western coalition government of conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala for its support for Ukraine. Those earlier rallies also protested soaring energy prices and opposed the country’s membership in the European Union and NATO. The organizers of the earlier rallies are known for spreading Russian propaganda and opposing COVID-19 vaccinations. The people who turned out Sunday in Prague waved the Czech, Ukrainian and EU flags while displaying slogans that read “Czech Republic against fear” and “We will manage it.” Sunday’s rally at central Wenceslas Square was organized by a group called Million Moments for Democracy, which was behind several rallies in support of Ukraine following the Feb 24 Russian invasion. The group also previously held massive rallies against the former prime minister, populist billionaire Andrej Babis, calling him a threat for democracy. The group said the anti-government protests, which united the far right with the far left. exploited the people’s fear of inflation and the war in Ukraine and were trying...
Andrej Babiš, former Prime Minister and leader of ANO, confirmed yesterday that he will run in the upcoming presidential election in January 2023. Speaking to TV NOVA on Sunday evening Mr. Babiš said the government’s inaction at a time of crisis had led him to accept the challenge. He said he would ask the party leadership to officially support his candidacy on Monday. General Petr Pavel would win the first round of the presidential election according to the latest election model from the Median agency. Pavel is polling at 25.4% support, with Babis at 23.5%. Economist Danuse Nerudova follows in third, with 10%. The poll also indicated that Pavel would win the second run-off round, with 59%. Support for Pavel has been increasing over time, while support for Babis has been stagnating. Respondents were asked which of two candidates they would prefer in the second round, in a variety of scenarios, and Babis would also lose against some other candidates. However, Median stressed that many voters have not yet made their final decision, and so the final result could be different. Senator Pavel Fischer stood at 8% in the poll, union leader Josef Stredula 7.5%, Senator Marek Hilser 5.5%, and...
ANO party leader Andrej Babiš has confirmed that he will run for president in the January 2023 election. Speaking to TV NOVA on Sunday evening Mr. Babiš said the government’s inaction at a time of crisis had led him to accept the challenge. The number of newly diagnosed HIV infections in Czechia between January and September of this year was about 18 percent higher than in the same period last year, the National Institute of Health reported. Health officials have recorded 221 cases of HIV so far this year. More than half of the positive cases registered are foreign nationals. Thousands of Czechs joined a demonstration in support of democracy and Western values on Prague’s Wenceslas Square on Sunday afternoon. The rally held under the motto “Czech Republic Against Fear: Together on Wenceslas Square” was called by the civic association Million Movements for Democracy. The interest of the Czech public in visiting cultural events such as concerts, festivals, theatre and cinema performances is still 30% lower this year compared to the pre-COVID year in 2019, despite a higher number of events, according to data released by the online ticket selling service smsticket. “Kaprkod” directed by Lucie...
For a good many music lovers, Mozart’s Don Giovanni might well be the finest opera ever composed. The composer described it as a comedy, but the comic elements are basically driven by Giovanni’s devious schemes. Nevertheless, through Da Ponte’s libretto and Mozart’s music we are always aware that these schemes will have some rather dire consequence. This brilliant combination of human tragedy and comedy establishes a disturbing ambiguity that stands at the core of this operatic masterpiece. The Don Juan subject had a long history of operatic treatment in Prague, and Lorenzo Da Ponte closely modelled his libretto—some would say copied the text—from a libretto by Giovanni Bertati for the opera Don Giovanni Tenorio, first performed in Venice in early 1787. The opera was originally scheduled for performance on 14 October 1787, for the Prague visit of the Archduchess Maria Therese of Austria and her new husband Prince Anthony of Saxony. However, the production was not ready in time, with the score probably completed on 28 October 1787. At least that’s the day Mozart himself recorded as having completed the opera. The premiere on 29 October 1787 was a resounding success, and a critic reported, “Connoisseurs and musicians say that Prague has...
On the occasion of Czechoslovak Independence Day, President Zeman presented high state distinctions to 78 outstanding personalities from different walks of life, 32 of them were awarded in memoriam. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received the Order of the White Lion, the highest state honour in the Czech Republic, in absentia. A representative from the Ukrainian embassy in Prague accepted the award on behalf of Zelenskiy. Zeman noted that Zelenskyy “showed courage and bravery. And, although the United States offered him an evacuation, he remained in the capital of his country, where he manages its defense.” The Order of the White Lion (Czech: Řád Bílého lva) is the highest order of the Czech Republic. It continues a Czechoslovak order of the same name created in 1922 as an award for foreigners (Czechoslovakia had no civilian decoration for its citizens in the 1920s and 1930s). It was inspired by the Czech Nobility Cross created in 1814 by the Emperor and King Francis I and awarded to 37 Bohemian noblemen. The state awards ceremony takes place every year on October 28. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021. The Order of the White Lion was also awarded to Josef Mašín, a member of the Czechoslovak Legions in Russia and later a member of...
Thousands of Czechs protested in Prague on Friday, demanding the centre-right government step down to allow an early election and calling for talks with Russia on gas supplies ahead of winter. The demonstration on a national holiday in Prague’s main square was the third organised by far-right political movements, fringe groups and the Communist party. Police estimated the crowd in the lower tens of thousands, less than the two previous rallies. The organising group “Czech Republic First!” opposes the European Union and NATO transatlantic alliance, and wants the nation of 10.7 million to be militarily neutral. Protesters waved Czech flags, chanted “Resign, Resign” and carried signs calling for an exit from NATO and the EU. “This is a new national revival and its goal is for the Czech Republic to be independent,” event organiser Ladislav Vrabel said. “When I see a full square, no one can stop this.” “Russia´s not our enemy, the government of warmongers is the enemy,” one speaker said. A smaller rally was held in the country’s second-largest city of Brno. The government has dismissed those demands. “We know who’s our friend and who´s bleeding for our freedom,” Interior Minister Vit Rakusan tweeted. “And we also know...
Representatives of Prague 1 and the Prague City Gallery unveiled the renovated Václav Havel bench on Maltézské náměstí in Lesser Town. “The tree, around which the bench table is placed, has become thicker, so we had to give it more space,” described the director of the Prague City Gallery Magdalena Juříková. According to her, the modifications were made with the consent of the copyright holders. The bench has not been on the square for about a year. The Václav Havel bench on Maltézské náměstí was the first one in the Czech Republic. It was placed there on 1 May 2014, on the tenth anniversary of the Czech Republic’s accession to the EU. Each of the benches, which can be found, for example, in Washington, Dublin, Barcelona, Tel Aviv, but also in Pilsen, České Budějovice, and Hradec Králové, are a memorial place dedicated to Václav Havel, Juříková said. It consists of two chairs connected by a round table with a tree growing through the center. The construction of the Václav Havel benches is a worldwide project initiated by Petr Gandalovič, former Czech ambassador to the USA, together with architect and designer Bořek Šípek. The intention of this project is to create...
Thousands rallied in the Czech capital Wednesday to honor two Slovak gay men shot dead this month outside a bar in Slovakia, and demanded better protection of LGBTQ people and their families. The gathering in Prague´s central Wenceslas Square was held the same day the funerals of Matús Horváth and Juraj Vankulic were conducted in Slovakia. Police said they boosted their presence at the Prague rally after they detained a man who was threating to use a gun against the LGBTQ people at the square. “We want to live without fear,” one of the banners on display read. “A terrorist intentionally killed LGBTQ people,” said Czeslaw Walek, one of the organizers. “Only by accident did he not kill more.” Walek said some 17,000 people so far have signed a petition calling on the Czech government and Parliament to approve legislation that would give LGBTQ people the same protection that ethnic, racial and other minorities enjoy. The petition also demands that the country allows same-sex marriages. The two Slovaks were killed two weeks ago in front of a bar, which is a popular spot for the local LGBTQ community in the Slovak capital of Bratislava. The 19-year-old suspect was found dead....
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. Czech lower house chairwoman Marketa Pekarova Adamova called at the parliamentary summit of the international Crimea Platform today for the establishment of an international tribunal for the crime of aggression towards Ukraine and said the perpetrators must be punished. Besides, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his aides must be prosecuted. No state of emergency national lockdown is planned this year because the situation is different than when a strong coronavirus epidemic wave started in Czechia one year ago, Health Minister Vlastimil Valek said at a press conference. Valek said newer vaccines and medicines are available and the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has different health impacts. The Greenpeace and Bund Sachsen environmental NGOs and the Czech civic association Uhelna have filed a complaint against the Czech-Polish intergovernmental agreement on the Turow coal mine with the European Commission. Greenpeace and the Frank Bold organisation said the agreement has not solved the negative impacts of the ongoing coal mining. The interest of the Czech public in visiting cultural events such as concerts, festivals, theatre and...
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