Eighty-two years ago today, on March 15, 1939, Hitler gave Czechoslovak President Emil Hácha a stark choice: accept becoming a protectorate or face destruction. After Hácha reluctantly agreed to give up his country’s independence the German army started moving in. It was the beginning of six long years of occupation. On September 30, 1938, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, French Premier Edouard Daladier, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Pact, which sealed the fate of Czechoslovakia, virtually handing it over to Germany in the name of peace. Although the agreement was to give into Hitler’s hands only the Sudentenland, that part of Czechoslovakia where 3 million ethnic Germans lived, it also handed over to the Nazi war machine 66 percent of Czechoslovakia’s coal, 70 percent of its iron and steel, and 70 percent of its electrical power. Without those resources, the Czech nation was left vulnerable to complete German domination. No matter what concessions the Czech government attempted to make to appease Hitler, whether dissolving the Communist Party or suspending all Jewish teachers in ethnic-German majority schools, rumors continued to circulate about “the incorporation of Czechoslovakia into the Reich.” In fact, as early as October 1938, Hitler made it clear...
Unlike Vyšehrad and its impressive fortification, which is on almost every tourist’s to-do list, Bastion is a gem hidden not only from Prague’s first-time visitors but also from many locals. Originally built during the times of Charles IV, the wall created a defense perimeter in order to protect the medieval city from any threat that loomed outside. Once it lost its purpose, Bastion, which lies at the opposing end of Nuselský bridge from Vyšehrad and can be accessed via Horská st. or down from Folimanka park, has been neglected for generations. Recently, however, Prague commissioned a revitalization of the former fortification, tearing down the leftovers from the derelict 19th-century building, erecting a new structure which currently serves as a rather fancy restaurant, and turning the rest of the fortification into a park with benches. In my opinion, Bastion serves as a great example of how to elegantly revamp and utilize public spaces in a city. A tasteful combination of corroded steel, stone bricks, and a green lawn blend perfectly, subtly incorporating the park into its local surroundings. With an amazing view of Vyšehrad, this is a great destination for a walk, and I personally love going there simply to sit...
Praguers are complaining about the beer bikes, special vehicles driving through the historical centre with tapped beer served aboard up to 15 people who are “cycling,” and the City Hall is considering banning this. According to Jan Wolf of City Council, “at the moment, one of the possible solutions seems to me to ban this mode of operation in places where there is a ban on alcohol consumption in public areas. This solution would be accompanied by a simple enforcement by the Municipal Police”. Now Prague 1 has support from Prague City Hall and it has also responded positively to a proposal to deal with “visual smog” as Prague 1 calls the various Disneyland characters wandering around Old Town Square. Prague Councilor for Culture Helena Třeštíková said on Tuesday that City Hall is preparing a directive which would curb these commercial attractions in the center of Prague. Marek Beneš, Deputy Chairman of Prague 1, agrees with the restriction of beer wheels. “This type of business is completely contrary to the interests of the population, the historical tradition and the spirit of old Prague,” he said. He added that similar issues should be addressed conceptually and therefore proposes the creation of a...
The Post Office City Costs Barometer 2019 has revealed the cheapest places for a European weekend break. The ranking looked at the total cost of two nights of accommodation plus the average price of typical tourist items in 48 cities in Europe to determine which ones offer the best value for money. Along with the average cost of two nights of accommodation for two adults in a three-star city centre hotel, the study looked at the combined average prices of the following typical tourist items: a three-course meal for two with a bottle of house wine, a cup of coffee, a coca-cola, a beer, and a glass of wine, a return bus or train transfer from the airport to the city, a 48-hour city travel card, a sightseeing tour, and a visit to a leading museum, a gallery, and a heritage attraction. Emerging cities Vilnius in Lithuania and Belgrade in Serbia were found to offer the best bargain breaks for 2019 by far, in a study of 48 cities. At the other end of the spectrum, Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, is Europe’s most expensive city. Porto was the only city in Western Europe to crack the top ten, coming in at sixth place. The biggest falls were for...
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated for the entire weekend in Prague. This is because every year, more and more expats & locals are loving and supporting the traditional celebrations that make up St. Patrick’s day. Now there aren’t a lot of Irish people in Prague, and St. Patrick’s Day really has nothing to do with Czech’s, but Czechs love a good party and partying in green for St. Patty’s is something to warm up the chilly weather. As with other notable structures around the world celebrating this holiday, the Petřín Viewing Tower, also known as the Little Eiffel Tower, will be lit in green on the holiday. Petřín’s new illumination for these events has been approved by city councilors, and could open the doors for the tower to sport some more colors in the future. However, not everyone agrees with the lighting. The Prague Conservation Reserve issued a statement asserting that the illumination should only be granted for national holidays and “extraordinarily” important days. One traditional symbol of Saint Patrick’s Day is the Shamrock. “Shamrock” is the common name for several different kinds of three-leafed clovers native to Ireland. The shamrock was chosen Ireland’s national emblem because of the legend that St. Patrick had used...
Vinohradský Pavilon is an interesting alternative to the conventional shopping centres that are most of the time overcrowded and can become horrible experiences instead of pleasurable ones. In particular, this place is situated in a former marketplace building and was reconstructed into a modern, three-story shopping gallery with a slightly industrial look and with various interior design shops, home accessories, electronics, lighting ideas, florists or even bikes. All the brands come from the Czech Republic and are unique when it comes to style and design. However, prepare your budgets, because some of the goods presented can be pricey, but if you decide to invest some money into your house interior, you can truly find some masterpieces with the best quality. Alternatively, you can just come and gather some ideas for your dream house (that is what I do all the time). There is also an open cafe in the middle of the centre for you to relax and have a break; it is from a coffee brand La Bohème Café and there is an actual coffee place just a few streets away (check out our article!). That is still not everything what you can find here: they also organise art exhibitions and...
Václav Havel Airport in Prague has been named as one of the best three airports in Europe at the Airport Service Quality Awards. The airports at Athens and Helsinki shared the prize with Prague as the best airport in the 15 million to 25 million annual passenger category. According to a survey by polling firm Median, 97 per cent of passengers consider the airport to be either ‘very good’ or ‘rather good.’ The awards are based on 640,000 passenger survey results in 84 countries. The Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme is the world’s leading airport passenger service and benchmarking programme. The ASQ Departures programme measures passengers’ satisfaction across 34 key performance indicators. Three-quarters of the world’s 100 busiest airports are part of the ASQ programme which means that, in 2018, more than half of the world’s 8.3 billion travellers passed through an ASQ airport. A range of new award categories, recognising excellence in segments of the customer experience announced earlier this year, have produced a diverse group of winners, illustrating the commitment to the customer experience of airports around the world. Author: red
Firstly the transport of people, then meals and finally packages. Modern transport services that want to make full use of their drivers and give them the possibility of additional income opens up entirely new possibilities for urban transport. Taxis and other alternative services will be used for passengers and to take the food from the restaurant to the customer. Czech Liftago launches its cooperation with Zásilkovna and therefore also with all the e-shops that are offered by standard delivery to one of the Zásilkovna branches. In practice, when completing a purchase, the customer can choose express delivery from the shipping options and then enters a request for one of the Liftago drivers in the vicinity that picks up the package and delivers it to the customer along the way. This can fill the time while waiting for other passengers or just extend the normal rides. Like express delivery from online supermarkets, the service will obviously cost more than traditional delivery to the store. However, over time, it can not only be cost-effective but also involve other partners. “We see our offer of services as a digital logistics platform with a wide range of logistics solutions, and the new delivery model...
The Czech Hydro-meteorological Office says this winter has been one the warmest ever in this country. Temperatures in the months of December, January and February were above long term average. The daily air temperature from December 1, 2018 to February 28 was 3.6° C. This is 3.3° more than the average value of many years of observations. The oldest Czech meteorological station, Prague’s Klementinum, has been monitoring temperatures since 1775. In recent times, both summer and winter high temperatures have broken records. The warmest of winters ever recroded was in 2006/2007, when the average temperature was 5.8 degrees Celsius. Author: red
This year’s edition of the Prague IFF – Febiofest will bring a number of world famous names to the Czech capital, including the US film star Peter Fonda. The actor, perhaps best-known for his role in the cult film Easy Rider, which he wrote and starred in alongside Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson, will attend the festival’s gala opening on 21 March. The Golden Globe winner will receive Febiofest’s Kristián award for lifetime contribution to world cinema during the ceremony. Peter Fonda’s programme to include Easy Rider screening and master class Peter Fonda will come to Prague for the very beginning of the festival. During his stay he will present Easy Rider, the film that kick-started the New Hollywood era in the laidback 1960s and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay. The actor, who is 79, will also introduce Outlaw Blues (1977), a romantic drama set behind the scenes of the country music business and Ulee’s Gold (1997), which earned him a Golden Globe as well as an Oscar nomination. Fans of the acting great will also be able to attend a master class given by him on Friday 22 March. French actor-director Louis Garrel brings...
SCAT Airlines has confirmed that the carrier will launch a new regular scheduled connection between Prague and Astana. Effective 2 June 2019, the airline will service the capital city of Kazakhstan twice a week, every Thursday and Sunday, using Boeing 737. Based on Prague Airport’s estimates, the new route will be used by approximately 24 thousand passengers a year in both directions. “The launch of regular scheduled flights on the Prague – Astana route is the result of over a year-long negotiation which involved, alongside Prague Airport, the representatives of Embassies of both countries involved and CzechTourism. For quite some time, we have recognised the growing potential of Kazakhstan as one of the most important markets within the post-Soviet state. The new route will primarily be used by Kazakh tourists. However, we have a reason to believe that it will also support the outbound tourism from the Czech Republic and help enhance business relations between the countries,” Vaclav Rehor, Chairman of the Prague Airport Board of Directors, said. The route has suitable connections with five cities of Kazakhstan: Almaty, Shymkent, Taraz, Ust-Kamenogorsk, and Pavlodar. The days of the flights are Thursday and Sunday. “We are sure, that the connecting of two...
Spectaculare Festival connects music with other forms of visual art such as film, theatre, video art, and photography. The aim is to present the latest trends in the field of audio-visual culture. The festival was founded in 2014 by Radio 1 DJ and music promoter, Josef Sedloň. What is the thought or creative process behind selecting acts for the Festival? Josef: “It’s very spontaneous, sometimes someone suggests me an act or I will listen to an unknown artist and I will bring them, or it could be an artist that has performed before and I’ve grown to respect their art so I invite them again. It’s so spontaneous, sometimes I’m inspired during the year.” Ewan: “Spectaculare festival has been so far a festival about music. Josef and Jakob and the other people from the team asked me if there was a dance performance or a live theatre performance that I would recommend. This gave me the chance to bring to the festival some artist that I had spotted during my travels.” Are you already thinking of next years acts? Josef: “Not Now, I also do music infinity which I run throughout the year, So I mostly prepare for Spectaculare in...
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