prague Archives – Page 26 of 28

Proposals to re-erect a Baroque column with a Marian statue in Old Town Square has led to a religious controversy.

A group of Catholics and Prague history enthusiasts hope to erect in the city’s central Old Town Square a replica of the original column built in the 1650s and torn down in 1918.

Its height reached almost 14 m and on the top, there was a two meters high golden-plated statue of Virgin Mary, in the corners of the stone railings there were four groups of angels fighting with evil forces.

The column was viewed as a symbol of the Habsburg empire. It was erected to commemorated Prague’s defenders against the Protestant Swedish army at the end of the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648.

The Marian Column was also very important for time determination because its shadow was showing the high noon during its fall over the Prague Meridian.

In the past, similar plans to re-erect the column were stopped under both Nazi and Communist rule when many Czechs turned away from the Catholic Church.

In 1989 — shortly after the fall of Communism — local Catholics and history enthusiasts set up the “Association for the Renewal of the Marian Column.”

Archbishop Dominik Duka of Prague has spoken in favor of the project but has done so only privately “as a Catholic and a citizen.” The archdiocese has not taken an official position.

However, the association has found itself caught in a bureaucratic tangle. It possesses a building permit — scheduled to expire in July — but not permission for construction to begin at a specific site.

Hence, the association’s members have twice thwarted from digging up the square’s paving stones by municipal police.

The remains of the Marian Column are nowadays placed in the Lapidarium of the National Museum in Výstaviště.

Author: red

Jakub originally comes from Martin (Northern Slovakia). He studied film editing and sound engineering. Back in his home country, he was running summer cinemas and a music club.

Recently, he moved to Prague as an opportunity came up in the shape of a 70m long boat, which wasn’t being used much at the time. The idea was to open an 80-seat cinema on it with a friendly atmosphere for film lovers to share their passion and hang out.

As a Slovak, he feels at home in Prague. Not only are the languages very similar and people understand each other mutually, but he also loves the fact that everything can be found in Prague. From quiet places and historical sites to busy places and modern sites, but the thing he finds the most important, are the wonderful people from all around the world that you can come across in Prague.

Go and meet Jakub on his boat. Enjoy a great mixture of alternative movies and selected blockbusters either on board or even outside the boat.

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The concept of “overtourism” has gained so much traction over the last few years, it was even named as one of the Oxford Dictionary’s 2018 Words of the Year.

Now, 20 more cities are on alert lest they turn into the future face of the problem, according to a new report from the World Travel & Tourism Council and commercial real estate firm JLL.

The report, called “Destination 2030,” examines the tourism “readiness” of 50 destinations around the world and groups cities into five types. The “emerging performers” category includes destinations where infrastructure and tourism momentum are growing along with the pressures associated with more tourists. Those cities were Bangkok; Cape Town, South Africa; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Istanbul; Jakarta, Indonesia; Mexico City; and New Delhi.

Another 13 cities — called “mature performers” — were described as having an established tourism infrastructure, strong leisure or business travel, and good positioning to manage current growth levels. “But there is a risk of future strains related to visit volume, infrastructure or activity that is testing readiness for additional growth,” the report said. It listed Auckland, New Zealand; Berlin; Dublin; Las Vegas; Lisbon; London; Los Angeles; Madrid; Miami; New York; Seoul; Seville; and Sydney in this category.

Some of the names most synonymous with crowds fell into the “managing momentum” type: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris, Prague, Rome, San Francisco, Stockholm and the Canadian cities of Toronto and Vancouver, B.C. Those are described in the report as having established tourism infrastructure and urban readiness but heavy leisure travel volume “with potential to cause strain on the city.”

The number of tourists arriving in Prague has been increasing steadily. Back in 1989 there were 1.6m tourists arriving in the Czech capital. In 2000 the figure was 2.6m and in 2017 as many as 7.6m, according to figures from Prague City Tourism.

A Euromonitor study (2017), noted Prague had become the fifth most visited destination in Europe, after London, Paris, Rome and Istanbul, and experts are predicting further growth.

Prague will host an event for all Italian tin-wasp enthusiasts. This year, it’ll take place one month earlier than usual – from Friday, 21st till Sunday, 23rd of June 2019.

The traditional meeting of the Vespa owners from various countries takes place at the Dzban site near an artificial lake.

“We have participants from the neighboring countries, Poland, Austria, and Germany. There is also one woman from Italy who drove some 1000 kilometres alone on the way to Prague, and some Dutch people. We are still waiting for one from Albania,” said Simon, vice-president of Vespa Club Prague.

Some participants have brand new Vespas, while others are looking after their scooters for years carefully.

Several fans drive even historical Vespa scooters from the 1950s.

The scooter’s name means “wasp” in Italian as its engine sounds like a wasp’s buzzing. Others point to the scooter’s shape that resembles this black-yellow insect.

Programme:

Friday 21st June 2019

14:00 – info and registration stall (reception) open
14:00–21:00 – welcome, individual accommodation, refreshment
21:00–23:00 – night rides (small groups with road captains)
20:00–02:00 – party (camp + restaurant Šárka)

Saturday 22nd June 2019

09:00 – Breakfast
10:00–13:00 Grand parade ride through Prague city center
13:00–18:00 – Accompanying program at the campsite
18:00 – 20:00 Main evening program – restaurant Šárka
20:00 – 22:00 Live band Professor (oldies) (restaurant Šárka)
22:00 – 02:00 DJ (northern soul, ska, reaggae) and party

Sunday 23rd June 2019

09:00 Breakfast
Farewell, individual departures

I like hidden places and Kinského zahrada in Prague is one of them. The gardens seem to be part of Petřín, a huge hill with this miniature Eiffel tower sitting on the top, but are more private, hidden behind a wall.

Gardens were rebuilt in the English style in the 19th century (I read this fact while writing this article) and it probably explains why I see people having picnics on the lawn and why the place feels to me instinctively English.

Kinského zahrada is all about great views too. I don’t know why people love views so much…does it make us feel on the top of the world and all the things on it? Is it the combination of the magnificent and scary? I’m not sure myself, but I love them. And Prague is, thanks to its hilly nature, very generous with views.

You have to climb up a bit to catch the best views. I took this picture by the biggest lake in the park and it gives a pretty view of the eastern part of Prague, highlighting Prague’s Manhattan on Pankrac.

Author: Irena Schlosser. You can find the original article here

Spotted by Locals Prague is a blog (and iPhone & Android app) by locals who live & love their city.

You don’t get to try Portuguese food every day, do you? Experience Portugal (Zažij Portugalsko) might the best place to start (except for Portugal itself, maybe). A must for all fish-lovers among you, as well as for those who cannot resist some good wine!

You can expect an afternoon filled with food and wines from Portugal at the Anděl pedestrian zone, from 8.00 till 20.00.

Vendors will offer:

Francesinha: a sandwich originally from Porto, made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage like chipolata, steak or roast meat, and covered with melted cheese and a hot thick tomato and beer sauce;
Bacalhau: (cod);
Caldo verde: a popular soup prepared with potatoes, collard greens, olive oil, and salt;
Arroz de marisco: means shrimp rice and is cooked with several types of shrimp, namely shrimps, clams, crabs, crayfish, mussels, and cockle;
Cozido à Portuguesa: traditional Portuguese stew prepared with a multitude of vegetables, meat, and smoked sausages;
Pasteis de Nata: popular egg tart pastry dusted with cinnamon

Admission free

Facebook event

CocoLove foodie is a small family business in Prague, created by a nutritionist with a lot of years of experience – Eliza Voss and a professional chef – Gregor Korczak.

CocoLove is 100% homemade food; the main aim is high-quality food products. They produce coconut milk (certificated by a laboratory), which contains only coconut pulp based on the filtered water.

Their main products are CocoLove Milk and CocoLove Musli.

CocoLove Milk (75% coconut, 25% filtered water)

CocoLove Milk is handmade coconut milk which is a good choice for everyone, who loves natural and organic food and great for diabetics (low-GI, no sugar, low carbohydrates), for people with lactose intolerance or even for vegans because it is a plant based product.

Thanks to MCT fats (medium-chain triglyceride), CocoLove Coconut’s Milk promotes weight loss in several important ways, is an instant source of energy that can also be used to fuel your brain, reduces lactate buildup in athletes and helps use fat for energy. You can use CocoLove for smoothies, pancakes, or you can drink it directly from a bottle as a hot or cold drink.

Price: 1l – 100CZK (if you will bring a bottle for a next picking up, the milk’s price is 90CZK)

CocoLove Musli  

The ingredients include dried banana flakes, dried apple, dried dates, brazil nuts, oatmeal, and fresh coconut flakes.  Such a combination of products causes rapid absorption of potassium, magnesium, selenium, calcium, phosphorus, and vitamins: B1, B3, B5, E and C, which are all synergistic with each other.  The mixture is in a 500ml bowl, to which you can only add milk (kefir or yogurt if you like).

This is a convenient option for busy people who do not have time to eat a wholesome breakfast. The breakfast set does not contain gluten or lactose (unless you add another milk drink). For diabetics, it is possible to change the dried dates into dried figs, thus giving the whole mixture a low glycemic index value.  

Price of breakfast set: 150CZK (250ml of fresh coconut milk and 130g/400ml of fresh musli).

On the 3rd of August, you can find CocoLove team at the Raw Food Festival in Prague (Cross Club, Plynární 1096/23, Praha 7) – where you can taste their raw & organic foods from nuts and coconuts.

On July 19th, Manifesto Market Prague Smichov will open its doors to the first visitors and make the unique experience of pairing elegant design, local and international food and cultural performances more accessible to the residents of Vltava’s left bank.

Manifesto seeks to revive Smichov’s unused yard of the historical Narodni dum communal building. This pop-up concept will have a shorter existence than its Florenc sibling and should move after this winter to another site in the same district.

“We are creating a new, exciting community hub near Andel, that seeks to reconnect Narodni dum building and local residents to the bounty of beautiful gardens, parks and Vltava riverfront nearby,” said Manifesto’s founder Martin Barry.

A new culinary garden

At Manifesto Smíchov, organizers will collaborate with fine-dining experts Zatisi Group and Sasazu and bring along a couple of Manifesto’s favorites – PokeHaus and Faency Fries, The Craft will test a new concept. There will be a new pop-up kitchen by the pan-Asian restaurant and Prague’s hidden secret Nebu. Pilsner Urquell will install four brand new copper tanks at the main bar for tank beer and Manifesto will continue to offer microbrews from Vinohradsky pivovar. Other local microbreweries will be invited on a regular basis.

The location on namesti 14. rijna is a few steps from Anděl transit and business hub, Nový Smíchov shopping mall, a 3-minute tram ride from Mala Strana’s Ujezd. Manifesto will continue to be a completely cashless place, in collaboration with Mastercard. The group will also launch new features such as a Manifesto prepaid card, and food delivery from all vendors in a single order in the coming months.

Design, Music, Culture

Manifesto Smichov will collaborate with Red Bull to present DJs, live musicians and free concerts and present music nights curated by the team of Ameba Production – the producers of the legendary Rock for People festival. The collaboration with Red Bull will also include film screenings, free to the public. Occasional dance and talk shows will be organized under the open sky, in the shade of the art-nouveau 111-years-old façade.

Regular blood donors will be able to use public transport in Prague for free for one year.

The idea is part of a project that the City Hall runs with the Czech Red Cross. The offer will concern donors who have participated in more than 80 blood donations.

According to the data, 736 Praguers reached this number last year.

The Czech Republic is lacking around 100,000 blood donors. While existing donors are getting older, fewer new ones are coming forward every year. Experts say commercial blood donation has also been contributing to the problem.

Transfusion centres say that the biggest shortage of blood occurs in the summer months when the number of accidents increases at the same time as many donors are away.

At present, there are some 270,000 voluntary blood donors in the country with a population of 10.5 million, which is far below the 4 percent of inhabitants that the Council of Europe recommends as a sufficient share of blood donors.

Over the past decade, the register of blood donors has been shrinking due to older people no longer giving for various reasons and a lack of younger people joining to replace them.

People are also concerned that they could get an infection from donating blood. Everything used to donate blood is disposable, and the risk of getting an infection from donating is zero, according to experts.

Blood can be donated at the Královské Vinohrady University Hospital, Thomayer Hospital, the General University Hospital, the Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, and the Military University Hospital

Author: red

The fourth edition of Metronome Festival Prague set to take place at the Prague’s Výstaviště exhibition ground will offer performances from some of the biggest foreign and domestic names from a series of musical genres, including British rockers Band of Sculls, who are the latest addition and will make their Czech debut at the festival.

Friday, June 21

Friday’s events will begin with the doors opening at 14:00 and Lenka Dusilová will launch proceedings on the main Metronome Stage at 17:00. Morcheeba will play at 19:15; and Liam Gallagher, former frontman of legendary brit-pop group Oasis will take the stage at 22:15. He’ll then take his Metronome set that could include some of Oasis’s biggest hits like the now-classic Wonderwall, Champagne Supernova, and Whatever, to Glastonbury. Gallagher will also play the biggest hits from his UK-chart-topping debut solo album, 2017’s As You Were.

The Moon Stage will be home to a number of projects from abroad that are all in-line with the times. The day begins at 16:00 with German electro-duo Ätna, followed by Polish indie-pop sensation Kamp!, and the midnight dance party will be directed by star British DJ Danny Howard, who will be followed by Dan Cooley.

The Radio Wave New Stage program will mostly be made up of domestic Czech performers, including John Wolfhooker, Lazer Viking, Khoiba’s comeback performance, and Manon Meurt. Slovakia’s The Ills will join this line-up, as will singer-songwriter and guitarist Lauran Hibberd, who will represent the young British indie music scene.

The Planetarium will also be part of the program hosting singer-songwriter Bára Zmeková (19:30) and award-winning electronica producer dné (22:30) in the evening.

Saturday, June 22

The Metronome Stage will first be transformed into a massive theatre for a screening of Šimon Šafránek’s excellent documentary King Skate. The first live music act, British neo-soul group Jungle, will perform at 17:15. The Hlasy svobody (Voices of Freedom) project, which will present a number of Czech female singers from several generations and genres in one performance, will be one of the festival’s remembrances of the 30^th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and the fall of communism.

The performers, including Lenka Filipová, Bára Poláková, Emma Smetana, Tereza Černochová, Monika Načeva, and many more, will take the stage at 20:00. They will be followed three hours later by one of the main headliners of this year’s Metronome Festival Prague, German electronica pioneers Kraftwerk and their world-famous 3D show. Each guest will receive special glasses so they can enjoy the 3D project to the fullest.

The ČT Park Stage will begin its Saturday program at 16:00 with a set by young Belgian hip-hop group blackwave. Anna Calvi, a phenomenal British guitarist and singer that’s one of the stars of today’s alternative music scene, will take the stage at 18:30.

The afternoon program on the Moon Stage will be left to domestic artists, with Ille, Die Alten Machinen, and Ohm Square performing in succession beginning at 14:45. Israeli musician, rapper, and singer Noga Erez, who the festival organizers believe has a great future in front of her, will perform at 21:45. Digitalism will begin their dance set 45 minutes after midnight, and experienced Warsaw-based DJ duo Last Robots will replace them at the festival’s official afterparty at 2:45.

The Radio Wave New Stage will be almost entirely focused on Czech performers from various genres. The program begins at 14:45 with a set from Nylon Jail, who will be followed by Viah, Margo, Market, Branko’s Bridge, Floex & Tom Hodge, and WWW.

The Planetarium will also see a range of genres with the Prague Film Orchestra performing at 21:45 followed by British-born Prague rocker Adrian T. Bell at 23:15.

Get your tickets here or here

The high temperatures in Prague have caused tram tracks to bend at Na Veselí street (Nusle). The incident was observed yesterday, Tuesday 5th.

The trams did not run for two hours along the Náměstí Bratří Synků – Vozovna Pankrác line.

The bended tracks at the spot were fixed by the same evening. The spokeswoman of DPP stated that this was the first big case for this year. The technicians had to cut the faulty track and place it back.

To prevent problems like this, drivers are instructed to slow down near vulnerable areas. The track spots with high sensitivity seem to be the tram tracks above the road levels and old ones.

Author: red

Czech Airlines has resumed flights from Prague to Odesa from May 30, 2019, according to a posting on the Facebook page of the Odesa airport.

The flights will be operated up to four times a week. In particular, from Odesa from May 30 to June 17 the plane will depart on Tuesdays and Fridays, from June 18 to July 1 – also on Sundays, from July 2 – on Thursdays.

Departure time is 5:00 local time. From Prague, from May 30 to June 16, the flight will be operated on Mondays and Thursdays, from June 17 flights on Saturdays will also be added, and from July 1 – on Wednesdays. Departure time is 22:45 local time.

The cost of a one-way ticket starts from UAH 2,700. Czech Airlines is the main airline of the Czech Republic and operates flights from Prague to the main destinations in Europe and Asia.

Author: red

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