Czechmatediary

Do you remember Prague’s most boring (sometimes the most dangerous) quarter - Pankrac? Well, now it is not only the new Business center of Prague but it will be the changing station for new Metro D line. The city is planning to build 2 postmodern skyscraper buildings in the shape of the letter “V” but the plans had to come to a stop for a while. The UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee did not approve of the buildings because they are supposed to be 104 metres high, which exceeds the UNESCO 70-meter building limit; anything taller than 70 metres goes against the preserved historical city panoramas. What is the final verdict? (more…)

Every year a small number of the Columbia university students sign up for the Czech language classes. Why? The reasons vary; some of these people have a Czech heritage, some have Czech girlfriends, some are just plain crazy ;)….but most of them get weaned in by the option of studying for a semester in a beautiful Prague. Read about these students right here (click here).

CZ: Kazdy rok se nekolik studentu na Columbijske universite zapise na kurz cestiny. Proc? Duvody jsou ruzne; bud maji v sobe ceske koreny, nebo maji ceske pritelkyne anebo jsou to proste blazni ;)……nejvice zaku je ale na tento predmet prilakano skrze moznost studovani jednoho semestru v krasne Praze. Prectete si o techto studentech vice zde (kliknete zde).

Franz Kafka has become one of the most influential writers of all times. Most people know that he was born in Prague to a German speaking Jewish family and most people know of his quite unsettling disturbing stories such as the Metamorphosis, The Castle or The Trial. Not very many people know, however, that most of his novels were finished by someone else - his close friend, a fellow writer Max Brod. Dying Kafka actually ordered Brod to BURN all of his writings after he dies but Brod decided to disobey ( a good thing that he did!), finished and publish most of his works later. But that’s not all! (more…)

These are my (Michael’s) impressions of Ceska Republika, truly the heart (and possibly the soul) of Europe.

Fields of Yellow (Pole Zlutych) … and not just pale yellow but as my wife exclaimed “botanical sunshine”. We first see these as we land at Ruzyne airport and even the Czech woman sitting next to us does not know what flowers or crop this is. No one knows though we ask and ask. It takes my wife googling some odd set of words later to find out that these are likely fields of rapeseed to be grown as a sort of biofuel source. The site also suggested that this was not without its detractors within the country (perhaps a separate Czechmatediary expose). These fields stayed with us through rain or shine, brightening each day no matter the weather until near the end, the flowers were almost gone from the plants. (more…)

Where are you planning to travel this summer? Are you going to lay out on the beach somewhere in the Pacific or would you rather do some sightseeing and wonder around the streets of some ancient city like Rome? Why not do both? Prague not only has the medieval architecture but now it also has the beaches. The river that cuts through the center of Prague,Vltava, is opening up a new beach right by the Charles Bridge! (more…)

Do you like to visit Prague? And do you like to chew gum? Then you may be in trouble. Starting this July spitting out an old chewing gum or flicking off your cigarette butt may cost you 1,000 Czech crowns (which with today’s exchange rate means pretty much $1,000). And if you try to make it difficult for the police - like putting that gum back to your mouth claiming that it had accidentally just fallen out - then you may be charged up to 30,000 crowns!! What else is included (or rather excluded) under the new Clean Law? (more…)

Rohliky are the signature pastry of the Czech republic. They are something like a French baguette but without the French attitude:-) You can spread butter and jam on top, or you can cut them in half and make a meat-n-cheese sandwich. But they taste the best just eating them alone or dipping them in a glass of milk. I have been looking for the recipe for ever and I finally found one AND was able to convert the yeast amount into the non-metric measure (yes!!). Bellow is an actual picture of my first rohliky and I have to say, it turned out pretty good considering that I don’ t do much baking at all.

Konecne! Recept na rohliky pro nas, ty kdo ziji v cizine! (more…)

Maybe Prague is your home or you may just have visited this city once. No matter how familiar with Prague one is, you cannot miss the remains of this “progressive” communist creation which is also the biggest thorn of the downtown - the city freeway. The 4-lane road is located “conveniently” right bellow the National Museum, on the top of the Wenceslas square. What does that mean for the pedestrians? It means that every time you want to walk from Prague 2 to Prague 1 (which is quite often) you have two choices: (more…)

Money is always a hot topic. Do you ever wonder who makes the most money? Is it the Germans? The Swiss? Or maybe the Dutch?? Well, the truth has finally been revealed. The biggest salaries are currently being earned by the Swiss, specifically those who work in Zürich. The current European salary table looks like this: (more…)

The notorious party celebrity,Paris Hilton, is arriving to Prague on Sunday. No, the purpose of her visit is not to check on the Prague-based Hilton hotel and see if all of the toilet paper is well stocked in the bathrooms. She is actually coming as a groupie! She is escorting her current boyfriend, Benjim Madden, whose band the Good Charlotte is going to be performing in Prague on Monday. That is not all, however. According to the very “trusted” source, the German gossip magazine Bild, Paris wants to conceive her first child with this guy AND on this tour. AND(!!) he (or she) is supposed to be named after the city the child was born in. (more…)