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unique czech gift ideas
it’s tough to figure out a meaningful gift to bring home from your holidays sometimes… especially a product actually made in the country and not shipped from china with “prague” emblazoned on it. why not try these ideas next time? totally czech, and your loved ones will definitely appreciate them. 1/ becherovka, the most popular herbal liquor choice! made from a secret blend of over 100 herbs and minerals from the karlovy vary region. (i don’t recommend trying to bring czech beer- too much hassle) also recommended: slivovice or moravian white wine. the more homemade/local, the better. 2/ oplatky, especially the kolonada brand. they’re round wafer cookies that come in many…
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in prague: botanical garden
as a spring baby, i have developed a great love of visiting some sort of garden on my birthday. early may is usually prime time to see certain flowers in bloom and everything around looks positively lovely. so when one of my friends here in budějovice tipped me off that the butterflies are hatching from their chrysalises at a special event on the prague botanical garden in troja, i mentally made my afternoon plans. the garden isn’t located in the center but rather the far reaches of prague’s seventh district, beyond holešovice. the butterfly event goes from early april to early may (just over one month), so we were there…
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prague birthday
hi friends! i just took two full days off from doing anything except having birthday adventures, and it was quite a wise decision, really. by the time my head hit the pillow on night two, i was completely exhausted. the good kind, like you want. i spent it in prague this year and started the day with a growling stomach, so decided to finally give cantina a try. back when i was living in prague and totally broke, i would walk past this restaurant on the way home from going to the supermarket and wish that someday soon i could go here, as it has reputedly the best mexican cuisine in…
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expat’s dream: the dutch pub, prague
this is the land of beer. czech republic makes it’s famous claim as both home to pilsner (from plzeň) and the original budweiser (from here in budějovice, international name budweis). so don’t hate me for going to prague’s new dutch gastropub near národní třída . it’s just…. i love belgian beer way too much. czech beer is wonderful, but since the last time i was in the benelux region was about eight years ago, i am really missing my favorite belgians right now. (i’m talking about the beer) the dutch pub is a huge complex, yet somehow manages to feel really homey with its wooden round tables, football playing on…
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of markets & museums, prague
i finally got to see those famous prague easter markets the day before easter sunday after missing them by chance for a few years, and i have to say, i don’t know what i was expecting (perhaps something more low key like budějovice’s easter market?) but they completely surpassed any expectation. i am well familiar by now with the extravaganza that is the prague old town square christmas market, and the easter market was basically the spring version of this. same viewing platform that you can climb to get a good view. same kingswood cider tent, only decorated for spring this time. i loved the (fake) cherry blossom trees that…
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a tree blooms in žižkov
žižkov is one area of prague that i never really got to know on a personal level. it’s supposedly got the most pubs per capita of anywhere in the world and is well known as a place where expats congregate and live because of cheaper rents and um, said pubs. my prague expat existence never included ol’ žižkov as i was swept from crumbling kolbenova to plush malá strana in one day (and ohhh, what a day it was). but a part of me can’t help like i missed out on the experience, with our schmancy st. nicholas cathedral and trdelník on demand (well, we were pretty broke then; i…
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the lennon wall, prague
the lennon wall started in prague in a tiny little hard-to-find lane on velkopřevorské náměstí in prague’s malá strana quarter in 1980, when the world heard the news about the assassination of john lennon on december 8th of that year. the world was stunned, and those hopeful peace and freedom lovers (and john disciples) took to painting this wall as an expression of grief using it almost like an altar. although the communist government at the time didn’t like it, they mostly turned a blind eye and it became a place of art and rremembrance to commemorate john. it’s a wonderful prague landmark, enjoyed by lennon fans and other tourists who…
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second czechaversary
i’m the kind of person that can’t help but to remember anniversaries of everything. if i met you once ten years ago, i probably still remember your birthday (with a couple days of leeway, of course). so it stands to reason that i think about and celebrate every little milestone associated with living abroad. mostly because i am still amazed that i had this kind of hare-brained idea to leave my job in seattle and fly across the world. not only that, but there is a wonderful country that has let me live here for two years now: the czech republic. i didn’t even really know when i became an…
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falling in love on the road
some love stories from the road involve a certain special guy or girl, but mine are with a special city. i have told many a tale here about my undying love of berlin, but while i was studying there i unexpectedly fell in love with a different city. a city that i fortunately happen to live very close to now. she’s praha, the golden city. the city of a thousand spires. and while i visited her for the first time a year before this, it wasn’t until the next year when i really opened my eyes to her and saw all her quirky brand of loveliness. i was hanging out in prague…
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prahably, october
we were in prague for the weekend under the pretense to take in the signalfest– a newer festival in only its second year a little bit like berlin’s festival of lights. however, the whole deal with signalfest is that it’s only over a couple days instead of a couple weeks and the projections are actually short films (around 5 minutes long), projected on famous prague landmarks and incorporating the architecture playfully into the film as well as some almost 3D effects. so, signalfest was pretty cool. except that prague was packed. i mean, to the gills. thousands of tourists descended upon the city for the weekend and it was near…
