Prague Streets – Elisky Krasnohorske A road typical for the area, Elisky Krasnohorske street is largely residential with a commercial ground floor. It takes it’s name from a famous Czech woman who opened the first state grammar school (high school) in Central Europe for girls on September 15th 1890 and who fought for women’s emancipation. … Read More
Zelezarstvi – Ironmongers Outside the city there is a ring of commercial areas where you’ll find a variety of superstores and there’s always a huge DIY centre like Bauhaus or Hornbach for buying homeware or bits and pieces for fixing things. But what about the centre of town? In town you’d go to an old … Read More
Book Review – To the Castle and Back To the Castle and Back is Vaclav Havel’s semi-autobiographical work originally published in Czech in 2006 with the title “Please be Brief” and translated to English along with the new title “To the Castle and Back” by Paul Wilson in 2007. Vaclav Havel served three Presidential terms … Read More
Restaurant Zvonice Some of the quirkiest restaurants in the city are largely hidden from view. In this case you can see this restaurant from hundreds of metres away, you just don’t realise it’s a restaurant because it’s built into a bell tower. In Czech bell is “zvon” hence the name of the Restaurant Zvonice meaning … Read More
ST Giles Church The ST Giles Church in Prague’s Old Town is fairly easy to walk past but it’s got a history and even a few quirky facts associated with it. So let’s dive in. The 13th Century ST Giles Church A Catholic Order called the Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint … Read More
Jachymov Work Camp When you meet a Czech communist nowadays and you try to engage in some discussion about what the Czech communists did to non-communist Czechs in the 1950s there’s often this defence about “not everybody was executed, many only went to work camps”. Let’s take a look at one of those places, specifically … Read More
Famous Czechs – Olbram Zoubek Olbram Zoubek is not a name that will crop up in many guidebooks. He has certainly left his mark on the country and one town specifically (and it’s not Prague) but tourists will wander past at least two of his public works in Prague without realising. Olbram Zoubek was born … Read More
Training Cafe Martin If you are in the Karlin area of Prague then between the “Karlinske namesti” and “Krizikova” tram stops you’ll find Cafe Martin which only opens Monday to Friday. It looks like a regular cafe with comfy seats, selection of teas and coffees, cake stand etc. But then you’ll realise why this is … Read More
Prague and Amadeus Filming Locations The multi-award winning 1984 film Amadeus was partly filmed in Prague. In this case, Prague is supposed to act as Vienna would have looked in the 1780s. Actually that’s not particularly difficult as much of Prague still dates to this era. The director, Miloš Forman, looked at potentially filming in … Read More
Strahov Brewery Strahov Brewery is an absolute Mecca for beer drinkers visiting Prague. Not the oldest brewery in the city by a long shot but it has an interesting history and it’s well worth a trip to this area of the city which is fairly high and so affords some stunning scenic views. Strahov Brewery … Read More