Bike to Heaven A 30 year-old man died in Prague on January 12th 2006. It did not make the national news but years later the unveiling of an artistically original memorial in Prague replayed the story, who he was, why he died and what the city did about it. This is the story of the … Read More
The Old Jewish Ceremonial Hall in Prague, there’s more than one! This building in Josefov is strongly linked to something called Chevra Kadisha and I’ll explain more about them below. Both the Old Ceremonial Hall and the adjacent Klausen Synagogue deal with Jewish customs and traditions. The Old Jewish Ceremonial Hall story is described on … Read More
Prague 1890 Flood One of the memorials which caught my eye in the 8th District on the edge of Karlin where it meets Invalidovna has the names of 20 people and an abbreviation “Rak-UH 3 Pol.Praporu”. Well the Rak-UH was easily translated to “Austro-Hungarian” and with a bit of extra effort it was revealed to … Read More
Prague Calvary The official title is the Statuary of the Holy Crucifix and Calvary. You may think this is just another statue on Charles Bridge. Actually you will find out that it was the original figure on the bridge, the most historic and the most religiously divisive. We’re talking legends and blasphemy. There are two … Read More
Via Ferrata Rock Climbing It’s not often a tourist will wake up in Prague, have breakfast and think “I know, I think I’ll go to Děčín”. Děčín (with all the Czech characters it pronounced “dee-et-cheen”) isn’t really on the map for most tourists unless you are off to the Bohemian Switzerland National Park where you … Read More
Františkovy Lázně If you are entering or leaving the Czech Republic from the west then you’ll be aiming for Rozvadov on the motorway but if you want a more scenic route then you’ll head for the Pomezí crossing. If you intend to cross at Pomezí you are just a 5 minute drive from the little … Read More
Czech Koláče In Czech it’s a Koláč (sounds like kolarch). More than one koláč is called koláče (sounds like kolar-chay). When Czech immigrants started arriving in the USA in the 1870s they brought it with them. It takes it’s name from the Czech word “Kola” which translates as “Wheels”. Czech koláče are defined as being … Read More
Memento Mori Underneath the Nusle bridge in Prague is the Folimanka Park and in the park is a street lamp. At first glance it looks like many other street lamps until you notice that the light is pointing upwards not downwards. It is Memento Mori, the Memorial to the Nusle Bridge Suicides. Back in 2004 … Read More
Bethlehem Chapel As well as the Bethlehem Chapel there are a few other reasons for visiting this area. You may be interested in Jan Hus hence you want to explore a place where he once preached. You may be looking for a good location for eating outside or you might be looking for a recommended … Read More
Prague Meridian Time has always been important to the residents of Prague and they even have their own “Old Czech Time”. But long before pocket watches became fashionable people knew what time it was or at least they knew when it was noon. The Prague Meridian is an invisible line but it’s also marked in … Read More