October, Walnut Weather

There's a proverb that goes back to ancient Greece and has been adapted often over the years but one variant is "a wild woman and a walnut tree, the more you beat them the better they be". I don't know about the wild woman part but it's popular here to beat the walnuts down before they fall down. This is usually done in late September. So now you have to dry the nuts and mother nature seems to pick this late September and early October period to give high pressure, sunny and windy weather but, October will see "the turn". 1 in 3 years will see October have an "Indian Summer" period but then the frost will arrive and temperatures WILL drop. Only the hardy will be able to wear shorts so it's definitely a case of bring jeans and a jumper. Expect cold mornings but if the sun's out it'll be perfect touring weather.
We've got Jewish holidays on 5th, 6th, 12th and 13th which will mean the Jewish sites will be closed. We also have the National Independence Day on October 28th which is a public holiday.

In Prague

Famous Czech actor Jan Tříska died after falling from Charles Bridge into the river Vltava. He emigrated to the US from Prague in 1977 after signing the "Charter 77" human rights manifesto. He had acting parts in "People vs Larry Flint" and "Ragtime". My own favourite is a Czech film where he plays a soldier who becomes a teacher in a village school with a job of bringing the rowdy kids into line. He was 80 years old.

Taxi-wars

UBER is getting popular here. A recent study put them as often, but not always, the cheapest option. On the tested occasion that was even cheaper than the taxi company "Nelevnejsi" which means "cheapest". Bottom of the pile was a "FIX" taxi from the airport who was most expensive, drove the longest route and did not allow a passenger in the front passenger seat. Regularly seeing news reports about planned tax-demos in the city.

Autumn markets

Arts/craft/food markets spring up on all the main squares with the central decoration being a tree with no leaves on it. Substitute that tree with a Christmas Tree and add a bit of holly to the decoration and basically you are looking at what the Christmas Markets will look like.

Signal Light Festival

Signal Light Festival is spread all over the city from Republic Square, through the Old Town, New Town and across to the Lesser Town on the 15th, 16th and 17th. There are some day pieces but most of the action is in the evening. Read more on the Signal Light Festival page.

Trivia

There was an interesting article published on radio.cz about the link between Prague and 70s and 80s terrorists. Even I didn't realise that Carlos the Jackal stayed here at the Hotel Intercontinental and was monitored by the security services (StB) Read about it at http://radio.cz/en/section/czech-history/days-of-the-jackal-international-terrorists-in-communist-prague


If you are a wine drinker and even if you are not then Prague in October will still give you the chance to try the first wine of the year. The really early wine is known as Burčák (pictured) and some places call it "wine cider". It can be either white or red and can come in many flavours but it should be a little sweet and yeasty as it has not finished fermenting. Expect to pay @CZK50 for a 0.2L glass.

Old Town Hall Renovation

The Calendarium has been removed for renovation. The tower is now closed for renovation and the whole tower is now covered by scaffolding. At the time of writing the "Apostle march" was still working and the Astronomical Clock was still in place and working for the hourly procession. In a nice touch they are now covering the scaffold with graphics showing what the tower looks like.

Walking Tours

I've been working on a big project relating to the walking tours so in the November newsletter I hope to unveil that. In the meantime there have been some real characters on the tours and it's one of the things that surprised me how many people use their break so celebrate overcoming personal adversity.

I enjoy giving all the tours, sometimes solo travellers or families but mostly couples so the picture I picked from this month was a lovely couple, global travellers who wanted a more intimate style of tour. As much energy as I spend on the tours, this one proved that I can finish a tour more energised than I began it.

What's Been Happening on the Site

The walking tours project took up most of the time in the last month so I hope to unveil the changes in the next newsletter. I made a lot of page updates to the site.
I spent time learning how to use video editing software called "Camtasia 9". I made a little 5 minute video which hopefully will give you a bit of inspiration for your trip to Prague on the Livingprague Facebook Prague Inspiration Video.
Check the BLOG to see the latest posts on the site.

Prague by Month (preparation and things to do)

Prague in January
Prague in February
Prague in March
Prague in April
Prague in May
Prague in June
Prague in July
Prague in August
Prague in September
Prague in October
Prague in November
Prague in December

Newsletter Archive
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2017 September
2017 August
2017 July
2017 June
2017 May
2017 April
2017 March
2017 February
2017 January

Wishing you all a great October. Feel free to follow, share and leave comments about my content. My 3 page picks from this month are below.

Jason