March, Boots and Shoots
Photo: Walking Tour group with Prague Castle in the background.
I chose this picture for a few reasons. 1) It's a group bigger than my usual limit of six because they knew each other, 2) Three of the people on this tour had previously done another walking tour with me. 3) I loved Artur (the dog) and finally, 4) because although this picture is from February it looks like this is what you'll want to dress like in March.
What a month March usually is. It can be wind and snow. Or it can be warm enough for shorts. We can see the month forecast now and its leaning towards cold with a high chance of snow for most of the month. But don't worry, if the sun does come out it'll be nice and warm so find those sun traps. Evenings will be cool so even if the afternoon feels warm make sure if you go out mid-afternoon that you've got a jacket handy for later. In the last two weeks of March you should see the start of the opening of the outdoor eating areas even if they use space heaters.
We've got a split Easter this year with Good Friday on March 30th which is a National Holiday here now. Then you've got Easter Monday on April 2nd when we do the whipping but I'll cover that in the next newsletter.
Vehicles are required to have winter tyres and if you are heading up into the mountains especially north of the country then snow chains are advisable (just make sure you practice how to put them on). Landscaped parks and formal gardens are still closed.
What's Been Happening on the Site
Well the biggest change came from Google. Having rebuilt the livingprague.com website into it's current look and relaunching in January 2017, Google has taken it's time to establish that I'm still a trusted Prague source. Hence since January 2018 I'm receiving 40% more traffic than last year.
Now I've got the Pinterest save button working I've been adding more pictures to old livingprague pages so the site is more colourful. New posts will be added this month supporting the new walking tours.
I got requests from people covering many different subjects including the usual bar/restaurant/hotel recommendations but also people planning a trip to the Beer Festival, horse training, tracing the maker of a 1930s crystal candelabra and a cemetery visit came up this month
Check the BLOG to see the latest 150 posts on the site.
Walking Tours - https://www.livingpraguetours.com
If you've done a walking tour then you are welcome to leave a quick review on the LivingPragueTours Facebook page.
TWO New Tours
Would you believe it, you wait for one new tour and two come along at once. Details below:
World War Two Prague. As I explained in the last newsletter the WW2 walking tour is now online taking bookings with tours beginning mid-March. I already knew a lot about the events of the time but crafting it all into a controllable/adaptable walking tour takes a lot of effort. With a bit of background to start it takes you on a chronological journey from 1938 to 1945. As with the other standard tours it's 2.5 hours and costs 18 Euros. Take a look at the World War Two Walking Tour.
Czech Pubs and Tapas. Apart from the Christmas Markets I offered no regular tour with food and drink as part of it. So the easiest way for me to offer that was to take the existing Old Town and Jewish Quarter tour, shorten it and add three unique places to stop. During the course of the 2.5 hours you'll still get a lot of the Old Town and Jewish Quarter but with the addition of 3 beers and a light Czech Tapas meal (light as in two types of sausage, mixed beer cheese, fish, potato pancakes.....). Take a look at the Czech Pubs and Tapas walking tour.
3rd Party Selling
Are you are an individual or Travel Agent that wants to sell my tours to your friends or clients on a commission basis? then contact me and I'll show you how it works.
Ticket Insurance
For higher value tours i.e. more than 140 Euros I already offer a deposit/settle option. For people who want some level of insurance for any type of cancellation due to ill health, flight delays, work commitments etc, LivingPragueTours will now offer optional tour insurance package. It's planned to offer "peace of mind" i.e. tour cancellation for whatever reason or "standard" which requires a little more paperwork in order to claim.
Quick Links:
In Prague
Centenary Celebrations
2018 is the Centenary year of the independence of the country from Imperial rule. Specifically October 28th is the actual day but the whole year will be littered with events and I'll tell you about them in the Prague by Month section as the year goes on.
Olympic Celebration
The Old Town Square saw the Czech Winter Olympics team displaying it's medals. Star of the games was a girl called Ester Ledecka. Already a world champion at snowboard slalom she entered into that event and the Super-G skiing for which she also qualified. She won GOLD in both events. What rubbed salt in the wound of her competitors in the Super-G win was that she did it on borrowed skis.
February 25th
Anybody that has done my Old Town and Jewish Quarter tour knows that it's almost the first thing I talk about. The communists called it "Winning February" where, over the space of a matter of weeks, the country turned from being a democracy to being a Soviet controlled state. Knowing how it happened in Germany in 1933 and Czech in 1948 it just makes me a little nervous when I see any country appearing to use events to limit civil rights and change constitutions. This is also the date when many flowers and candles can be found at the Memorial to Communist Prisoners.
Taxi Wars
A real pain so far this year has been the go-slow taxi protests. You get some warning so you are somewhat prepared for it. Largely this is against companies like Uber and Liftago that offer "unmetered" travel. The fact that regular taxi metering applies a tariff to a distance and Uber/Liftago simply calculate the distance and apply a tariff is lost on many. So the town hall will "take a close look" and "encourage" the new guys to change their ways but notably, no legislation to enforce changes.
Old Town Hall Renovation
From January 8th until August 31st 2018 the entire Astronomical clock has been removed for renovation. If you want to see what you missed then check the Prague Astronomical Clock Striking 9am video.
Trivia
E-Shop with a feminine touch
A report showed that every sixth e-shop in Czech is run by a woman, usually expanding a hobby.
A Bad Cold
Flu has killed 10 people in Prague this year.
National Dish
Six YEARS after making the original request, "Prague Ham" has made it onto the European Union's "Traditional Specialities Guaranteed" list.
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