Czech Update

Police respond to Prague tourists's needs

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 31 May 2008 02:37:09 +0100

A new unit of Prague police will focus on the needs of tourists, particularly in crime prevention but also in helping them get around. read more »

Velvet Revolution in video (YouTube weekly)

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:01:27 +0000

YouTube is a great source of video to illustrate historical events and the Velvet Revolution is no exception. Here are a few clips.

Montage of moments from the days of and after 17 November: read more »

Kafka in Czech complete

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 02:27:05 +0100

Was he or wasn't he? read more »

History of Prague lighting system

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 12:15:52 +0100

It seems just like yesterday but apparently it was 160 years ago that Prague first got its gas-lit public lighting system which slowly replaced oil lamps used until then. The first two hundred lamps generated all sorts of fears about the flames people thought were going through the tubes. read more »

Burčák came early this year

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 00:02:13 +0100

Burčák the young wine (stum) popular in the Czech lands in the early autumn came earlier this year appearing in early August. Burčák sales in Prague kiosks around September and October is one of the joys of the Czech 'babí léto' and reminds Bohemians to remember how good it is to have Moravians part of the nation.
read more »

EasyJet planning to bring a friend to each person in Prague

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 14:21:44 +0100

The population of Prague is roughly one million and that's exactly how many people EasyJet is planning to fly into the Ruzyně Airport each year. In effect, bringing one person for each person already in Prague. In the future, they may even make Prague one of their hubs joining ČSA and SkyEurope. As it is, they fly in from 9 destinations (incl. Geneva, London, Milano, Belfast). read more »

Prague 41st world-wide in survey of cities' economic importance

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:37:15 +0100

Hlavním obchodním centrem je Londýn, Praha je 41. Nejvýznamnějším městem ovlivňujícím globální ekonomiku je Londýn, za kterým následují New York, Tokio, Chicago a Hongkong. V první desítce se dále umístily Singapur, Frankfurt, Paříž, Soul a Los Angeles. Praha skončila v porovnání se všemi světovými městy na 41. místě, v Evropě obsadila 18. příčku.

Prague ham to return to Prague

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 11:12:11 +0000

Pražská šunka se vrací - iDNES.cz Kdo neví, jak chutná tradiční Pražská šunka od kosti, ať si koupí letenku. Ochutnat ji může v italském Terstu, v Berlíně, ve Spojených státech nebo i v Austrálii. V Česku zatím ne.

Prague has two hotels World Top 10

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 09:43:57 +0000

MF DNES Praha - Pražský hotel Riverside je osmý nejluxusnější na celém světě. Na osmé místo se dostal v prestižní anketě portálu Tripadvisor, který každý rok oceňuje nejlepší hotely z celého světa.

Two hotels in Prague made it to the top 10 in a survey of hotel visitors from around the world conducted by Tripadvisor. Riverside is 8th (4th in Europe) and Le Palais 10th. It should be of note that neither of these hotels has a Czech or even Czech sounding name and that one read more »

Shopping center to become a historic monument

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 11:26:09 +0000

Stane se Kotva památkou? - www.lidovky.cz Obchodní dům Kotva na náměstí Republiky bude možná následovat Máj na seznam kulturních památek.

Two Prague department stores (1970s shopping malls) Kotva a Máj (which is now owned by TESCO) are about to become listed as historic buildings. They are certainly part of history and the public consciousness. Supposedly, they are also quite important achievements Czech architectural design of the period. Judge for yourself: read more »

Prague sixth most visited place in Europe, first most crowded

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 10:13:19 +0000

MF DNES Praha - Praha je šestým nejnavštěvovanějším místem v Evropě. „Ale když se podíváme na počet obyvatel, tak z první desítky turisticky atraktivních destinací je Praha suverénně nejmenší, proto je v centru několikanásobně vyšší koncentrace lidí než v jiných metropolích,“ vysvětluje Tomio Okamura z Asociace cestovních kanceláří a agentur.

Prague is the sixth most visited place in Europe, it seems (behind places like Paris, Rome, London, probably, the article doesn't say). But it is the smallest of the top ten most visited places and as a result most crowded. The one million three hundred thousand inhabitants are joined by another four million visitors every year who mostly come to visit the historic center which has one of the narrowest streets of the popular destinations. Part of the problem is the fact that the outskirts of Prague are not particularly appealing, ringed as it is by bland-looking apartment housing blocks (Note: which I personally find beautiful on many levels) so the tourists have no other outlets. (Note: this is not strictly speaking true there many places off the beaten track in Prague worth visiting but the concentrated beauty of the architectural Disneyland of the historic center makes them not as attractive.) read more »

Vysvědčení dnes - School reports today

Dominik Lukeš — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:24:29 +0000

MF DNES Praha - Téměř osmdesát tisíc dětí ze základních škol a více než sedmdesát tisíc středoškoláků si dnes odnese domů pololetní vysvědčení. „V letošním školním roce máme v Praze evidováno 75 566 žáků základních škol, 4047 žáků speciálních tříd a 70 440 studentů středních škol,“ vypočítává vedoucí oddělení školského rejstříku a výkaznictví pražského magistrátu Karel Krupka.

Today is the day of so called "pololetní vysvědčení" - or the end of term ('pololetí') school report. read more »

Take the Czech quiz!

Dominik Lukeš — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 23:53:51 +0000

Tiscali Europa It's not all beer and the Vltava you know... Ten countries in Central Europe and the Mediterranean joined the European Union in 2004 - how well do you know them? Can you tell a Becherovka from a Jan Huss? Or a Škoda from a Schroeder? Try your luck with our great photo quizzes... but make a mistake and you get sent back to the beginning!

Tiscali Europe has provided this fun quiz on what is important to know about the Czech Republic. They hit many of the major points (although they read more »

Prague sperm low quality says Brno scholar

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 13:10:24 +0000

MF DNES „Spermie Pražanů jsou méně pohyblivé a málo vitální, navíc k mužské neplodnosti přispívají i poškozené hlavičky spermií, které nesou genetickou informaci,“ řekl brněnský genetik Jiří Rubeš. Jeho slova dokládají výsledky z dvouletého výzkumu, kterému se podrobili pražští studenti a městští strážníci.

Due to air pollution, the sperm of Prague's males is not as mobile and often comes with damaged heads. Says a geneticist from Brno after two years read more »

95 years of universal time in Prague

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 13:00:36 +0000

MF DNES 1. ledna 1912 přestal platit pražský čas, který se od středoevropského lišil o 2 minuty a 18 vteřin

95 years ago, Prague ran to its own time. Yes, not that long ago Prague clocks were attuned to their own time which was 2 minutes and 18 seconds faster than Central European time but was accurate according to the Prague meridian which is designated by a plaque on the ground of Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square). The change was made to make synchronization of train read more »

Prague's extensive tram network to grow

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:39:59 +0000

MF DNES Pražská tramvajová síť je jedna z nejhustších na světě a měří přes 140 kilometrů.

One of the icon's of life in Prague are its trams. Prague has one of the "densest tram networks" in the world and many more are planned to revitalize suburbs. Unfortunately, but inevitably, Prague is also planning to replace its current stock of trams so the iconic 'tramvaje' will be gone from Prague streets in 7 years.

Tramvaje dříve sloužily dokonce jako sanitky. Nebo jako pohřební vozy. Po vypuknutí první světové války, kdy byla většina koní z Prahy odvezena na bojiště, svážely raněné vojáky z nádraží do nemocnic.

Prague's story: Center of learning as well as backwater

Dominik Lukeš — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 15:58:51 +0000

In May 1911, after arriving in Prague to take up his appointment to the physics department of the German University, Albert Einstein wrote to his friend Michele Besso: "Incidentally, the city of Prague is wonderful, so beautiful, that it alone would be worth a journey." (Einstein and Besso 1972: 20). from Toman, J. (1995). The magic of a common language: Jakobson, Mathesius, Trubetzkoy, and the Prague Linguistic Circle. Cambridge, Mass; London: The MIT Press.

I came across this quote recently in a book by a Czech linguist on the Prague Linguistic Circle which celebrated its 80th anniversary this year. It should also be added that Einstein who only spent three semesters teaching at the university, found it to be an "intellectual desert without conviction". This certainly wasn't the case 15 years later when Prague became one of the centers of world linguistics known today as the Prague school. read more »