We would like to thank all of you who followed our blog last year and we wish you a very happy and healthy 2009! We hope you continue to read our posts and leave your comments.

Šťastný nový rok!
Jeff and Dana

Today is December 5th, the eve of St. Nicholas Day or Mikuláš in Czech. We have written about our experience spending a fun Mikuláš evening on Prague’s Old Town Square. This year, we decided to visit a smaller Prague square away from the center. We went to Náměstí Míru in Prague 2. You rarely run into foreign tourists here and the area has quite a local feel. The Christmas market that is put up on the square every year is a small, rather intimate affair and you’ll mostly find Czechs here, shopping for Christmas gifts on their way from work, showing their kids the lights or enjoying a cup of mulled wine and a klobása purchased at one of the stands. Before we headed out this evening, we had expected some commotion on the square, some families with kids and a few Mikuláš-Devil-Angel groups. We got there a little after five and were surprised to find the square literally packed with people. So packed you could hardly move amidst the crowd. People dodged each other, looked for each other, stood in lines to buy sweets, beer, hot dogs… They carried their children in their arms and on their shoulders, or tried to make their way through the crowd pushing strollers. A number of Mikuláš and Devil characters clad in elaborate costumes handed out candy and tangerines to well behaved children. People had fun.

Jeff took some pictures as usual.

The Christmas Market on Peace Square (Náměstí Míru) in Prague opened up last weekend just as some winter weather moved in.  We had our first snow on Saturday.  It was only fitting since last week, while the Christmas Market was being set up, the last remnants of fall were being blown aside and swept up.

The Christmas markets on Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí) and Wenceslas Square (Václavské náměstí) will begin tomorrow.

We updated our Prague Christmas section with the dates and hours of many Christmas markets in Prague.

Prague’s Petřín Park is considered by many to be one of the most romantic places in the city. It is especially true on May 1st when Czechs commemorate their own equivalent of Valentine’s Day. We write briefly about May First, the Time of Love on My Czech Republic.

Below are two pictures taken today at Petřín.

I visited the Easter Market on Old Town Square today.  We had some rain on and off, but the market was still busy.

If you want to read about Easter in the Czech Republic and the tradition of the pomlázka, visit our Czech Easter section on My Czech Republic.