My Czech Republic Blog

Blog written by two Prague residents about life in the Czech Republic.

A Blue Christmas Tree

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The Christmas tree on Wenceslas Square is blue this year. I don’t mean that it has a bluish tone. And it’s not a blue spruce either. It’s not a spruce at all. It’s an artificial tree and when darkness falls, the flashing blue pyramid could be transported directly to the Vegas Strip.

Someone must have had a last minute idea to do an artificial tree this year, so the guys at Taiko probably ran to the artificial tree supplier and were told, “You know what? You’re a little late but we got one left in the back. It’s blue. I’ll give you a good deal on it.”

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They’re for Poop, Not for Lunch

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Back in October, there was a discussion on the My Czech Republic message boards about Czechs and their dogs. It didn’t take long and the topic turned to dog owners leaving their animal friends’ poop unattended on the sidewalks.

The city of Prague is trying to do good. It is now a common sight to see special doggie garbage cans that include a dispenser of complimentary paper bags that people can use to pick up after their dogs. It is however less common to see the dispensers actually contain any paper bags. On the boards, Viktor may have explained why by posting his story about having witnessed two Czech women happily removing all the bags from one of the dispensers to take them home and use them as lunch bags. We had a laugh and at the same time I sighed and thought to myself how hard it is to change certain things in this country when people’s thinking remains tainted by the communist conception that everything belongs to everybody and public property is up for grabs.

I was reminded of the dog poop discussion today as I was walking down Národní. My eyes fell on a doggie garbage can. It had a dispenser and the dispenser contained paper bags. The paper bags looked different from those I had seen before. There was a printed note on them saying that the bags are not meant for storing foodstuffs. Word about the alternate use of the bags must have arrived at the city hall, and the city hall responded.

The city of Prague is trying to do good and is persisting despite the fact that its efforts are being undermined by some of its own residents who won’t spend 20 Kč for a package of lunch bags at Tesco. I wonder if these people would rather continue to dodge piles of dog poop, stepping into them every so often and smearing them along the sidewalks with their shoes. I also wonder how long the city of Prague is going to keep up their attempts to do good. It may be only a matter of time until the complimentary paper bags disappear from the streets altogether because those who have been putting them there will finally give up.

Happy Mikuláš!

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It’s St. Nicholas Day tomorrow, so Jeff and I went to look at the Old Town Square to see the Mikuláš processions (you can read more about the tradition here). It was more fun than I expected. We got there a little after 5 p.m. and things were slowly getting going. The first groups of Mikuláš, Angel and Devil were starting to appear, causing all the kids to stare with curiosity and wide-eyed awe. The best Mikuláš and Devil we saw came all the way from the town of Telč and stationed themselves in front of the regioninfo office to promote their Highlands region, hand out koláče and impress the kids. Their costumes were really top notch!

After dinner at Kolkovna, we came back to the square around 6:30 p.m. and the action was in full swing. Small groups consisting of various renditions of St. Nicholas with his beard and cane, the Devil with his chain and sack, and the occasional winged Angel were surrounded by families and onlookers. The children obediently recited poems and bashfully accepted candy for their efforts. Foreign tourists watched with interest and took pictures. Everyone seemed in a good mood.

We made an interesting observation. There were far more Devils than Angels on the streets. Does this say anything about the Czech character? 🙂

St. Nicholas Tradition on the Old Town Square in Prague     St. Nicholas, the Angel and the Devils with the Old Town Hall in the Background

There’s a Number in My Seat!

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The other day I found myself gawking at a tram whose second car was stuffed with big red numbers from floor to roof. Then it dawned on me and I realized that this was a TV commercial brought into life, literally. I was amused and thought that this was pretty clever advertising.

Tram 77 is a two-car tram sponsored by Vodafone, which recently took over Oskar, the no. 3 mobile phone company in the Czech Republic. The number 77 represents the first two digits in a phone number that you’ll get if you sign up with the provider. The campaign is in conjuction with advertising on TV to promote the company’s offer of unlimited free minutes.

The tram covers a route between Náměstí bratří Synků in Nusle and Otakarova in Vršovice and runs through a good part of the city center, so you can catch it at I. P. Pavlova, on Wenceslas Square, Malostranské náměstí, Národní třída and elsewhere. The first car is for passengers and the ride is free.

The Tram 77 campaign started on November 21 and will run through December 4.

Tram 77 Sign     Oskar Vodafone Tram 77