My Czech Republic Blog

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

A Revolution on Czech Roads?

By 1 Comment

The Czech Republic has one of the worst accident rates in Europe. According to an article on the Radio Praha website, “Critics say in general Czech drivers drive too fast, don’t keep their distance, take unnecessary risks and are generally very aggressive”. The national goal is to cut the number of road transport fatalities in half by 2010, based on the 2002 level.

On July 1, a new road transport law came into effect. Some important parts of the law are that it creates a point system for driving offenses, establishes when licenses can be taken away, and increases fines.

The articles below discuss the law, including some of the controversy surrounding it. It’s too early to make any final judgement, but so far, so good.

Radio Praha
Czech drivers study new rules as points system approaches
Summary of new rules for driving

Prague Post
Law aims to punish unsafe drivers

ČTK
Fewer die on roads on July’s first weekend as law comes to force

Radio Praha
Fewer deaths on Czech roads as new law comes into force


Update – one week after:

ČTK
Only one person dies on Czech roads during two national holidays

Oooolong, Lapsang Souchong and All the Others

By Leave a Comment

When I was a little girl growing up in Czechoslovakia, tea was tea. Cheap black tea from China, India or Ceylon was all we could get. The container said “Čaj”. When you asked for tea, you knew what was coming.

Those times are over. Capitalism arrived and brought with it all sorts of new things. Fruit flavored Pickwick teas were some of the first “bourgeois” arrivals that hit the young Czech market in the early 1990s. They woke up the lethargic Czech tea-drinking nation to a brand new, exciting era of a seemingly limitless selection of tea varieties, flavors and brands that now fill the shelves of supermarkets and specialty tea stores.

Asking for tea is no longer simple business. When I’m ordering tea at a Czech restaurant these days, I’m used to being asked, “Black, fruit or green?”, not necessarily in that order. I was recently at a Prague pizzeria and ordered tea. A container full of tea packets arrived at the table. Lemon, orange and spice, green, chamomile, peach, cinnamon, strawberry, mint… Not a single packet of normal black tea. But again, what is normal? Which reminds me, the same pizzeria used to serve tea in large, thick-glass beer mugs. I loved it. To my great disappointment, the beer mugs were later replaced by boring, fancy tea cups. Oh well.

Holiday Makers

By 2 Comments

I just finished reading another book by Michal Viewegh, Účastníci zájezdu (Holiday Makers). It’s one of his earlier novels (he wrote it in 1996) and it turns out to be my second most favorite book by Viewegh so far. There has been a lot of talk about Holiday Makers and the fourth edition of the book was published a few months ago, all in connection with the April release of the movie that was based on the bestselling novel. The film was entered into the Tribeca Film Festival soon after it came out and ended up receiving an award and a special mention to the ensemble cast.

I loved the book. I haven’t seen the movie and am a little reluctant to go see it because a film is rarely as good as the book it’s based on. I’m too curious to see all the characters on the screen though, so I probably won’t resist…

Got Gott?

By 2 Comments

Karel Gott is a singer and painter, and has been a fixture on the Czech entertainment scene for half a century. Some consider him the “Sinatra of the East”. Even at 66 years of age, he is still just as active as ever, although this year he is staging his first “good-bye” tour. He has won 30 Zlatý slavík (Gold Nightingale) awards, which are given every year to the most popular pop singer in the country.

If you are in the Czech Republic for more than just a visit, you are bound to come across Karel. You can hear him on the radio, see him in any number of variety shows on television and he always seems to pop up at the end of award shows. He can be seen grinning on the covers of magazines. In April, he was in the news because his 30 year-old girlfriend gave birth to his daughter. The Supraphon label recently released a DVD with his hits of the 60’s. And at the end of this month, Karel Gott’s own museum, Gottland, will open to the public.

On some days, it is hard to avoid Karel. I don’t know how many times I have walked into the living room when the TV was on and there he was, delivering an award or singing one of his new songs. One evening I visited my favorite Chinese restaurant and along with the printed reviews posted by the front door, I noticed a photo of a smiling Gott surrounded by the happy chefs and waitresses.

If you want to read more about Karel Gott, you can visit his website (turn your speakers down) and his Gottland site.