EN: 'Black Light Theatre' for Children during Easter in Prague (Czech Republic)

Yet again our family celebrated Easter holidays in Prague (Czech Republic), albeit with considerably less sun than last year. Appreciated elements from previous trips here were of course repeated. These include jogging tours in the park of Petřín (for me) and bowling (for us all) together with my cousin and his family at the restaurant Anděl. Although we were only in town for three days, we did have the chance to experience some new things.

This trip’s longest walk started up at the former Spartakiad Stadium on Strahov (today in a sad state). We enjoyed the view over Prague from the top lookout tower Petřínská Rozhledna (never before have I seen so many visitors there – quite literally it was shaking under the strain) before we continued down through the park, where many of the trees just had begun blooming.

For the first time in Prague, we took our children to a cultural event, namely “Wow”; “Black Light Theatre” – typical for the Czech Republic. "What a show! Snow and rain, spiders and balls!", our eleven-year-old enthusiastically exclaimed afterwards. His nine-year-old little brother was not as exalted, but said: "Almost everything was boring. Though, in any case I did not fall asleep. When we last time were at the theatre with the school, half of my class did. "

The Czech Republic is my “second country of origin”, after Sweden, so my big challenge will be to find activities in German there. How else could I entice my family to go there as often as I want? Or should I perhaps simply travel there alone, to be able to indulge in a complete immersion in the Czech language...

Our restaurant visits in the centre of Prague were the following:

Velryba - an old favorite - has retained its character after the renovation, but the traditional Czech dishes like deepfried cheese with french fries or lentil stew with a boiled egg have unfortunately disappeared from the menu.

About the pizzeria Grosseto I had heard that it was a tourist trap, but we were pleased with the food and even more so with the very friendly staff.

At Kozlovna Apropos, however, we were unfortunately greatly disappointed this time. Probably the restauranthas become so popular thanks to its location, that the waiters no longer feel the need to care about their customers.

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During earlier family trips by car to the Czech Republic, we have not only been to Prague but also in Brno, Znojmo, Telč, České Budějovice, Český Krumlov, Písek, Tábor and the castle of Hluboká.

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Svensk version

EN: A Day Trip to Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic)

Our dream was to go to Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad in German) to meet spring, but instead we were received by a snowstorm when we, at Cheb, drove from Bavaria into the Czech Republic. That was quite unfortunate, because right there you drive on a country road with oncoming traffic and we had changed to summer tyres. However, already before our departure from Zurich, we had understood that the Easter weather would cold this time. Therefore, I had requested late check-out at our hotel Aqua Marina, so that we would have time to enjoy both a long hotel breakfast and some time at the pool. The plan was to wait out the sun before we set out sightseeing.

Trdelník 

We started our walking tour in the lower part of the centre where our children got this trip’s first trdelník - a sweet Czech Easter bread baked over hot coals. Then we continued through the spa town’s grandiose villa district up to the Orthodox Church. Of this, I thought to have maintained a strong visual picture from the years 1991-92, when I lived in Prague as a student. But that was a while ago and I must admit that this time I was pretty disappointed with the interior although, admittedly, the outside is very beautiful.

Nowadays Karlovy Vary has again become highly popular with the Russian upper class, but possibly that country’s financial crisis is making itself reminded, for apart from certain oddities (eg, signs in our hotel spa written only in Russian – i.e. neither in Czech, English nor German), at least this year, I did not experience that Russians would be dominating the town, which some Czechs tend to claim.

Back in the centre, it was time for us to taste the famous mineral water from the hot springs in the modern - but certainly not uninteresting - building where you will also find the mighty geyser Vřídlo. Our children rejected it with the comment that it tasted blood (it is very rich in iron) but both my wife and I took some hefty gulps.

Fortunately, after this we were quite content with our day tour, because then it again started to snow profusely. At first this did not matter, since we anyhow needed to eat something, but soon enough it was time to continue our journey to Prague. Yet again I waw driving on a road with oncoming traffic. Honestly, the combination of snow and summer tires made this to one of my more unpleasant driving experiences in several years. Good thing we liked Karlovy Vary!

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Our first family trip by car to the Czech Republic took us to the cities and towns of Prague, České Budějovice, Český Krumlov, Písek and Tábor plus the castle of Hluboká. During the second one, we visited Znojmo, Telč, Brno and, of course, Prague.

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Svensk version

EN: Prague (Czech Republic) with Family, Friends and Slavic History by Alfons Mucha

After a somewhat hysterical beginning of our children’s autumn holiday - with day trips to Salzburg, Vienna, Znojmo and Telč plus Brno - arriving to Prague meant that our journey had entered into a second, calmer phase. To mark this, we first of all treated ourselves to a day of fun and relaxation in the water slide paradise Aqua Palace.

In Prague nowadays not only I but also my family feels at home. This time we went for long walks over the Hradčany castle area and through the Old Town (Staré Město), but did not stress ourselves to visit any of the typical sights. Honestly, the Charles Bridge was almost scarily full of tourists, although we made this trip in the month of October.

Instead we took the time to explore some of the outer parts of the historic centre. At Holešovice we saw the permanent exhibition of artist Aflons Mucha's interpretation of the Slavic people’s history, Slovanská Epopej. At Žižkov we went up in the TV tower, now humorously decorated with giant babies. In the upper, villa lined streets of Břevnov, finally, we were invited to a dinner by a former roommate from the time when I lived at the student dormitory Kajetánka (1991-92 – yes, that is quite a while ago).

And, of course, we met up with my relatives for beers, Czech food and some bowling at the restaurant Anděl - a relatively new but highly appreciated “family tradition”. .

Our latest trip to the Czech Republic took place less than half a year ago.

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Svensk version

EN: Among Skulls and Mummies in the Underground Tunnels of Brno (Moravia, Czech Republic)

Alreay when I planned our day trip to Brno - the capital of Moravia (Czech Republic) - I realized that it could be quite exciting for our children. However, reality exceeded my high expectations.

This city’s system of underground tunnels – to which you enter from the square Zelný trh - is truly magnificent. Like in Znojmo this space was originally built as storerooms but currently houses presentations of alchemy, wine making, historic light sources plus medieval justice and punishment.

A separate part of the underworld can be found in Kostnice u Svatého Jakuba, inaugurated in 2012. With the bones of up to 50.000 people - dead in late medieval plagues or the Thirty Year’s War, this is the second largest charnel house (ossuary) in Europe.

The almost artistic presentation of old bones in the charnel house stand in sharp contrast to the mummies in the Capuchin Crypt of the town. Here, the bodies of monks and noblemen have been mummified through natural air drying, resulting in a truly horror movie-like image of death.

I should perhaps point out that Brno is a prosperous city. While we were learning more about its history and its earlier generations of inhabitants, all squares of the town centre were filled with political parties in an absolutely vivid election campaign.

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As a bonus during our day in Brno, we also visited the traveling international exhibition Bodies Revealed, where human anatomy is explained through the bodies of real dead people. A more than fitting end to a day which had revolved around the theme of life and death.

 

 

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Svensk version

EN: One Day in Znojmo and Telč in southern Moravia (Czech Republic)

Through visits to various friends, over the years, Znojmo - on the border with Austria – has become the town of Moravia (Morava in Czech) which I know best. This year was the first time I arrived here with my family, because we this is where we chose to stay overnight after our day in Vienna (the car drive between the two destinations only takes an hour).

Of course, we also took the opportunity to discover the town - it has an over 1.000 years of history and is quite picturesque. For our children the most exciting part was a guided tour in the underground tunnels under the historical centre. They were primarily built as storerooms, but were interconnected. In troubled times they served as a retreat and could, when necessary, even be warmed up because the ovens in the underground were connected to the chimneys of the houses above. For Swedes, there is an interesting tale originating in Thirty Year’s War when the Swedish military troops swept through Bohemia and Moravia. Legend has it that the Znojmo residents took shelter in their tunnels and that the Swedish soldiers were frightened of a city where there was smoke from the chimneys although they did not see any people.

Znojmo is the Czech Republic's first and foremost wine town, known especially for its white wine. Therefore we rounded off our day here with a wine tasting in the small village of Nový Šaldorf.

 

 

 


As a detour from Znojmo, we went also to Telč - a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site thanks to its 17th century square, lined with Renaissance and Baroque houses with characteristic vaults.

 

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EN: By Car to the Czech Republic - Prague, České Budějovice and Český Krumlov

One of the by me highly appreciated advantages of moving to Zurich, is that I have been able to re-establish closer contact to Prague, my mother's hometown. In Barcelona (where we use to live before), the Czech Republic was a small country far away, while in Switzerland is a lot closer, not only geoghraphically.

This year I have already managed to travel to the Czech Republic twice. The most recent occasion was last Easter when I, together with my family, had some unforgettable days there. The drive up there admittedly felt very long - nearly seven hours (breaks excluded) - but since we arrived by car, we had the opportunity to drive around and discover so much more.

The days in Prague, we spent long city walks, meals of Czech food and visits to beer halls. My wife and I were delighted to find out that the student restaurant Velryba was still there, but we were a bit disappointed with the limited number of visitors at U Fleků and, therefore, more satisfied with the modern alternatives, particularly, Kozlovna Apropos (Kozel), but also concept restaurant chaines like Kolkovna (Pilsner Urquell) and Potrefená husa (Staropramen). Our children usually ate breaded chicken or schnitzel with french fries and drank multivitamin juice. For them the highlights in Prague were our visit to a for us previously unknown "crystal museum" opposite Masarykovo Nádraží, the water slides at Aquapalace and, perhaps above all, the evening when we and our Czech relatives went bowling and dining at Anděl Plzeňský Restaurant, "at home" in “our” district of Smíchov.

Personally, I especially like my morning runs up on the hill of Petřín, from where you have a wonderful view of the hundred-spired Prague (stověžatá Praha) and in whose parks I - like most Prague inhabitants - have been fooling around in my youth. Okay, just once, but still...

Český Krumlov

Our longest excursion went to Southern Bohemia (Jižní Čechy), where we slept overnight in the almost crazily picturesque little town of Český Krumlov. Here, my children for the first - but certainly not the last – time tasted trdelník - a traditional sweet pastry baked over hot coals. On our way back up to Prague we also stopped at the castle of Hluboká and at the historical towns of Písek and Tábor. In addition, we benefited from the fact that we now all understand German and took a guided tour in the language at the brewery where Budweiser beer has its real origin, that is Budvar in České Budějovice.

If we took the opportunity to bulk up on groceries in non-expensive Prague before returning home to Zurich? Of course! If we intend to go back soon? Of course!

Me at the castle of Hluboká 

České Budějovice

At the Budvar brewery in České Budějovice

Me at Písek

Easter at Tábor

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