Čarodejnice- Witches Night

Spring is full of traditions here in the Czech Republic. We have the madness that surrounds Easter followed by a few days of saying 'na shledanou' (goodbye) to winter. The last 3 days of April celebrate the name days of the 3 'winter men', and the story behind it is that these last 3 days of April are the final time for winter weather before gardeners can breathe easy and prepare for the crop season.

In a final celebration to the end of winter they have an extremely pagan celebration on the night of 30 April called Čarodejnice, or Witches Night. Appropriately, the people of the Czech Republic have massive organized parties where they make bonfires and burn witches made from sticks. People dress up in witch hats, cook sausages over the fire, and enjoy the festivities. In Prague there were many organized events and we chose one on the outskirts of the city to attend. It was a nice park and had a live band, tents and booths set up, and a few bonfires going until the thunderstorms set in.

Today, the 1st of May, is the Czech's version of Valentine's Day. People gather on Petrin Hill (where the mini Eiffel tower is) and kiss their loved ones by the statue of the Czech 'love poet', Karel Hynek Macha. It is said that if you don't kiss someone under a flowering tree on 1 May then the girl will turn ugly. Side note- it is also a national holiday reserved for any rallies or demonstrations in their post-1989 life, their Labor Day. What a combo!

love/hate the czech republic

A prime example of my love/hate relationship with the Czech Republic:
In class today...
me: Sooo the royal wedding is tomorrow-who is excited??!! Is anyone going to watch some of it on tv?
honza: Tomorrow? Really?
me: Yes, Honza. Haven't you read about it in the newspaper or heard about it on tv? This is kind of important.
jitka: Well, yes of course Natalie.
honza: But there is something with more important tomorrow.
me: More important than the royal wedding? What is it?
vojta: It is the world hockey championships.
klara: what means 'royal'?

Easter Monday in south Bohemia

Easter Monday-the real holiday in the Czech Republic- was spent in the popular southern town of Cesky Krumlov. Ben and Gerry spent the night en route to Vienna while I made it as a day trip. It is a very historic small town of 15,000 with lots of character, great architecture and a fantastic setting in a bend of the river Vlatava. The best thing to do here is simply walk around and soak in the atmosphere along the river and go up to the castle grounds for a better view. We ate, drank the local Eggenberg beer, and tried to find as many 5-petaled roses engraved around town representing the founding Ruzmberk family from 1302. Enjoy the pictures from our lovely and relaxing day in Krumlov!

Easter in the Czech Republic

Since Christmas in the Czech Republic was so entertaining to hear about I thought I would share the equally humourous tale around the Easter weekend traditions. Growing up in the US I was used to Easter starting on Wednesday night and going to church pretty much daily through Sunday. The Czech Republic is.... different.

First off, since the majority of Czech people are athiest there is no mention of anything religious. Easter to them is more of a celebration of Spring. The big Christmas markets are in place again, this time decorated with bright colored ribbons and faux flowers making them the 'Easter markets'. Replacing the huge pine trees are massive eggs and instead of detailed ornaments there are hand painted eggs. The St Nikolas gingerbread cookies are now shaped as bunnies. Very festive!

My favorite part about Easter traditions here are the events that happen on Easter Monday. As traditions has it, boys are allowed to hit girls with willow branches woven into whips. Now this may sound violent, but the boys are actually doing the girls a favor- legend has it that as the boys hit the girls with these tree whips there are actually transfering the 'power' from the willow to the girl to ensure that she doesn't 'dry up'. This is to say that the girls will remain youthful and pretty and not turn into old hags. Since the girls are supposed to be thankful for this gesture they are expected to give the boy a present after being beaten by the branches. Presents could be anything from a hand painted egg, candy, or a shot of alcohol. Then they tie a ribbon on the end of the boy's whip as a reward. The more ribbons the boys collect.... the drunker they become. (This part is still confusing to me.. communication barriers I think)

So I have been warned to 'watch my back' on Monday and to bring a pillow with me to protect my rear end. With Ben and Gerry in town we are planning to go down to Cesky Krumlov on Monday so Gerry and I will definitely have to be careful...

Czech ice capades

How did I spend my Saturday night? At Tesla Arena watching a figure skating exhibition performance. It may seem strange at first but if you knew my flatmate and good friend Matthew it would all make perfect sense. He hearts figure skating. So when he found out that Sasha Cohen and Johnny Wier were coming to town he recruited anyone and everyone (aka Lauren and I) to join him for a magical evening.

It was actually really fantastic thanks to the Czech commentator between most acts, the Czech ice dance team, and the overall hilarity of seeing these professional figure skaters on an April evening in Prague. Johnny Wier topped it off by doing his last number to Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance', proving to me that figure skating is wonderful entertainment.

Sister is coming to town!

This week is FINALLY here-- Erica comes to visit on Friday!! If you can't already tell, I am pretty excited.

For our week-long holiday we have a few days planned in Budapest, Hungary, a day trip (weather permitting) to another town in the Czech Republic, and to spend the weekends in Prague. I am so happy that Erica will get to see the city I've been living in for the past 8 months, to meet all of my friends here and to be able to travel together once again.

Western Europe endured the Judd (and Welle!) ladies invasion of 2006, now it's central Europe's turn.

Olomouc, Czech Republic

This week Melissa, Zach and I decided it was about time to do a day trip somewhere in the Czech Republic. In our hostel in Vienna a couple weekends ago we spotted a newspaper article about a town 3 hours east of Prague called Olomouc. The article called Olomous a 'mini-Prague' that was not as well known for some reason to travellers. I checked our Rick Steves' guide book and didn't find any information about it, so with help from "Uncle Google" (direct quote from a student) I did a bit of research about this ancient town in Moravia. Saturday morning we hopped on a 7:15 am train to check it out.

It was indeed a scaled-down version of Prague which made it even more walkable and quaint. It is known for its statues and fountains from mythology as well as its gothic and baroque style churches (like everywhere else in Europe, right?). It had a nice botanical garden area and an old palace that has now been renovated into a health center.. rather strange but it was still lovely. We had brisk but sunny weather and spent the whole day taking photos, reading about the town, and enjoying a new part of the Czech Republic.