I couldn’t pass this one up…since I am going with the Czech Christmas theme this week: a picture by uncorneredmarket of the Prague Old Town Square Christmas market. The photo captures the market perfectly – it so kitschy, it’s almost cool. And, of course, the Tyn Church in the background is so spooky; it looks like a stage set for an Vegas-style renaissance fair. Oh, Praha!
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There’s a life-size statue of Sigmund Freud hanging high above the ground outside the Trade Center Building in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He’s created quite a stir. Good Samaritan types saw the statue hanging by one hand from a pole 7-stories up and thought it was a real man in distress. After they called the police and the truth was discovered, there must have been a sigh of relief. “Oh, it’s just Freud.”
This statue of Freud by Czech sculptor David Cerney has been hanging around in a variety of spots for a year or more. Most recently, Freud was hanging in out in Chicago. Before that, he was hanging from a pole in Prague. Freud will be in Grand Rapids, possibly accumulating more than a dusting of snow, until the spring thaw.
As for Cerney, here’s an intriguing interview with him in the Compass Prague. He moved back to the Czech Republic since the Americans he met in New York City were a bit too friendly. That’s not something you hear that much. (Actually, this is my interpretation of what he said. I may be off the mark.) [via New York Times]
When I came across his interview and picture posted yesterday on World Hum, I was so happy to see that Gadling’s lead blogger Justin is keeping warm during his travels in Eastern Europe. He was staying near Prague in the Czech Republic. I knew his girlfriend had caught a cold a while back, and being the fine fellow that he is, he had tracked down medicine to help her feel better. [see post] Now that he’s shown up in this interview I’m feeling even more envious of his trip than I did before–except for one thing.
In his interview I did notice his details of the teenage travelers who were swapping spit (not Justin’s words, but mine) on a good part of a bus trip he took through the Czech Republic countryside. As wonderful as travel is, there are those moments when it is just hard to relax in any kind of Zen-like way. From what he said, the teens were in competition with the scenery for his attention.
At what point does a lovefest, when it’s not our own, become a point of distraction? Once when I was ushering a concert at the New Mexico State Fair for a civic club I belonged to, I had to repeatedly ask a couple to quit necking. Seriously, they were all but laying across their seats. The people around them kept imploring me to do something to get them to stop. From what I recall, they never did stop. The people who paid to see the concert who had the honor of sitting next to these two hickey makers ended up with a show quite different from the one they anticipated when they first settled into their seats for a night out. [Thanks to valerio for the shot on stockxchange]
Sorry, folks. But no one visits the Czech Republic for the food. Sure, I grew to like it when I lived there, and it was cheap, but unless you like rather bland meat, potatoes and dumplings, then save your palate for finer fare elsewhere.
That’s simply the way it’s been for many years now.
According to a recent New York Times article, however, the Czech culinary scene is surprisingly changing. A number of high-end Czech restaurants serving traditional Czech food (!) are popping up all over Prague. Instead of $1 plates of goulash, the chefs are serving up escabeche, beef tartare, “white tomato meringue, topped with honey and aged balsamic vinegar,” “ravioli, stuffed with diced beef lungs,” and much, much more. Just check out the slide show here!
Journalist Evan Rail recently took a culinary tour of the Czech capital and his review was something I’d expect to find in a place like France or Belgium. But instead, it was all about the long-established doldrums of the culinary world where high-end Czech restaurants are now offering up first class, traditional meals that can run seven courses long and cost hundreds of dollars.
Man, things have come a long way since my first visit in 1990 when they used ketchup to top their pizzas.
In the last few years, much of Prague’s nightlife has shifted from the center (too expensive, too many tourists) to the neighborhood of Zizkov in the Prague 3 working class district. Consequently, Zizkov is my favorite neighborhood for going out. Let me be clear, there ain’t many martini bars to be found here, although a few have popped up. Rather, you will find old school pubs still selling beer for less than $1.
The main artery of pub life in Zizkov is Borivojova street. Its 4-block stretch from Lipanska street to Riegrovy sady has some 20-30 drinking establishments. Weekend after weekend, seasoned drinkers come here to try to accomplish the impossible: stop at each pub and have a beer. We are talking half-liters, too. According to the Prague Post, nobody has been able to do it yet.
Even in a country with universal health care, there cannot be enough liver transplants to go around.