Beer babe’s favorite European bars

Katarina Van Derham, the 2009 St. Pauli Girl spokesmodel, doesn’t like to spend all her time in one place. The Slovakia native now lives in Los Angeles and still loves to get out on the road as much as possible. When she’s home, her favorite place to grab a pint is Barney’s Beanery in Santa Monica. She can have a relaxing drink on the patio, which is a prime people-watching spot. Of course, she has favorites on the other side of the Atlantic, as well.

The 2009 St. Pauli Girl spokesmodel‘s European Favorites are:

Morrison Pub (Cannes, France): there’s always live music and a welcoming crowd; Cannes’ “beautiful beaches and relaxed vibe” help

Phanas Pub (Rijeka, Croatia): Phanas is a great party place with rock music piped in; Katarina came here while shooting a music video for a Slovakian band

Mermaid Bar (Ibiza, Spain): this bar caters to an international crowd, has clear water and a great club scene

U Medvédku (Prague, Czech Republic): a house beer and authentic Czech food are served, and you’re only footsteps from the city’s stunning architecture

CK Browar (Krakow, Poland): grab a beer at this bright brewery before shopping at the outdoor street fairs on Saturdays

Salm Bräu (Vienna, Austria): located in a charming old building, this bar is a great stop en route to Slovakia (since Vienna has the nearest international airport)

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33-year old Czech woman is a 13-year old boy in Norway

If there is anything to learn from this truly bizarre case, it should be “do not overestimate cultural differences.”

Barbora Skrlova, 33, duped Norwegian police, classmates, child care workers and teachers for four months into believing she was a teenage boy named “Adam”. She went to school and all.

The kids in “his” classroom thought the boy was a “little strange”, but since they were brought up to be tolerant of different cultures, they didn’t think much of it.

The masquerade in Norway was just Barbora’s attempt to escape from an investigation in her home country, the Czech Republic where she was a key witness in a child abuse scandal. Wait, it gets worse.

Last year, Skrlova was found at a house in the Czech Republic during a raid by police investigating the child sex abuse case. At that time, she–successfully–posed as a 13-year-old girl called Anicka.The adults involved were said to be members of The Grail Movement, which follows the teachings of a 19th century German mystic.

A couple of days ago, she was deported from Norway back into the Czech Republic where she is being investigated.

Czech Christmas, Part IV: Seeing the golden pig

Just when you thought Czech Christmas was weird enough, I have another peculiar Christmas tradition for you.

For the whole day on Christmas Eve, Czech people are supposed to avoid eating anything in order to see the vision of the “golden pig” on the wall. I don’t really know why anyone sane would fast for that reason, but people do it all the time. I have done it in the past and I am here to tell you: there ain’t no golden pig. Not if you don’t take psychedelics at the same time, at least.

I know you are probably thinking this is altogether a tragic tradition. People fast all day and then–hurray–they get to eat …carp!

Photo of the Day (09/24/07)

I took this photo last week in Bohdalov, Czech Republic about 150km southeast of Prague. It was a glorious fall morning with fog rolling over the lakes. Clearly, it was not as much about my photography skills as it was about mother nature making a statement but still, I was pretty proud of this photo.

The Truth About Taxi Drivers in Prague

The cab drivers in Prague really are that bad. The problem has gotten slightly better after the Prague mayor dressed up as an Italian tourist and saw for himself how much they rip off foreigners. But it is still not nearly good enough.

The thing is, they don’t only overcharge foreigners. It occasionally happens to locals, too, if they don’t pay attention to the hyperactive meters. Sadly, a lot of them prefer making an extra $10 today than get return customers tomorrow.

It is necessary to stress here, however, that this ONLY happens with cabs you hail on the street. If you call (or have your hotel/restaurant call) one of the established taxi services, such as AAA or City Taxi it will not happen.

The official airport taxis all charge the same, about $25-30. There is also a bus that takes you right to the subway for less than a $1. Public transportation is definitely the way to travel in Prague.