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Countdown to EuropeIs Czech food safe?
In its assessment last November of the Czech Republic's preparedness for EU
membership, the European Commission (EC) stressed that Prague was still
lagging behind with regards to food safety and hygiene norms. Since then,
Czech food processing companies and restaurants have worked hard at
meeting EU requirements.
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Stepping OutVisiting Utopia - karaoke hits Prague at last!
Prague is pretty progressive on most things but until recently lacked a
venue providing a service long adored in other parts of the world -
karaoke - that sublime form of entertainment from Japan that brings out
the Elvis or Tiny Tim in all of us. Whether you have a voice that makes
listeners swoon, or raises the fur on the cat's back instead - in Prague
you have a place to go at last. It's called Utopie - Utopia in English -
and it is a bar located on the city's massive Charles Square, open from
dusk till dawn, 6 nights a week.
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Current AffairsEC inspectors look into hygiene norms at restaurants and food processing plants
A team of inspectors from the European Commission have arrived in the Czech
Republic to examine hygiene standards in food processing plants and
restaurants ahead of the country's entry into the EU in May. Daniela
Lazarova has been following the story and joins me now in the studio.
Daniela is this the crucial moment for Czech restaurants and processing
plants - will this visit decide their future?
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Stepping OutGoing to Tramtarie - a children's indoor playground in the centre of town
Prague is a city with no shortage of bars, discos, and even cocktail
lounges but until now it may have been something of a problem to
"step out" if you had children. No more. A new venue has opened
in the city centre where you can meet with friends and take your little
ones all at the same time - a place called Teta Tramtarie - found almost
unexpectedly in busy Jungmannova Street. Tramtarie - which means something
like wonderland in English, is at once a café, a playground, a children's
bookstore - and even a children's theatre, frequented by parents with
kids, but still modish enough to be visited by artsy adolescent or
twenty-something crowds.
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Stepping OutDahab 'reloaded' - enter the Arabesque
There aren't many places in Prague where one could go to completely lose
oneself in a different culture - but there are a few. A sure bet is Dahab
- Prague's self-styled 'odpocivarna' or chill-out space - where you can
enter a world mixing countless Arabian influences in a thousand-and-one
different styles. The perfect place to spend an afternoon over a cup of
tea, a place to lounge with a favourite book, or to have lunch or dinner
with friends, eating authentic dishes from the Middle East, long studied
by Dahab's head chef. As you slip back onto the Afghan cushions you may
feel yourself slipping into another world. The menu reads 'Dahab Reloaded'
- a reference to the venue's new assortment of dishes.
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Stepping OutSerenity in a cup
Steel autumn weather has taken hold in Prague with wind blowing leaves down
side-streets and rain sweeping down without warning. On Prague's Wenceslas
Square you long to be in-doors. To disappear into a quiet tea-room where
you will be transported to sunnier climes. A tearoom like Dobra Cajovna.
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MagazineMagazine
Can a towing vehicle weighing ten tons be placed on just ten glasses of
beer? How many fruit dumplings can one eat without being sick - and why is
it a good idea to obtain a nail from a house that was burnt down in a
fire? To find out - tune in to this week's Magazine with Daniela Lazarova.
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MagazineMagazine
How big is the biggest baby ever born in the Czech Republic? Where can you
enjoy an international train ride that lasts just 24 seconds and why have
the locals on the Berounka river unveiled a two metre tall statue of a
water sprite? Find out more in this week's Magazine with Daniela Lazarova
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Press ReviewPress Review
There is a mixed bag of headlines today, ranging from the suicide of a
soldier serving in the elite Prague Castle Guard to the blackout in North
America that hit 50 million people last Friday.
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Letter from PragueDoesn't kill you, makes you stronger
Recently new EU regulations came into effect requiring average or less than
average Czech pubs to clean up their act - in terms of hygiene that is. No
longer allowed are simple bathrooms in pubs with only cold-running tap
water, and what until now was a sad excuse for a towel to wipe one's hands
in, hanging from a rusty nail. And of course the new regulations don't
stop there: they also stipulate stricter handling of food and rules for
food preparation, which most, I believe, will greet as a welcomed and
necessary improvement. I don't know, perhaps it is just me, but it is
getting hard to romanticize at least some of the old-style pubs anymore.
Anyone who has ever peeked into the back of some of those kitchens will
know what I'm talking about. Quickly regretting they had ordered that
wiener schnitzel, or goulash, that was indistinguishable from a dish rag.
Sure, you can just visit some nicer pubs - downtown. But it is with
regret. I would happily visit the pub on the corner if it wasn't quite
such a dive...
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