Magazine

The weather has improved considerably in the past few days with sunshine and temperatures on Friday hitting a high of 21 degrees Celsius – but there’s a storm brewing elsewhere. The country’s two major weather forecasters –the Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute and the agency Meteopress are having a huge row over who does a better job of telling the weather. The Institute claims that while its own reports are based on accurate monitoring and years of scientific research Meteopress – is an unreliable commercial agency that sells weather reports as one would sell celebrity gossip. It has accused the agency of “doctoring” acquired weather reports by slipping in a “windstorm” recently and claiming that lightening struck close to four thousand times on Czech territory during the first storm of the year in mid-March – a figure that the institute claims had been increased nine-fold. Meteopress, a commercial firm dealing in weather news which employs a number of its own forecasters, has rejected the accusations and hit back, suggesting that if the state-funded institute did its job properly there would be no place for a commercial agency on the market. Many Czechs are watching this exchange with disbelief –given how many times both the institute and the agency have been dead wrong in foretelling the weather. But now that spring is here and the sun is out most people have little time to spare for this particular storm in a tea-cup.

Illustrative photo Firemen who responded to an emergency call in the town of Uherské Hradiště were in for a big surprise last week. The caller reported sighting a human body floating head-down on the Morava river. A rescue team soon located the place and went out on a boat to bring the body to shore. Much to their surprise the body borne on the current was not that of a human being but a straw effigy of winter – the so-called Morena that is part of the annual spring rites. In many parts of the country Morena is either burnt or thrown into the river to mark the arrival of spring. This is certainly the first one ever to be pulled out by a rescue team.

Illustrative photo Traffic police in the town of Pardubice were also in for a shock last week, when they saw a car go by with a woman breastfeeding her baby behind the wheel. The officers gave chase and on stopping the car found the mother totally unrepentant – arguing that she had no idea breastfeeding behind the wheel was not allowed. The police say they’ve seen a lot – with drivers eating, drinking, smoking and talking on the phone, but never anything as risky as this.

Photo: CTK Archeologists in Hrádek nad Nisou are excited about an archeological find uncovered during street repair work in the city centre. Workers digging under the surface of the cobbled street came upon a grave just 20 centimeter below the surface. The skeleton was that of a woman dating around 1310. She was found lying head down with a handful of coins clasped in her hand.

Her position and the location of the grave suggests that she was either considered a witch or a vampire or suffered from a severe physical anomaly and was buried far from the local cemetery in order to prevent her coming back to haunt or harm members of the local community after her death. The skeleton is reported to be surprisingly well preserved given how shallow the grave was and archeologists are hoping to glean much more from the remains. When the research is over the skeleton will be displayed at the local museum.

Photo: www.helenakadlcikova.com Three oil-paintings of Michael Jackson and his children done by a Czech artist are to be auctioned off at Julien’s Auction House in June of this year. The paintings are the work of Czech artist Helena Kadlčíková and were commissioned by Jackson four years ago. Kadlčíková says she first met Jackson in London in 2001 and did several other painting for the singer before he asked her to paint him with his children at his ranch in Santa Barbara. In 2003 she spent three months at the ranch getting to know him and his children in preparation of the work. Unfortunately, Michael Jackson died before she could deliver the paintings, and she later sold them on E-bay, together with the certificate commissioning the work.

Illustrative photo With Easter coming up in just over a week’s time the Saint Tropez chocolate shop near Prague’s Wenceslas Square is pulling out all the stops again - preparing a series of chocolate delicacies and Easter surprises for customers. Its biggest hit this Easter is a chocolate replica of a Faberge egg. The egg is 15 centimeters high and is decorated with real gold. Every decoration on it is edible and although the egg has a price tag of 5,000 crowns – it is not for sale. The chocolate shop will hold a lottery on Easter Monday and the lucky winner will get the Faberge chocolate egg for free.