http://www.radio.cz/en Letter from Prague is a weekly letter about life in the Czech capital. en Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:55:48 +0200 Sun, 03 Oct 2010 17:39:30 +0200 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Radio Prague CMS http://img.radio.cz/logo_100.gif http://www.radio.cz/en 100 55 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Radio Broadcasting cr@radio.cz webmaster@radio.cz http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132212 In my new status as an almost fulltime pedestrian and part time public transport user it is clear that that the upcoming elections in Prague are unavoidable above or below ground. Sun, 03 Oct 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132212 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132022 The Czechs are one of the world’s tallest nations. In fact when I first came here I found it slightly disconcerting. On a good day I’m 5 feet 10 inches (a pedant would say 5 feet 9 and a half), and I was used to feeling I was of average height in Ireland. Sun, 26 Sep 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132022 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131804 I don’t know what it is about the area where my wife, my son, and I live in the Czech capital that it can’t have a decent pub. Crazy as it may sound, it’s true: the establishment closest to our home, and there’s only one, is lousy. I’m not even a big pub-goer - but I wouldn’t mind going once in a while if I could. Sun, 19 Sep 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131804 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131593 The hugely successful American musician Kanye West was in Prague recently making what is being described as a movie to accompany his as yet untitled new album. The rapper kept fans informed about his time in the Czech capital via Twitter, saying he had been doing 16-hour shoots and describing filming here as “like a child’s delusions become reality!” Sun, 12 Sep 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131593 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131373 This week the city hall of Ústí nad Labem opened a new atrium which it had reconstructed at considerable expense - more than thirty million crowns. It was back-slapping, smiles and congratulations all round as people gathered to view the new site, but the speeches and fanfare accompanying the event were somewhat dampened by the black looks some of the locals directed at members of the local administration. As far as they were concerned there was a fly in the ointment, because the bronze statue dominating the new atrium was more than familiar. Sun, 05 Sep 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131373 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131184 August 18 marked the 130th anniversary of birth of one of the most distinct figures of the old Austrian empire, Emperor Franz Joseph I. He ruled his peoples for nearly seven decades, and although Czechs today don’t seem to identify with this particular period in their history, the legacy of the ‘aged monarch’, as he was semi-officially referred to towards the end of his life, is still apparent in most of his former empire today. Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:17:20 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131184 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130956 Some people say that Czechs are unfriendly. Obviously, such people are simply not in the right place at the right time. Try any central Prague metro exit or the top of Wenceslaus Square for example, where I have been stopped by the friendliest Czechs imaginable every day for the last two months now, sometimes even several times a day, sometimes several times within five minutes. They want to talk to me about all kinds of things. Sun, 22 Aug 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130956 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130514 For a brief period after graduating from high school in Germany, I found myself confused as to what course to take in life, professionally. So I enrolled for a program of study in English Linguistics. Sun, 08 Aug 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130514 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130080 For a few months from late July until the nights draw in from September and force me to change my weekend timetable, I look out of the window with some suspicion when my Prague-bound train pulls up at Pilsen on Sunday evenings. The cause of my fear can usually be heard before it appears: returning football supporters after an away game in the West Bohemian city. Sun, 25 Jul 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130080 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/129869 One of the high points of my week was getting soaked to the skin on a tram stop platform by a passing municipal truck sprinkling water to keep the dust down. With the temperature at around 35 degrees Celsius, the cool spray provided at least a brief relief from the mind-melting heat. Sun, 18 Jul 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/129869 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/129661 The start of the summer holidays has a profound effect on life in the Czech capital. Students go backpacking in the Middle East, families head for a seaside vacation in Croatia and children get dumped at their grandparents’ in the village. Prague dwellers evacuate the city in droves in favour of their country houses and holiday huts. Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/129661 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/129489 Ownership is an eye opener in the Czech Republic. I refer here not to the general possessions and shackles that accumulate with time but to my ownership of a flat in a large house. Sun, 04 Jul 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/129489 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/129231 Ernesto “Che” Guevara is to many people a symbol of revolution. In fact his handsome, defiant face topped by a beret is said to be one of the most reproduced images in the world. The Argentinean Marxist famously took part in the Cuban revolution, and died trying to foment another uprising in Bolivia. What is perhaps less well known is his connection to a small town south of Prague. Sun, 27 Jun 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/129231 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/129109 I have always wanted to start a collection of something, but I inevitably lose interest after I have, say, fifty stamps or coins, and I remain not a collector but a mere hoarder. And so I am always amazed by the collections of others, and it’s funny how what people collect differ from country to country. In the United States it was often Coca-Cola paraphernalia or bottle caps. In a German house I came across a staggering assemblage of beer-related articles alongside a budding toy car collection. And here I have met more than one Czech obsessed with public transit vehicles, amassing vast collections models, pictures and memorabilia from Prague’s MHD, or municipal transit authority. Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/129109 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/128658 I wanted to go back to Afghanistan the minute I left it. No less because within twelve hours of doing so, I found I’d swapped all the gritty wonders of that country for the faux mystique of Dubai. Dubai has as much mystique as Disneyland, but a cloud of volcanic ash kept me captive there for three days. At least I had a chance to fill myself up with fish, before going back to Prague, and to consider everything I had seen and heard over the two weeks past. Sun, 06 Jun 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/128658 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/128123 Though the weather has been quite miserable lately, that doesn’t take away from the fact Prague is at its loveliest in May. And one of the loveliest spots in the city at this time of year is Petřín Hill on the left bank of the Vltava. Sun, 23 May 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/128123 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/127938 A beautiful land of great wine, mediocre beer, long vowels and good-hearted if slow people – that’s Moravia, the eastern part of the Czech Republic. The Czechs are so jealous of their older brothers that they fear any mention of their existence. Well, the time has come to claim what’s ours, or else. Sun, 16 May 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/127938 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/127659 The sun has brought out the flowers, the flip-flops, the ice-cream stands, the short shorts, people who shouldn’t wear short shorts wearing them regardless… and the dogs in Riegrovy Sady park, a five-minute walk from the radio station. I often go to the park after work or on the weekend, just to sit on a bench or lie on the grass and soak up some sunshine. Sun, 09 May 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/127659 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/127364 I recently came back from a visit to Prague’s Pankrác prison. Such were the preliminaries and security checks that it was harder to get in than out. My mobile phone was taken from me, my recording gear looked at suspiciously and passport scoured before the keys rattled and buzzer sounded. But it was all handshakes, smiles, and a brisk goodbye on the way out. Needless to say it is not the same story for most of those inmates in one of the country’s most famous prisons. Sun, 02 May 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/127364 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/127256 Czechs have been living in the state of permanent political campaigning ever since the fall of the government last March. Early elections were supposed to be held in October, but in the end we have had wait for the regular term next month. All this time, political parties have been coming up with new ideas, slogans and counter-slogans to catch people’s attention. Sun, 25 Apr 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/127256