Look what we have found surfing around the net..We were looking for some interesting news about Christmas in the Czech republic and well, we guess we found some nice short reading before the big festivity.

Everybody experienced THE DAY AFTER.
Staying in Prague does make it happen more often for the simple reason that drinks are cheaper than in any other European country, so having a vademecum how to survive to Czech hangovers in Czech republic could be a good idea.


We have been hearing many myths about hangover remedies: they say that the hair of the dog that bit you will cure your hangover. But that is the British way.   
Brits teach in this matter, the University of Newcastle rated a sandwich with bacon like the best food to have the morning after. Stop counting calories, then, bread, bacon, ketchup is the new eating regime to survive the day.

Germans eat marinated fish, certain types are said to be miraculous.

Scottish people drink the Highland Fling, which is a pint of buttermilk.

Denmark and Ireland go for their heavy breakfasts: smoked eel on dark rye bread, topped with scrambled eggs, herbs and a slice of lemon  for the first and sausage, fried egg, bacon, white pudding, black pudding, toast, fried tomato and sometimes mushrooms, baked beans, liver or soda bread, all served with coffee or tea for the second.

What about a real Czech remedy?
Garlic soup - česnečka - is the answer. Easy, fast and it promises to be the number one cure. All you need is broth, potatoes, garlic and onions.


Suggestions where to go if you are lazy to make it yourself? Actually almost any Czech restaurant has it in its menu so it will not be that difficult to find one in max 15 minutes walk from anywhere you are.

In Prague are now some restaurants completely dedicated to soups, check them out on a Sunday morning after a wild night, it could be helpful.

If soup is not what you are actually dreaming of on a recovering morning, then we suggest you The Tavern and its not-low-calories menu but very tasty, the best burgers in town, together with Fraktal in Prague 7. Bottoms up!

It is a big tradition in the Czech republic to start at least few weeks before the big Christmas celebration to bake Christmas cookies. Yes, Christmas cookies. Yes, few weeks before. Yes, they must bake all different types of cookies and yes, they usually bake a big amount for entire neighbourhood or family, acquaintances etc.
Some people even ask for days off at work to dedicate to flour, butter, sugar, spices and start the Christmas Baking Marathon.

If you are visiting the Czech republic in any pf the following weekd you will have the chance to taste these Christmas specialties almost everywhere, in cafes but also in street markets stands.

Starting from this, we know what you are actually thinking: well, let´s see what is then so special or delicious about this?

Talking as a non-Czech person - yes I am revealing my identity as editor of this blog - I must admit that Vánoční cukroví, this is the technical Czech name of them, are actually very tasty. So if you are a sweets lover or a spice lover - like cinammon, ginger, etc.- this is exactly what you were looking for to delight yor fine palate.

Here we go with 3  recipes. Three, two, one..go!

LINECKÉ PEČIVO - Foundation Cookies

This is the basic recipe for creating many different types of cookies. On the base of it, you can play with shapes, fillings, sandwiching them together with jam, on top sugar decoration, etc.
Use your fantasy, kids might be very helpful and it could be a fun family activity (apart from the cleaning after it).

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 280g softened butter
• 750g  sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 5g vanilla
• 900 g all-purpose flour
• Jam (optional)
• Water Icing (optional)
• Confectioners' sugar (optional)

Preparation:

CNN has just rated Prague as the best city for a winter vacation.
We all know how cold it can actually be here in Prague during winter time so in order to plan your stay during this month we would like to suggest some indoor activities - and not - to spend in a quality way your city break or your free time if you are a resident.

Let´s strat with something for art lovers. Spending few hours in a good museum or gallery is definetly a must for the winter (and not only) time.



VITAL ART NOUVEAU 1900
Venue: Municipa House
When: November 29 - December 31

Prague is the Art Nouveau birthplace and this new exhibit shows us how art revitalized life and life revitalized art in the early 20th. The exhibition presents a selection of the most outstanding works of Czech and European Art Nouveau art from the holdings of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague.


EXIBITION DAVID CERNY: ÜBER EGO
Venue: Gallery Dvorak Sec Contemporary
When: November 29 - December 6

David Černý presents his newest orginal works on his solo exhibition entitled Über ego.
This Czech rebel artist is known for his monumental realizations in open public spaces: Entropa in Brussels, Babises on Žižkov Tower, Pink Tank, London booster at the London Olympics , the horse in Lucerna Passage in Venceslas Square and much more.

ICE RINK AT OVOCNY TRH
Venue: Ovocny Trh (behind the Estate Theatre)
When:  December 5 - January 31

Take a break from sightseeing or take your children to an afternoon on the ice. Enjoy the outdoor skating in a stunning and magical atmosphere.
The ice rink is open daily from 10 am to 10 pm and it is free. Skates hire 50 CZK.

 

CHRISTMAS EVE JOGGING RACE
When: December 24 - 8 am

Going to Hrádek and back again. The race is acceptable to less powerful runners, too. The race lenght is 5,5 km but it is possible to shorten the route. Ideal for families, the event ends with singing Christmas carols by the tree decorated with candles and sparklers.


WINTER SWIMMERS IN VLTAVA
Venue: by the National Theatre
When: 26 December - 11 am

This is the oldest and most famous hardy event in the Czech republic. It takes place every year on December 26 by in the Vltava river by the National Theatre.
Watch these brave men jumping in the cold waters of the Vltava rivers. Fancy a swim with them?



A MAGICAL CHRISTMAS AT BETHLEHEM CHAPEL
Venue: Bethelehem Chapel
When: November 30 - January 5

Each year a different theme for the Christmas celebration at the Bethlethem Chapel: "Czech fairy tales" is the 2013 one.



CHRISTMAS MARKETS
Venue: Old Town Square, Wenceslas Square, Namesti Miru
When: November 30 - January 12

The largest Christmas Markets are open daily from November 30 in Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square.
Local handicrafts - glassware, wooden toys, jewellery, puppets, candles -, food and drinks - hot sausages, Prague ham, Czech beer, hot mulled wine and trdlo.



 Soon we will give some special recipes for typical Christmas Cookies..stay tuned!

Share with us the first Christmas pictures of your town, we will be very curious to see what your places look like.

Na shledanou, friends and followers!

Celebrated all over the world, Halloween has become a do-not-miss occasion for partying also in the Czech republic and every year there are plenty of activities and parties going on in the city to entertain locals, expats and tourists.

Let´go through some ideas for the upcoming Halloween celebration.

What we all know about Halloween:

1- trick-or-treating, children love it (and I guess parents, too!).

2- costume parties. We all love them, but the question is always the same every year: what will be my costume? No time to think about it? No worries, Prague has been opening many costumes shops to help you prepare for the Halloween night. This holiday is definetly here to stay!

Here is a list of few costume shops where you can buy, rent or simply get some inspiration for your home-made one.

HALLOWEEN STORE/COSTUME RENTAL PRAGUE
www.halloween-store.cz (costume shop)
www.pujcovna-kostymu.com (costume rental)

MEGA COSTUME STORE AND RENTAL
www.ptakoviny-karneval.cz (costume shop)
www.mega-pujcovna-kostymu.cz (costume rental) 

COSTUME SHOP/RENTAL MUZEUM
www.carnival-shop.cz (costume shop)
www.pujcovnakostymupraha.com (costume rental)
 
COSTUME SHOP HOLEŠOVICE
www.ptakoviny-praha.cz 
 




3- decorating, craving pumpkins into Jack-o´lanterns or something else

Here are some suggestions where to buy pumpkins in Prague and outside the city

Big stores like Tesco, Albert, Tesco and Interspar have plenty of pumpkin to choose among. Prices depend on size, but we can estimate it between 60 - 300 CZK.

Farmers´markets around the city might have very nice ones for nice prices, too. Between 40 - 200 kc deoending on size.

A small farm in East Bohemia is known and called Pumpkin World. Give it a try if you are on the way

Bykos is a place near Beroun, about 40 km out of Prague and the owner of this place sells pumpkins and promise to deliver them. It sounds good, ah!

Try also in the flowers´shop, they might hide some pumpkins too..


 Children decoration idea
 Children decoration idea
Home decoration idea












 
4- watching Horror Movies

Family friendly movies? Here we are with some classic: Corpse Bride, It´s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, The Halloween Tree, Frankenweenie, etc.

Horror movies? The Pumpkin Craver, Trick´r Treat, Jack-O, Night od Demons, etc.

Comedy movies? The Addams Family, Young Frankenstein, Scary Movie, etc.


5- Kids-friendly Halloween in Prague

Halloween Pumpkin Carving - 26th October starting from 2 p.m.
Venue: Kulturni a Rodinne centrum CoByDup o.s.
Žacléřská , Prague
Nearest metro: Letnany


pumpking carving, decoration, competition, pumkin masks, lantern procession

Halloween in Prague Botanical Garden - Troja  31st October from 3 p.m.
Venue: Botanical garden in Troja
witches, ghosts, pumpkins and a mystic atmosphere..
Prepare your Jack´o-lantern and participate to the parade at 6 p.m.!

6- theme-partying around the city

Here is a big chapter of today new post. Prague offers a pretty rich selections of parties around the city, good to know the  offer before making the choice. So here we go with some suggestions:

MECCAWEEN - the scariest Halloween in Prague
October 25-26th
Venue: Mecca Club


FUSION= no confusion/Halloween Edition
October 31st
Venue: 360 Lounge bar

M1 Lounge - HALLOWEEN HAUNTED HOUSE 2013
October 31st - November 2nd
Venue: M1 lounge


HARD ROCK CAFE: PSYCHOBILLY & ROCKABILLY HALLOWEEN
Live music performance of The MOONSHINE HOWLERS band followed by DJane Rocka´s video show!
October 26th
Venue: Hard Rock cafe

Searching for more events around? Have a look at the numerous portals of nightlife and events in Prague. Expats.cz and PragueEventCalendar can give you many suggestions how to spend your Halloween scary time in Prague.

Don't forget to take pictures and if you feel like sharing them with us, feel free to do it!

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It has started yesterday and of course we could not miss it. So, we took our nice autumn coat, umbrella - you never know it is always tricky the weather lately - stopped for a svarak to go (hot wine) - it is finally time for it, probably the best part of the winter to come - and we headed to the city to enjoy light installations.

It was just the first day and the city is packed with events, performance and visual exhibitions to follow and enjoy.

Here is the map of all them, which you can also download to your mobile.

MAP OF INSTALLATIONS

We walked thought the center and Old Town Square where you can find the Installation of the cube..

I have been noticing that creating the TOP 5 of something is very entertaining our staffs in the hotel and in the offices. Friday seems to be the perfect day to open the survey and this week it cames in my mind to talk about Czech music.

Music is aprt of the culture of any country but who of you knows anything about Czech music? No more excuses here we have a special TOP  elaborated by our 5 Prague Hotels and its staff and the staff from the Management and Reservation department in the Prague headquarter:

- Hotel Tyl
- Hotel Raffaello
- Hotel Residence Mala Strana
- Residence Green Lobster
- Residence Bijou de Prague
- Garzotto Hotels & Resorts headquarter

Some pictures of the first list of songs we collected and the first work on that...it seems to be tough, here :] It has been a long work in progress. There have been fights, discussions, argues but we got to the final 5...






















It took at least 4 hours to have the final list of TOP 5 Czech songs and here we want to share them with you and if you have any other ones, please post it like a comment. We would like to know which is your TOP 5 or you favourite Czech songs.


Thanks and enjoy it! And dont forget to add your comments or your favourote song below.

Autumn has arrived and with it its own seasonal goodies, colours and chill atmosphere.

No doubt that both Prague and Marianske Lazne get some wonderful colours and the nature around looks pretty stunning.
 

Have a look to what our chef Gustav - Head Chef in Ristorante Rigoletto in Hotel Continental - has prepared for you. The Autumn Special Menu is available everyday for all the season, ask our restaurant staff to recommend you something and enjoy it...dobrou chut!

Our personal suggestion? Mmmm considering that we have been obviously tasted all of this...
I would definetly recommend the Venison Pate with Onion Marmelade followed by the Pumpkin Soup with sour cream - I personally love the taste if pumpkin.
As main dish I would go for the Wild Boar with red cabbage and apple, very autumn style and very tasty. To conclude happily, our Gustav is a master in desserts that's why I will never say no to any of them, but if I really had to choose and suggest...simple but with grea effect the evergreen Butter Apple pie with curd. If you are coming twice to Restaurant Rigoletto then do not miss the Pear Poached in wine with caramel decoration - a beautiful composition and so much good to the palate..