Prague’s Hands of Time

Next to London’s Big Ben, the famous and recognisable clock in Europe would have to be Prague’s medieval Astronomical clock, located on the southern wall of the City Hall.

Known locally as Orloj, its beautiful and intricate clock face is the work of various masters of the art of clock making. It was originally created by Mikuláš, the King’s watchmaker from the Czech city of Kadan, but it was later modernised by in the 16th century by Jan Taborský.

During the Prague Uprising of 1945 the Orloj was heavily damaged by Nazi bombs. Over the next few years a community effort was made it get it working again and it hasn’t stopped since, as legend has it that if it did Prague itself would stop functioning.

The Orloj is a sum of various parts and the astronomical dial is perhaps the most mystical. Most experts consider it to be a primitive form of a planetarium as with its rotating ring of zodiacal signs it displays the current position of the planets. Even more interesting is the background of the Orloj, which is coloured in semicircular shapes of blue, red and black (representing day, night and dusk). On the outer edge, two sets of golden numerals mark the 24-hour timescale as well as antiquated Czech time when the midnight (as we understand it today) took place at sunset.

But the most crowd-pleasing element of the Orloj is the four, strange and macabre figures underneath the clock face. They represent anxieties that the community had in the 15t century; death (represented by a skeleton), paganism (a Turk), vanity and greed (two figures with mirror and money bag respectively). When Orloj strikes the hour, ‘death’ inverts his hourglass, and statuettes of the 12 apostles parade past in a window above.

The Prague Castle: Symbol of the City

Most European cities have one singular monument that has become its symbol; in Barcelona it is the great and still unfinished church the Sagrada Familia whilst in Paris it’s the Eiffel Tower. In the Czech capital, the omnipresent Prague Castle is seen in almost every image of Prague.
Locals and tour guides like to tell you that the Prague Castle is the largest in the world, and its floor space equals the size of seven football fields. When visiting the site it certainly feels as if it does and it would be best to put away a good part of the day (or more) to view it properly.

Like most historical buildings of importance, the Prague Castle is a hotchpotch of styles. Started in the 9th century, rulers over the centuries have all left their imprint, particularly the Empress Theresa who gave the Gothic forms a more classical facelift. It was greatly remodelled again in the 1920s, making its echoing chambers more liveable and visitor-friendly. Even though Vaclav Havel, the first president of the Czech Republic chose not to live here, he also made improvements, particularly to Gallery of Paintings.

All this means that nearly every architectural style from the last 1000 years in represented in castle. There is the Gothic St. Vitus Cathedral with its beautiful stained-glass windows, and the Renaissance Royal Garden with an elegant Games House to name just a few. Inside the complex are a handful of museums including and an amazing Toy Museum and the National Gallery collection of Bohemian Art.

Entry tickets to the castle are valid for two days, and many museums are separate entry fee is required. Even if you don’t want to go into the castle itself, you can wander around the outside and most of the gardens for free, admiring its magnificent splendour from the exterior.

Roma Music takes over Prague

The richness of Romani—or gypsy— music will be celebrated in Prague this May with the 12th edition of the Khamoro Music Festival.

Romani Music draws on influences from its people’s wide diaspora, which spans Europe and encompasses Arabic, Turkish, Slavic, French and Southern European traditions. The most well-know exponent of Romani music is Spain, with the passionate flamenco sound at the helm (though the feet-tapping rumba from Catalunya was also created by the gitanos) and southern France, through the Gypsy Kings and the legendary gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt.

It is only relatively recently that the joyful Slavic strain of Romani music has gained an audience; any music fan that saw Tony Gatlif’s 1993 film ‘Latcho Drom’ might remember what a revelation it was, as the historic journey of the Roma people from India to Europe was told through their musical heritage.

The Khamoro Music Festival, which will largely take place in smaller venues across the city, will feature musicians from all over Europe and from the many sub-genres of Roma music. !Deladap describe their sound as ‘nu-gypsy’ with a mix of jazz and electronic. At the other end of the spectrum, the duo Nadara hail from a small village in Romania, where they forged their reputation at weddings and traditional fiestas and developed an innovative take on traditional Transylvanian folk music.

Debates, film screenings and talks also form part of the Khamoro Music Festival, making the last week in May a great time to visit Prague for world music fans.

Café Society in Prague

Prague is famous for many things, its opera house, its bridges, springtimes and astrological clock. It also has a wonderful café society, from lost-in-time fin de siècle relics to funky new arrivals. Here are three of my favourites.

Café Slavia - One of Prague’s best- loved institutions and renowned as a meeting place for intellectuals and literati since the late 19th century. The décor hasn’t changed much since then, and neither have the house specialties such as crepes, and thick and sinful hot chocolate. Smetanovo nábřeží 1012/2, www.cafeslavia.cz
Kavárna Obecní dům,

The glorious Municipal House Café is a sterling example of secessionist style and is located in the heart of the city’s historical centre. Open from day to night, it is equally as good for a coffee and pastry breakfast or a light lunch of a sandwich or salad. Ask to have a peek at the café’s private games rooms. Náměstí Republiky 5.

Cafe Wow - Café Wow is a one of the new breed of Prague cafes, mixing retro-inspired furniture and bright colors to a young crowd of locals and expats. You could pop in for a cocktail at night, or grab a bite of say tomato and mozzarella salad and pasta during the day. It is also one of the few places in Prague that does a decent brunch. Kozí 5, http://www.cafewow.cz/

You can learn about Prague Ruzyne airport online.

Best way to see Prague in 1 Day

Prague is a great city for a number of reasons but one of the key things to me is the fact that it is a capital city, yet still compact and easy to get around. Seeing the city in one day is very possible if you are well organised and there are ways to do this.

I always find that if you are in a city for a very short time, then going on the City Bus Tour (which many main cities have) is one excellent way to see a lot in a short time and which a guide. The best ones I find are the hop on, hop off bus tours. An organised city tour can also be a great way and if the city has a river through the heart of it, as Prague has, a boat trip combined with city tour can be good.

In Prague, companies who offer good tour include Viatour and GoldenTours. They are several companies in fact that you can choose from and often the tours use the same supplier. If you are unsure, then talking to your hotel concierge or to your Prague apartment agent can also sometimes help.

Best Youth Hostels in Prague for travellers

There are some excellent choices in Prague for accommodation and for all different prices levels and in a variety of areas within Prague. Even the higher-end hotels can be relatively cheap compared to some other European capitals, such as Paris, Rome and London.

One accommodation type which has proven to be very popular for years with backpackers BUT is also now attracting a variety of ages - now that many are being upgraded, are youth hostels. Below 3 of my favourite youth hostels:

Hostel Bridge Youth Hostel (Vašátkova 27) - This is an excellent double, 3 and 4 bedroom rooms and with a location which is very central and close to the historical attractions - is a good find. The rooms are also normally very clean and staff real friendly.

Pension Tara Youth Hostel - another great hostel with excellent cleanliness and cooperative staff. In some hostels on my travels around Europe, the staff can sometimes be rude, rooms unclean and location not great. Pension Tara though ticks all the boxes and is in a great location. Good facilities and not too far from the Hostel Bridge hostel.

Welcome Hostel - is another jewel and as they say, location, location, location. Also though with Internet access, lockers, good facilities, good staff and a decent price this is as good as any in Prague.

Where to stay in Prague

It can get confusing when planning to stay in Prague with several areas to the city. Below some thoughts on the main areas:

Nove Mesto - is one of the best areas to stay in the city as a tourist. This area is very central, has a number of decent holiday accommodation choices and is very central to the main attractions, bars and restaurants. You cannot go wrong with Move Mesto.

Stare Mesto - is equally as nice and also central, offers decent value and holiday rentals and is overall a very good location.

Smichov in Prague - also remains popular with many visitors to Prague, on the left bank of the river is another viable alternative. This area is filled with shops, restaurants and bars and is popular with locals and tourist.

Choose one of the areas above and you cannot go wrong when staying in Prague.

Why not join us at Prague Horn Festival

The Prague Horn Festival is an annual and non-profit event which will be held from the 8th of August to the 16th of August. This is the 18th edition of this festival and the aim is to develop the art of performances instrument boasting rich tradition of the Czech history.

This year, the event takes place at two locations, the Town Hall and Basic School of Arts. Everybody is welcome to this event, people from around the world are invited to this Horn Festival, amateurs as well as professionals, to participate the master classes. Students and teachers, keen amateurs and even beginners are welcome. Everybody who wants to learn and wants to get to know the instrument better, is welcome.

There are different sessions in the program. The morning program has sessions with individual lessons of 30 minutes. In the afternoon there are the open master classes and every night a concert will take place, starting on 7.30pm.

The fees for these courses vary from €320.00 for auditors to €440.00 for active participants. These prices includes the tuition and accommodation and the registration fee of €60.00. If there is a greater interest in participating the course, a student residential accommodation will be offered a reduced price. The official opening ceremony take place on the 8th of August at 3pm in the NKC Hall.

New Prague Dance Festival Tanec Praha

This New Prague Dance Festival called Tanec Praha is since the introduction, the largest dance festival of the capital city. Tanec Praha literally means Dance Prague and the New Prague Dance Festival was found in 1997. The New Prague Dance Festival is held from the 1st of July to the 7th of July in the Ponec Theatre.

This is an excellent organized festival for amateur dance groups that come from different dance genres. The aim was to enjoy people who love to dance where the nationality, language or religion doesn’t matter. This festival is also a competition that gives the opportunity to see the other lovers of dance and their interpretation of forms and styles.

Some types of dance are classic, hip hop, contemporary, jazz, folk, choreography and all forms of performance. The competition is accessible to all dance schools and studios and there is a jury that will judge all the performances.

The new Prague Dance Festival is cooperating with the National Theater of Prague and its ballet ensemble. This cooperation ensures, the participants of the festival, protection that everything will be on the highest level and professional quality during their stay in Prague. This is at the same time a good way to show the participants the ancient historic halls of the dance department which is situated in the centre of Prague, to improve the dance and to explore new trends in classic as well as the modern dance. You can find more dance events online.

Top 5 must see sights in Prague

Prague offers a lot of attractions and sight. People can spend many time in the city and still be surprised by all the beautiful buildings, museums, monuments and other attractive places. This is a list of ‘the top 5 must see sights’ in Prague.
1. The first sight is called the Charles Bridge. This is one of the most beautiful bridges in the world. It is the biggest attraction of Prague and it is called after Charles IV. One of the arches of the original bridge is incorporated into the new bridge. This bridge has its own permanent residents as jazz musicians and souvenir sellers.

2. Then there is the Prague Castle. This is one of the most popular sights of Prague. The original castle is found in 880 by the oldest known frost of Premslyden, Borovoj. The Prague Castle is now one of the largest palaces closed complexes in the world. Inside the castle you will find 7,5 acres with buildings, with Romanesque, Gothic and classical style.

3. On the third place is the ‘Old Town Square’. This square is the most important square of Prague. In the 10th century there was a market for farmers as well as merchants. Traces of Roman houses are still seen. The richest inhabitants built houses and the royal family and other nobles built palaces.

4. The fourth place is ‘The Golden Street’. This street is a narrow street inside the Prague Castle and it has small colored houses where alchemists, archers, poor people and poets lived. Many famous writers have lived here such as Jaroslav Seifert and Franz Kafka.

5. The last sight is the ‘Wenceslas square’. This square is the biggest square in Prague and it is situated in the Nove Mesto. It is also called the heart of Prague because of the lively atmosphere. The square look like a boulevard with the bars and terraces and there is always something to do.