New Years Eve

There was much anticipation leading up to New Years Eve here in Prague, for two reasons. Firstly, we were really looking forward to seeing in the new year with Nik, Lina and Tom and secondly, for the crazy firework demonstrations which go on all over the city. Fireworks are legal here and come Christmas/New Years you can find these little beauties in the front window of every shop. Little ones which just make a loud noise, single crackers and big boxes with just one fuse to light the whole lot at once! If you can think of it, then you can probably find it here. Jon and Nik were, of course, very excited by all of this and as soon as Nik arrived in Prague they were down buying out the nearest store of their fireworks supply.

Fireworks

New Years Eve day we decided to do some sight seeing. Up to Prague Castle, Mala Strana, Charles Bridge and the Jewish Quarter. It was a very cold but clear day, and needless to say, I have never seen so many tourists in one place! Walking through the Castle grounds was like pushing your way to the front of a crowd at a music festival - lots of pushing, shoving and getting lost. It was great to be able to show Nik Prague Castle though, and St Vitus Cathedral never fails to get an "ooooh" and an "ahhhh" from visitors.

Prague Castle and St Vitus Cathedral

St Vitus Cathedral 

Feeling very hungry by this time, we decided to check out a place called 'Yes Burger' for lunch. We had read about this particular burger place and Lina and Tom had been wanting to try it ever since their first time in Prague (back in August!). I am not really sure what to say here to be honest and I think the best way for me to express this lunch is to show pictures.

Nik's was the 'Golem' burger, the huge one on the end...he finished it too

So, feeling extremely full and ready for a nap, we headed home to get ready for the night ahead. We decided that we should have a special 'family' dinner and all get dressed up. We called it Family Pie Night, as I had made a pie for dinner. We all put on our best clothes and drank Moet, which Nik had bought for us from Dubai. It was a wonderful dinner and probably a little strange, but thats the way we like it.
We whiled away the hours before heading out for the celebrations by playing card games and drinking sweet Italian wine, courtesy of Lina and Tom. They also bought these special biscuits from Italy which you dip into the wine before eating. They were amazing and the perfect dessert.

Sweet Italian dessert wine with biscotti - Yum!

When we eventually headed into the city centre we were blown away by the ridiculousness of the celebrations. Sure, there were firefighters, police and medical emergency crews everywhere, but not surprisingly, in Prague, this doesn't make one feel safe. People were setting of fireworks everywhere. There were no regulations or rules, no designated launching area and certainly no person trained in pyrotechnics to be seen! At the stroke of midnight things really became insane. It seemed as though most people had been saving their crackers for this moment. The noise was deafening, the smoke in the air was so thick you couldn't breath properly and fireworks were actually going off in crowds of people! We decided it was probably time to leave, and after setting off one last firework, we headed for the tram.

Fireworks in Wenceslas Square

Exploding just above the building! 

All in all it was the weirdest New Years Eve I have ever had, and certainly the most dangerous. No one lost any appendages and we all made it back to the apartment safely, even if we didn't arrive back together! For me, this is one of those things which I can say I have done, and (thankfully) I don't have to do again.

Skiing Herlikovice

One of the conditions of Nik's visit to the Czech Republic, was that we had to think of somewhere fun to go for a quick trip while he was here. We thought of lots of different places but eventually decided that skiing was the best and probably the most exciting idea. Each having little to no skiing experience we decided that it would be a good opportunity to learn together as well as a bit of fun.
Jon booked and organised everything, all we had to do was make it to the bus station by 6:30am on the 26th December - thats right, the day after Christmas. We were feeling a little worse for wear but luckily we made it to the station without too much difficulty.
We went to a ski 'resort' called Herlikovice, which is located in the Krkonose (Giant) Mountains about 120km north-east of Prague. This particular mountain range is very popular for families as there are plenty of ski lifts and slopes of all levels. As far as amenities go there were none, or very little, but we found we didn't need any. Most people come to Herlikovice for just one or two days. Being so close to Prague, it is possible to go there for just the day.
Once we arrived, had checked in to our room in the hotel and had been fitted with our skis, we headed off for our first skiing lesson with our instructor Eve. We all struggled at first and found it difficult to get the hang of things, but after a few hours we were definitely improving - that is, we spent more time standing up and moving than on our backsides.

Eve, our instructor 

After a bite to eat we then headed out for our first go on the ski slope, with Eve in toe to help us out. She helped us to work out the T-bars ("Don't sit down!") and showed us to the nice beginners slope we could practice on. Setting off down the slope for the first time was magnificent, as long as you didn't run into anyone or get in anyone else's way. We called it a day a few hours later and headed out for an early dinner at one of the local restaurants. We were all so tired we were asleep by 8:30 pm, dreading the delayed onset muscle soreness that would inevitably come in the morning.
The second day of skiing was interesting as we were all very sore from the day before and we were still very shaky on our skis. By about lunch time we had kind of got the hang of things, managing to get to the bottom of a slope which was a little bit harder. The prize of getting to the bottom of this slope was the chairlift, which was a lot more comfortable that the T-bars.

Using the Chairlift

Pizza and Becherovka for lunch then back out for an afternoon of skiing. We had dinner at the same local restaurant, which was actually really delicious, then sat out and watched some of the night skiers fly down the mountain. It is really amazing watching people who have been skiing their whole lives; they look amazingly graceful and make skiing look like a walk in the park!

Night Skiing 

So the third day dawned with us feeling even more sore but still with no serious injuries and high spirits. We decided today was the day to tackle the bigger slopes. As we found out, the Herlikovice slope has a very tricky little section right in the middle of it which we weren't expecting! There was nothing to do but go down it, as we certainly couldn't go back. It is scary how quickly you find yourself at the bottom of the slope, especially as I didn't feel like I was going very fast. We spent the whole day going up and down the different slopes until we were so exhausted that we literally couldn't stand up on our skis anymore. We could tell when we were getting tired as skiing became harder and we would spend equal amounts of time on the floor as we did actually skiing.
We hopped on the bus home in the afternoon and all fell asleep for the ride home.
It was a really wonderful trip and I am glad that we were able to experience it all with Nik. Now we can show up Dave on the next New Zealand ski trip!

Nik on the Ski Slope

Herlikovice slope

Christmas in Prague

Christmas was a very different experience for us this year - no big family dinners, no Mothers cooking our amazing Christmas lunch and no Church! I'm not sure that I would always want Christmas' to be like this, but this year was definitely an experience to remember.
Jon's brother Nik was able to come over for the Christmas and New Year period and it has been really nice having him here. He is representing the 'Family' part of Christmas for us. Lina and Tom, our Kiwi friends who we met on our TELF course, came back to Prague to spend Christmas and New Year with us too. So our apartment is full to the brim right now and we are loving every minute of it. It is so nice to have special friends around at Christmas time.
We spent Christmas Eve running around getting the last minute things ready for Christmas; food, drinks and fireworks of course! Lina and Tom arrived in the afternoon and we spent the night catching up on what we have all been doing over the last few months. Long after the sun had gone down we decided to head out to the local park and try out some of the fireworks we bought. We were like children with new toys. It was loud, exciting and probably dangerous too, but we didn't care. Only after we were asked to move on by a local resident did we decided to call it a night. No damage done and we all still have all of our fingers so we considered it a success.
Christmas morning was full of Skype calls to family back in Australia and opening the presents that our families sent over to us. We said we didn't want any presents, but everyone knows that it's nice to have something to open on Christmas morning. We were successfully spoilt, even on the other side of the world!
We had a big 'fry up' for breakfast which consisted of croissants, eggs, bacon, baked beans and bramborak (Czech potato pancakes which we had as hash-browns). Tom and Lina had made some sloe berry gin while they were in Italy and had brought it with them as a Christmas present for us to share. Sloe berry gin is basically gin with sloe berries in it to give it a delicious berry flavour and colour. It has to steep for three months, and they had prepared it exactly three months ago. Prefect timing! So after breakfast we all shared a few glasses of gin and decided that it was one of the best things we have ever tasted.

Sloe Berry Gin

A trip into Old Town was next on the agenda for our Christmas day as we wanted to get a board game as well as check out the markets. The Christmas markets were full of people drinking, eating and being merry. It was a really nice atmosphere and definitely something different for us! Nik brought us Czech Monopoly as a Christmas present and we all shared some Prague Ham in the markets. The ham is smoked over burning coals and has the most delicious flavour to it. I'm not sure we will be happy with ordinary Christmas Ham again!

Prague Christmas Ham

Old Town Square Christmas markets at night

Looking back, we probably shouldn't have had the ham, as we had the biggest Christmas dinner prepared and we were all feeling full already. We cooked it all up anyway; roast chicken, veggies and all the rest of the usual food. We were all so full after dinner that a quiet game of monopoly was in order. Anyone who has ever played a board game with me knows that there is not such thing as a quiet game of anything - I play for sheep stations and this game was not going to be any different. The game was made even more interesting, due to the fact that we couldn't read the "chance" or "community chest" cards! We had google translate up and running for the entire game. At least we had the chance to improve our Czech.

Czech Monopoly

Christmas Dinner

So now we can say we have had a European Christmas, even if we didn't have the traditional Czech meal of Carp and Potato salad for dinner. Things were different and it certainly didn't have the same 'Christmassy' feel, but it was a great day and we enjoyed spending the day with Nik, Lina and Tom.
We had also been hoping for a white Christmas but that unfortunately didn't happen. Oh well, there is always next year!

The 'Family' 

Ginger Bread House

Sad Times and Happy Times

We have had a roller coaster of a week last week as Jon's brother Nik arrived and our house mate Josiah had to leave. It was very sad to see Josiah go, after all of the hard work he put in to being here and getting a good job. It was just not meant to be for him and he left the Czech Republic with his head held high. We will miss him very much in our apartment and the Czech life already feels very different without him here. So the process begins for us of looking for a new room mate! This could be interesting...

On the other hand, Nik arrived the day before Josiah left and it is so wonderful to have him here with us over Christmas and New Year. He has taken up residence on the couch and is enjoying his time here so far. We have already tested out the Czech fireworks and are looking forward to the New Years tradition of setting off fireworks in the centre of town! Lets hope none of us lose an eye.

On Nik's first night and Josiah's last night here we had a big family dinner. It was a "Hello Nik" and "Goodbye Josiah" with a little bit of "Merry Christmas" thrown in too. It was a really nice night and a great way to spend Josiah's last night in Prague.

Dresden Christmas Markets

Nobody does Christmas Markets quite like the Germans. We realised this when we visited Dresden for a day a few weekends ago. We wanted to experience the Christmas markets we had read so much about, and seeing as though the bus ride was only a few hours, we decided to tackle it in one day.
The markets really were something else! Everything that could possibly be decorated was and every stall had it's own specially decorated awning complete with moving figures or giant sized replicas of whatever they were selling; be it food, toys or decorations. We decided to try a hot chocolate with amaretto, which was delicious, and we kept the special "Dresden Christmas Markets 2011" mugs. When you buy a drink at the markets you pay a deposit on the cup (about 2.50 Euro) so you can either return the mug and get back your deposit or keep it as a souvenir.
The smells coming from some of the stalls were to die for and we enjoyed sampling some of the culinary delights Dresden had to offer. We had these bread bun thing (I don't know the name sorry) stuffed with cheese and smoked bacon, baked in a hot coal oven then served with sour cream and chives on top - amazing! Hot roast beef rolls with gravy, stollen, potato chips (hand cut) and all the German Christmas biscuits you can eat.
We stumbled upon a Medieval Christmas market too which was fantastic - lots of hot wine, hot meat and blacksmiths. We bought a few presents here and enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere. Everyone who worked in this market was dressed up and all of the stalls kept with the theme; it was like stepping back in time! We even saw a medieval play complete with a jester and an ugly mask on the 'bad guy'.

Blacksmith working at the market

Medieval Christmas Markets

As we went on the last possible weekend before Christmas the markets were stuffed to the brim with people. Toward the end of the day we were battling though people just to stay together as, it seemed, the entire population of Dresden were finishing off their Christmas shopping.
After a long day we hopped back on the bus and headed home to Prague. It was a great day trip and one I think we will be doing again in the summer time.

Dresden Christmas Markets

View over the Markets to the left

View over the Markets to the right

Black Light Theatre

One of my students recently offered me some free tickets to a black light theatre production which he is involved in. Jon, Josiah and I all went along to see the show which was by a company called "Image", one of the bigger (and better) black light theatres in Prague. Black light theater is basically a performance done under UV, or black light. Although Black Theater originated in Asia, it has become a speciality of Prague and a tourist must-do. The costumes are designed so that only the parts which are fluorescent show up on stage. This creates a magnificent optical illusion which can make it seem as though the dancer has only one leg or even extra arms!

We went to see a show called Africania, which was about two tourists who travel to Africa, an old and washed up husband and his flirtatious wife. The show was a bit of pantomime acting combined with the actual black light dancing. The dancing numbers were all African themed, with our particular favourites being the Zebras and the Grasses. The dancers are also connected to wires, which you can't see, which enable them to be lifted into the air giving the illusion of them flying! It took me a good half of the show to work out how they did this without tripping on the wires. I needed an explanation from my student involved in the production in the following class.

The pantomime was quite funny, but with a multinational audience it was hard to please everyone. Just to be a good sport, Josiah decided to laugh extra loud in the parts which he thought were supposed to be funny. In his defense, this was supposed to help the actors along and give them some confidence. However all this lead to was one really loud fake laugh from one member of the audience and a snickering laugh from the two people sitting next to him, Jon and I.
Jon found the whole production rather tiresome and I think if it had gone on any longer he would of had to consider leaving. All in all it was a good night, and the coffee and cake which followed were well deserved, especially on Jon's part.

I have attached some photos of the Africania production, which I sourced from the Image Black Light Theatre companies website.

The Zebras

Monkeys

Grasses

The Wombats

After much anticipation, we finally got to see one of our favourite bands, 'The Wombats', live in concert here in Prague. Jon had known about this concert long before we moved to Prague and we had been looking forward to it ever since we read "Prague, Lucerna Music Bar", on their list of tour dates. Needless to say, we were not disappointed! The music was first rate and the band put on a good show with plenty of interesting antics by the bass player. The concert was full of underage 'hipsters', flaunting their fluro colours and screaming madly for the band. We had prime position for the concert on the balcony overlooking the stage with a full view of all three band members as well as the crazy 'mosh pit'.

The band really was as good live as they are on their CD, which is always a good sign. Although their new music was fantastic, it was the older songs that stole the show, with 'Lets Dance to Joy Division' being my personal favourite of the night. 

Before the show, we went out for dinner to a popular cafe called Cafe Lourve. Franz Kafka and Albert Einstein used to be regulars at this cafe, making it all the more popular for people to visit these days. The coffee is delicious and they have a great range of yummy cakes too, but on this occasion we were there for dinner. Dinner was delicious and we followed it with a walk through the Christmas markets in Old Town Square. This was our first experience with the Prague Christmas markets and the beautiful traditional tree in Old town Square really took our breath away (pictures to follow). 

We had a great night out and really enjoyed being able to see one of our favourite bands here in Prague.