Christmas In Prague and The Last Lamplighter

Christmas is a pretty special time of year wherever you are, but there’s something especially magical about Prague during Advent. I’ve been lucky enough to have been in town in early December for the past four years, and I still feel like a schoolboy in a sweet shop.

Lighting the Christmas Tree - this year in the Old Town Square

The Christmas markets are amongst the most famous in the world and there are a number of them dotted around the city. My two favourites are the ones in Staroměstské náměstí and Náměstí Míru (which was recently voted the most popular amongst Prague expat residents). The atmosphere is very special, and despite the crowds, there is such an assault on your senses that you can't help feeling that this is a magical time in a magical place!

Staroměstské náměstí from the Clock Tower (2014)

Each of the markets is filled with food and drink stands, with Prague Ham, klobása (sausages), tredlník (rolled dough, grilled and topped with sugar and cinnamon), and freshly fried potato chips (crisps) being the favourites. These are usually washed down with hot medovina (honey mead wine), or other warm mulled wines. There are plenty of stalls selling trinkets, gingerbread and other cakes, but some of the Christmas decorations on sale are beautiful and are good value (as long as you take care getting them home!).

                 

 

There are a couple of other things that you might not find described in any of the standard tourist guides.

First of all, there are the buckets of carp dotted around town. Carp is traditionally eaten at Christmas in the Czech Republic, and the fish are sold on the pavements, where they are kept in huge blue bins and you select the specific fish that you want, take it home (swimming around in a plastic bag) and leave it in the bathtub until you’re ready to cook it (carp are bottom feeders, and can taste a bit muddy unless there is time to flush the dirt through their systems). The more squeamish - or folk that prefer not to share their baths with live fish - can get the fishmonger to perform the necessary decapitation. Carp may be a strange choice for a Christmas dish, but fish has religious significance because it is eaten instead of meat on days of fasting and Christmas Eve is a day of fasting. The fish is served with a traditional Czech potato salad containing potatoes, onions, peas, carrots, gherkins, eggs and mayonnaise.

Carp on sale in the street

Traditionally, the lights on the Charles Bridge used gas to power them. The city converted all their old gas lights with electric ones starting in 1985 but in 2002 the decision was made to change back to gas in many parts of historical Prague, and the lamps on the Charles Bridge reverted to gas in 2010. All of Prague’s gas lights are lit electronically these days, but during advent, each day between 16:00 and 17:00, one of the last lamplighters still performs the duty in person, making his way across the bridge, lighting each of the forty-six lamps using a long pole. The Lamplighter is instantly recognisable in his red and black tunic and peaked cap.

             

 


Enjoy your Christmas and have a great New Year.

Veselé Vánoce a šťastný nový rok!

Prague Moments #10 - Náměstí Míru

For the majority of people visiting Prague, their time is pretty limited; maybe a weekend or at best four or five nights. Not surprisingly, especially if you haven't been here before, you're going to stick to 'classic Prague' and see the castle, the Charles Bridge and Karlova, Wenceslas Square, the Old Town Square and astronomical clock, the Jewish Quarter, and probably have a wander around the backstreets of Malá Strana. If you're a bit more adventurous, you may additionally take in the Žižkov TV tower, the National monument at Vítkov or to the tower on Petřín Hill. All great places to go, but you're still pretty much surrounded by tourists.

Náměstí Míru panorama in winter

One of my favourite places, a little bit more off the tourist track is the area around Náměstí Míru in Prague 2, or more specifically Vinorhady. Náměstí Míru translates as 'Peace Square', and it is dominated by the twin 60m high towers of the church of St. Ludmilla, a neo-Gothic Roman Catholic church, built in the late 1890s.

The Church of St Ludmilla

Náměstí Míru is also a metro station on the Green Line (Line A) which is not only the deepest metro station in both Prague and the European Union (the platform is 53m below ground), but also boasts the longest escalator in the EU - an 87m monster (43m vertical span), with 533 steps that takes 2m 15s to ascend or decend without walking. It also acts as a wind tunnel!

The top of the escalator at Náměstí Míru metro

The little park in front of St Ludmilla's is a great place to sit and people watch, and has a lovely little market at key times of the year, especially Christmas and Easter. These events are smaller but far less crowded than the markets in the Old Town Square.

In my first year I lived off the square on Francouska and I used to love walking through the park on my way to and from the metro at IP Pavlova (named for the man of Plavlov's dogs fame, not the gateaux). Especially during the winter, it was pretty much impossible not to stop off for a quick tot of Medovina (honey mead wine) to keep the cold at bay until getting home.

Mel enjoying a glass of hot medovina

Vinorhady has traditionally been home to a large ex-pat community in the city, and Náměstí Míru is a bustling square with numeous restaurants, bars and cafes including the original Prague Beer Museum,  Vinohradský Parlament Restaurant,  Bruxx, and the place I had my first beer as an ex-pat, 2KK

Peace, a nice park, good food and drink, what more do you need from a place?