My Favourite Prague Festival

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Michael

I like this festival for two reasons: 1) There is an extensive selection of unusual international food and drink. and 2) there is much more open space than is typical for Prague food events.

Though I didn’t discover until I got home that I had no close up videos of the delicious dishes that we sampled. So I have included some photos by Karin of last year’s festival.

I recommend, 1) if you are in Prague at the end of August look up this event and 2) where ever you travel check out local festivals. Here are samples from Paros, Greece for instance. http://www.ParosParadise.com/ParosFestivals.htm

Strong Beer Festival

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Michael

I have not bothered to translate this poster because I know enough to figure out there will be plenty of strong beer and entertainment. The brewery (and festival) is located half way between Prague and Kutna Hora.

Prague: The Festival Life

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Michael

Hmm, how shall I focus this post? Too busy doing to write(used too many times, I think); never-ending story of things to do; local festivals are great for understanding culture; or the big picture of why we became expats and global nomads–to experience the foreign, not just observe it as tourists. They all apply this past week and into next week.

Q and A with Director and young star of “No One’s Child” from Serbia. Photo from Febiofest

This is our second year for the big film festival Febiofest which also includes music and dancing. There are so many offerings it is a bit of a chore to sift through the program and pick a few films or events to go to. We chose an Irish, a Serbian, an Australian and one from the U.K. The latter being The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. This was to be the highlight for us as we enjoyed the first so much. So imagine our incredulity when we got to the theater to find it had been cancelled–no explanation given. I am quite irritated at the organizers for no notice and absolutely no apology or even acknowledgement in any of the festival announcements afterwards. Maybe I can get revenge by boycotting their sponsors.

But moving on, the next morning we went to a soup festival on the river front in Smichov called “Polívkování” or “Souping”. It was a chance to try soups and other delicacies from a slew of international cuisines. Our favorite was called chicken puffs from the Thailand association, obviously home-made. We ate light and stayed away from fish or seafood choices because we were also planning on attending a Seafood Festival in our local Jiriho z Podebrad square that evening.

We purposely went early for soup, about 11 A.M., to beat the crowds but the narrow space between the double row of food booths was jam-packed, not only making it difficult to move but worse making it difficult to see the food being sold and to get into the correct queue to buy something. Our only consolation was that as we left we noted there was now a several minute wait to even get in. One day I will find a Czech event organizer to ask about why nearly all such festivals are arranged this same way. Are they taxed by width or is there some kind of psychology that makes people buy more when they have to fight to get to it? It works the opposite for me.

Seafood Festival Jiriho z Podebrad, Prague

Seafood Festival: Food booths are narrow band to right.

I dwell on this because our dinner plans were ruined for the same reason. On the way home from coffee and dessert after the soup and chicken puffs we could see the seafood festival occupying two narrow lanes of our big square. There were very long cues everywhere. So we thought what time is likely to be less crowded and guessed at 5 P.M.. We were wrong; it was worse then. So next we wondered who is willing to endure these slow-moving lines for some delicious looking and reasonably priced seafood. Everyone appeared to be in their twenties and holding a beverage; many were chatting with those around them. We don’t fit that profile so we moved on to hamburgers, fries and Pilsner at our local pub.

So now I am spending a quiet Sunday at home writing this and looking forward to a busy week coming up due to an American Army convoy passing through the country; stopping frequently to party along the way and, of course, visit many WW II memorials for ceremonies. Oh yes, we can’t forget this is Easter week as well; this year including our wedding anniversary and Karin’s birthday. No more blog posts for a while 🙂

Other festival posts: Pig and Mausopust in Prague — Burger Fest

Castles and Chateaux

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Michael

In early December we saw the ad for this Prague Castle exhibition: “This spectacular exhibition is the first time that the most valuable treasures from the Czech castles and country houses have been gathered in one place and at one time.” We were sold, yet with one thing and another we did not make it there until this week.

Don’t you procrastinate! This exhibit ends 15 March; it would be a shame to miss it. However the Prague Castle Riding School, a magnificent building in its own right, does have regular, high quality shows. So if you are coming to Prague later check out both the Prague Castle site and the National Heritage Institute site (link down in June 2015). Actually you need to be on constant watch for posters because there is no one place for all cultural events.

Since this exhibition was drawn from all regions of the Czech Republic it had more than the usual amount of variety. Below is small sample of items that were of particular interest to me. All photos by Karin–click to enlarge.