Prague Blog

The city magistrates have announced they will get Prague on the candidate list of the Summer Olympic Games, hoping for a victory in the competition in 2020 at the latest. An ambitious plan, more so as it is announced shortly after the uneconomic, in financial terms relatively disappointing Athens, and just before the Chinese incredibly costly spectacle, it quickly aroused debate. The first example shows the difficulty of finding a sensible use for the new sporting grounds and the latter presents a show of grandeur unmatchable by a Czech budget.

The key question is whether it will do the city enough good, considering the high costs and the possible prospects. Only the costs for security get to some twenty billion crowns. That may be one of the sacrifices the project demands to be successful.

What is the reason for Prague being the hosting city? Its beautiful center, its historical heart? The Olympics would most likely take place in Letnany, which is a peripheral part just like that of any other European city. The need to attract more tourists? I believe there is no problem with the number of tourists in Prague, the center is often at the verge of collapse. It is true though that the share of attention between the center and the other parts of the city is disproportionate and the Olympics would contribute to retrieving balance to the equation. Not substantially and not decisively, in my opinion.

I also do not see much sense in building large stadiums, since the ones that already are in Prague suffer from lack of attention. Even the Sazka/T-Mobile Arena is struggling. How could it not struggle? These are premises for large state-level sporting events and for large concerts only a handful of Czech bands may afford to stage. And in Czech Republic these things do not occur weekly.

And there are other reasons for doubt. Prague is not in perfect shape. Something must be done with cross-town traffic. There was a promise of more Metro stations, the traffic on the river bank is not only slow, it also damages the environment, an otherwise remarkable edge of the old town.

Whatever the result will be, the key question remains: is it worth the pain? It is for the Chinese, who will use the games to present the country in the brightest colors possible. And for an economically stronger nation the pains may be smaller in comparison. The theme surely needs more time and consideration.

The whole Europe in the first half of 17th century was afraid of the Czech General Albrecht von Waldstein (1583 – 1634). Petr Masek from the National Museum Library in Prague identified a book by unknown writer with comprehensive horoscopes of this warrior and also admirer of future predictions.

“When I studied a tittle and saw that there is a horoscope and that a nickname of a person was “prince of war” it occured me that it was about Albrecht von Waldstein. We compared a date of birth and it agreed not only with a day but with an hour as well, “said Masek at the book’s gala performance on Friday.

The discovery of European significance starts a broad exposition of Albrecht von Wallenstein and his period, which begins on 15th November and continues to 7th February in Waldstein Riding School in Prague. The volume of the book is 250 pages and will be a part of the exposition.

In 17th century, astrology was a reliable subject, horoscopes were strategic materials. They were ordered anonymously through an angent and an astrologer didn’t known by whom. Horoscopes were often stolen and traded. Albrecht’s horoscopes were ordered by his enemies. The author is unknown, but by all apearances it wasn’t the court astrologer Kepler, because his horoscopes contained mostly basic data without more detailed explanation.

“I have never seen so extensive horoscope. The author used a range of traditional and modern techniques. He had to be erudite” says the expert Pavel Turnovsky. Historians tried to confront important data of Albrecht’s life with reality: ”...the prediction mostly agree” added Musalek.

“The most important Albrecht’s planet was Uranus, and Uranus is the key to his personality; in my opinion Albrecht von Waldstein longed for independence, ” added Turnovsky. The cased book was discovered in Kopidlno Castle’s Library and originated approximately in a half of 1627. The horoscope written in German with numerous Latin terms contained everyday detailed rosters of planets positions with commentary and explanation for a term of 11 years – from 1.3 1628 to 22.9. 1638 – continuing after Albrecht’s death.

If you would like to see this unique exposition the Riding School is located in Mala Strana, Valdstejnska 3. It is a part of the seat of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Open is everyday (except for Monday) from 10:00 to 18:00.

The best energy is the not consumed energy – this is the motto of this year’s international trade fair Aqua-therm. The 14th year takes place in Prague-Holesovice on November 20 – 24.

This international trade fair is the biggest presentation of firms from the field of Heating Technology, Air-conditioning, Sanitary, Environment Protection Technology, Measurement and Regulation and it is also a place where you can find all trends concernig energy saving.

This year 461 firms from 17 countries will present their products to visitors – experts and general public.
The trade fair attract yearly visitors who can compare products of every firm on the Czech market and let themselves expertly advise with choice of most efficient boiler, air-conditioning, heat pumps, radiators etc.

Exhibiting firms satisfy all interested persons in alternative ways of energy production – almost every prominent producer has a part of his production dedicated to ecological programme.

How to get to the trade fair? Aqua-therm takes place in Fairgrounds Prague, Vystaviste Praha 7. By metro line C to the station Nadrazi Holesovice where the special bus will transport you to Fairgrounds. If you go by trams the numbers are: 5, 12, 14, 17, station Vystaviste.

The Strings of Autumn Festival are drawing to a close. The last concert is planned on 18th November. The Festival has been part of Prague’s cultural calendar for 11 years. Until 2004, The Strings of Autumn took place in Prague Castle but now it has been organized by the National Theatre, the National Museum and the Czech Filharmony. So the Festival can use the Prague’s most prestigious concert halls.

The Strings of Autumn Festival is not only focused on classical music, but also on jazz, world music and various crossover projects which have their own unique style and genre.

If you are interested in jazz music, come to Prague’s Rudolfinum on 18th November and hear the American jazz violinist, Regina Carter.

Regina Carter comes from Detroit. When she was two, she took up the piano and at the age of four played a Bach minuet on violin according to the Suzuki method together with a children´s choir. So she avoided to note-learning and drill-like etude exercises and developed the essential hearing dispositions. She studied classical music at the New England Conservatory, but she did not get to know how to play jazz. The opportunity came in students band at the Oakland University, where she could at last absorb the principal tenets of jazz performance. When she came in New York, in 1991, quickly joined the company of elite jazz players.

Her part in the making of Wynton Marsalis´ triple album, Blood On The Fields, definitely move her into the spotlight. After the great reviews she released her own CD debut, Regina Carter, and ensuing projects: Something For Grace; Rhythms Of The Heart; Motor City Moments; Freefall; and Paganini: After A Dream (a CD on which she used Paganini´s Il Cannone violin). After the death of her mother Regina Carter pondered ending her career but the bassist John Clayton who produced her album I´ll Be Seeing You in 2006, returned her to the music.

Regina Carter Quintet – I´ll Be Seeing You is Closing Festival Concert. Quintet is composed of: Regina Carter – violin, Xavier Davis – piano, Darryl Harper – clarinet, Matthew Parrish – bass, Alvester Garnett – drums.

Regina Carter Quintet comes on 18th November to Prague’s Rudolfinum. The concert begins at 19.30. Tickets are available in ticketpro chain outlets and cost from 330 to 990 CZK (11 – 33 €).

Do you already know what you will be doing during the Christmas time? Read on. I have one suggestion for you. Christmas is connected to snow and ice so if you want to enjoy true Christmas atmosphere, go and see the fantastic show called Christmas on Ice.

Katarina Witt is a German figure skater, born on 3th December, 1965. She has two Olympic gold medals from Sarajevo Olympics (1984) and from Calgary Olympics (1988). She has also four gold medals from World Championships in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988. And she won six times consecutive European Championships (1983-1988). She is one of the most successful figure skaters of all time. She also became an actress in the film Carmen on Ice (1986) and recieved an Emmy Award for her role in this film.

Katarina Witt has choosen her guests for this show. One of them is Jozef Sabovcik. He won European Championship once and has a bronze medal from Sarajevo Olympic Games. He is great at rock&roll and at very high jumps (for his incredibly high jumps is nicknamed Jumping Joe). He is famous for his historicaly first quadruple jump. He has lived in USA for 20 years now, but he is originaly from Czechoslovakia.

The next guest is Alexei Urmanov. A winner of Olympic Games, European Championship and he has won a bronze medal in World Championship.

Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas are the next invited figure skaters. The pair captured the bronze medal at the 2000 World Figure Skating Championship and they have also won two bronze at 2000 and 2006 European Figure Skating Championship.

Kat Winkler and Rene Lohse have won bronze at World Championship and are quintuple Germany Champions.

During the programme Christmas on Ice, double winner of World Championship will perform with her guest, who belongs to the top of figure skating. They will present their solo programmes, enriched by special figures. Fantastic performances complemented by music and light show can create two hours of fun for the whole family.

If you want to see this spectacle come to T-Mobile Arena on 18th December. Tickets are available in Ticketpro chain outlets and they cost from 295 CZK to 1195 CZK (9,8 – 39,8 €).

A dark stain on a golden gown – that is probably the best description of the problem with taxi drivers in Prague. Although the situation is getting better, complaints about taxis in Prague, sadly, are not rare.

Tourists are, for many reasons, those who are mostly affected. Taxi drivers often misuse the fact that foreigners have no idea about the rates, plus they take for granted that tourists rather pay higher price instead of calling police. Unfortunately, their presumption is usually correct.

But it is to say that you can fight back – complain. If you don’t raise your voice, how can anybody help you? How can the officials do anything to stop it if they don’t hear you?

If you feel in any way that the taxi driver didn’t behave properly, or you thing the price was too high, note down the car’s registration number. It would be best to note down also the taxi serial number, driver’s name or company name. Try to remember as many details as possible. And don’t loose your receipt.

And when the taxi driver refuses to give you a receipt printed out by the taximeter – the receipt must never be made out by hand! – refuse to pay. He is obligated to give it to you. He should also add his signature and the start and destination point of your journey.

And where to complain? In Rytirska 10, not far from Wenceslas Square, they specialize for complaints about overcharging there. Open is every Monday and Wednesday till 5pm. But you can as well contact any policeman. You can complain about everything – driver’s conduct, bad conditions of the vehicle, overcharging etc.

The best would be, of course, to prevent the misfortune. Public transportation in Prague is among the best in the world and it is definitely cheaper than any taxi. But if you are in a need of a taxi, it is better to order one by phone, if possible. If not, try the “Fair Taxi Place”. If even this is not possible, then good luck!

This article is a second part of Taxis in Prague – Getting any better?

If you take a walk around the Old Town in Prague, you must visit Clementinum, especially its observatory. In 1752 the first regular meteorological measurement was initiated there and it has been continuing until now. 33 years of chosen weather characteristic measurement (temperature and air pressure) are unfortunately incomplete, because they were often done by estimation. So the year 1775 is considered as the beginning of comprehensive succession. “Mannheim clocks” functioned as regular temperature measurement, according to which weather behaviour was noted always at 7 am,7 pm and 9 pm. By the way, that is why an average temperature is nowadys counted as sum of temperatures of these hours – temperature at 9 pm is included twice and then divided by four.

Weather station Clementinum is the oldest weather observation considered unique in the whole Central Europe. Now, speaking of climate changes, they have proofs it happens, from more than 250-year old measurement successions. When we look at records of extreme temperatures since 1775, the conclusions are alarming. Since the year 2000 to 2006, 50 records in total were surpassed – the highest noticed temperatures till now.

In Clementinum there are two meteorological boxes – slat and iron-plate. The slat box measures temperature and air moisture on the first floor of north side of south annex. The iron-plate box is on the roof flat at east annex where a technical library is located. The amount of rainfalls and duration of sunshine is being noted every day by the help of an apparatus called heliograph.

In conclusion there are some chosen Clementinum’s characteristics: Clemntinum is situated in altitude 191 metres. The highest temperature which has ever been measured is +37,8 °C on 27th July 1983, the lowest temperature – 27,6 °C on 1st March 1785. The average temperature since 1971 to 2000 was 10,4 °C, what is 0,4 °C more than in 1961-1990. The average precipitation amount in 1971-2000 was 456,5 mm, so in comparison with years 1961-1990 it is about 13,2 mm more.

Information about whole Clementinum

Moser 10/150: Last decade of the 150-year glassmaking – Exhibition in the Museum of Applied Arts in Prague

The exhibition of the 150th anniversary of the Moser foundation is held in Prague at the Museum of Applied Arts from September 13th till November 18th 2007.

Moser presents its production from the last decade including the anniversary collection. The basis of exhibited assortment consists of traditional drinking sets which, thanks to their elegant style and perfect execution, decorate festive tables of elites. The important part of the exhibition is formed by vases, decorated with elaborately executed engravings, often inspired by artworks of world painting.

The traditional offer is counterbalanced by an annually complemented exclusive line of contemporary cut glass design of the Studio Moser. The glass-works has been cooperating with notable designers who know how to utilize the renowned corporate quality of material and handicraft. In the last decade a lot of famous artists participated in creation of new glass-works collections, especially Jiri Suhajek and Jan Mares and also other artists of several generations. Moser is opened also for experiments of the youngest designers. Students and graduates of art schools can design or execute their works in the glass-works.

The open hours of the Museum of Applied Arts are: Tuesday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., Wednesday – Sunday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. The address of the Museum is: 17.listopadu 2, Prague 1.

If you go by metro (line A) it is the station Staromestska, and by bus 133 and by tram 17 and 18 as well. For more information look at : http://www.moser-glass.com and www.upm.cz.

The unique interactive travelling exhibition has come to Prague. It is called “Fascination of Light – Light for Schools”. The exhibition was developed in Germany three years ago. It joins initiative between organisations and associations from research, industry and media and is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). This exhibition is a part of the European campaign and will travel through several European cities with the support of the European Commission and organised by institutions collaborating within the consortium LASERLAB EUROPE with additional support from the NEMO Network of Excellence on Micro-Optics.

Visitors, by means of functional models, illustrative material and multimedia stations, can learn how light is being used in optical technologies accompanying us in our every-day life and learn remarkable characteristics of light.

A special part of the exhibition is about laser technologies. You can learn basic principles of a laser. You can also try some experiments through interactive models.

At the exhibition you can learn more about these themes: Light is with us throughout our everyday lives, Where does the light come from?, Color of light, Light – on the way to modern times, Light – a trusted yet mysterious friend, The origin of light, The laser, Light games and more and more.

Fascination of Light will be displayed in Prague from 31 October – 8 November on the Week with Science and Technology at Veletrzni palac, Dukelskych hrdinu 47, Praha 7.

Apocalyptica is a Finnish Cello metal quartet composed of three cellist, Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, Perttu Kivilaakso and one drummer, Mikko Sirén (since 2005). The band was formed in the early ‘90s. All three cellists studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. They were specialists in playing Bach and other famous classical composers, but they also were big fans of heavy metal. And so they decided to form their own band. Toppinen wrote some unique arrangements of songs by Metallica, Slayer and other metallic legends ant the band started to perform at student balls. They were successful and more and more in demand, so they dared to play a gig at a heavy metal club.

So they played for the first time at an after-Christmas party for metalheads at Teatro Heavy Metal Club in Helsinki in 1995. They were covering Metallica and thought that metalheads wouldn’t like it. They were scary to go and play in front of them and didn’t know what was going to happen. But fortunately metalheads were thrilled and had a great time. It didn’t take a long time and Kari Hynninen of Zen Garden Records who was bowled over by their interpretations of metal anthems instantly offered them a contract and a chance to release their debut album “Plays Metallica by Four Cellos” and over one million copies worldwide were sold. In 1998 they released the second album called “Inquisition Symphony” a second album with cover versions that included songs by Faith No More, Pantera and Sepultura. However the band’s first original material (three songs) appeared in this album. Then they decided to produce their own songs. They already knew that they could do with cover versions and it wasn’t interesting for them anymore. They wanted to create new music for instruments. In 2005 Apocalyptica enlisted their own full-time drummer, Mikko Sirén.

In September 2007 Apocalyptica released new album, “Worlds Collide”. Produced by long-time Rammstein muse Jacob Hellner including collaborations with Stone Sour/Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor (on first single “I’m Not Jesus”), Lacuna Coil’s sublime Cristina Scabbia, 3 Days Grace vocalist Adam Gontier and again their long time friend Dave Lombardo who has been collaborating with them since ‘97.

If you can see and hear this amazing band you will have to hurry, because the concert is held on 5th November in Kongresove Centrum in Prague. Tickets are available in Ticketpro chain outlets and cost 770 CZK (25,6 €).