Living in Prague
Customs and traditions
- Easter (Spring)
- Burning of Witches (30 April)
- Lover's Day (1st May)
- St. Nicholas's Day (5th December)
- Christmas (December)
See ESN CTU Facebook page events to get to know Czech traditions
Local Cuisine
- Similar to German and Austrian
- Typically: meat + side dish (potatoes/dumplings) + sauce
- Czech specialities:
- vepřo-knedlo-zelo
- (sautéd pork-cabbage-dumplings)
- svíčková
- beef sirloin in gravy (creamy vegetable sauce) with dumplings, served with cranberries and whipped cream
- bramboráky
- garlic-seasoned fried potato pancakes
- smažený sýr
- fried cheese
- nakládaný hermelín
- pickled brie cheese
- koláče
- small pastries topped with fruit or poppy-seed paste
- Typical: Pork schnitzel, game (deer, wild boar, rabbit, freshwater fish such as trout), goulash (served with dumplings or as a soup)
- Farmers’ Markets ("Farmářské trhy")
- Held in spring and fall
- products from local farmers, much of it organic (“bio”)
- Most of them are open on Saturdays (e.g. at Vítězné námestí, Praha 6)
Drinks
Beer (pivo)
- Is recognized as world's best
- Over 60 breweries (Pilsner Urquell, Budvar, Velkopopovický kozel, Staropramen (Prague))
- part of the Czech lifestyle
Wine
- Moravia
- taking top honors at competitions around Central Europe
- Burčák - grape juice that separates from the crop as it is pressed, season: mid August till the end of November, try it at one of the annual wine festivals in September ("Vinobraní")
Slivovice
- Plum brandy (strong spirit)
- South Moravia
Becherovka
- Typical Czech herbal liquor
- Karlovy Vary
Tipping
- 5-10% (in any restaurant with table service)
- The usual system: the waiter announces the amount as he hands over the bill and customers announce how much they wish to pay (with the tip included) while settling their tab.
- It is usual to tip hairdressers, barbers and people providing other services.
Hiking
- Long-lasting tradition in the Czech Republic
- Czech Hiking Club (Klub českých turistů) has made coloured signs to mark hiking trails
- Generally: blue - longer main trails, yellow and green connect them
- Over 40 000 km, annually updated
- You can see them at Mapy.cz (the best maps for the Czech Republic), download an app Mapy.cz for Android, for iOS or for Windows Phone (the app allows you to save the map for offline usage) or buy paper maps in bookstores
- See ESN CTU Facebook page events to join organized hiking trips
