Compact archive May 18, 2007

Get to know Czech countryside on the walk Prague-Prcice

Friday 18 May 2007 15:16

Thousands of people will set out for an annual track from Prague to Prcice tomorrow to enjoy the walk and the beauties of the Czech countryside. This track is the oldest and most most famous track in the Czech Republic. It was held for the first time on 17th April 1966 when a group of people decided to master the distance of 100,000 ells. Now this traditional action is attended by more and more people.

The longest track starts in Prague at the metro station Haje at 5:00 in the morning. Then they will have to walk 70 kilometers to be finally awarded a small plastic shoe and cookies.

Participants can choose one of the 15 tracks starting in various towns and all ending in Prcice. The tracks are between 23 and 70 kilometers long. The registration fee is 30 CZK and it’s paid before the start at the registration points. If you want to choose your track, have a look here (only in Czech). See you there!

Prague flag on the top of Mount Everest

Friday 18 May 2007 13:59

Today at 6:42 (CET) Prague Mayer Pavel Bem and his expedition reached the top of the highest mountain of the world Mount Everest. He carried the flag of Prague with him. He’s the 10th Czech person who managed to get to the top.

All members of the expedition are all right. According to experienced mountaineers, now they have to master the most dangerous journey back to the camp. It will probably take two days.

Pavel Bem’s expedition started on 23rd March this year. Mountaineering is one of his hobbies. Mount Everest is his schoolboy’s dream. He should be out of the office until 25th May.

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Birthday of Czech cardinal: services and a free concert

Friday 18 May 2007 12:40

Czech cardinal Miloslav Vlk In occasion of the celebrations of 75th birthday of Czech cardinal Miloslav Vlk, you can visit a gala concert in St Vitus Cathedral. It starts today at 19:00 and it’s for free. The concert will present compositions of Bohuslav Martinu, Antonin Dvorak, Leos Janacek and Petr Eben.

On the same occasion, the Prague Archbishopric organize a thankful services in St Vitus Cathedral at 10:30 tomorrow. You can come and take part in joint prayer which start an hour before the services.

Cardinal Vlk has been the highest representative of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic for 16 years. Before that he also worked as a shop-window cleaner because he was prohibited by the Communist regime to do any public sacred activities. He was also present at the conclave in Vatican to elect the Pope.

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Prague metro will be partly without drivers

Friday 18 May 2007 11:20

For the first time these days Prague metro will go without a driver. But not on the whole route, but only at the turning place in Dejvice, which is the terminal of metro green line B. The Prague Public Transport Co. promises that it will save time and the trains could come in shorter intervals.

The fully automatic trains are now being tested at nights. If everything goes all right, this system will be in service in June 2007. Now the trains in Prague metro are controlled by computers partly, especially during deceleration and acceleration. A driver is still needed to check whether passengers are in the safe distance from the tracks and whether they are not stuck in the doorway.

Fully automatic trains can be seen in Paris, Lyon or Vancouver. If the Prague Public Transport Co. want to have fully automatic trains, they would have to invest a lot of money to adjust present trains and platforms. Trains without drivers might be possible in the new metro line D, which is planned to be finished in 2013.

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Pirate ships instead of bus stops in Prague

Friday 18 May 2007 10:03

The third film about Jack Sparrow’s adventures called Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End is coming to Prague’s cinemas in less than a week (on 24th May). The distributors of this film prepared a special campaign to attract people to see the film.

Several bus stops in the centre of Prague will change significantly. They will be covered with a large poster and on the top of the bus stops will be a mock-up of a pirate ship. Inside the stops will be a LCD screen where people can choose if they want to see a trailer or the interesting facts about film preparations.

These unique bus stops will be in four places in Prague, in Jindrisska street (near Wenceslas Square), at I. P. Pavlova (metro red line C), at Andel (metro yellow line B) and at Florence (metro lines B and C).

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