Compact archive July 30, 2007

Experimental space NoD in Roxy club presents EasternAlliance project the aim of which is to respect the particularities of Eastern culture and to increase publicity about contemporary culture in the east.

On Tuesday 7th August the project will be accompanied with the event celebrating the edition of Mexican magazine The Artist. The music will be provided by Los Amigos and Mariachi Azteca De Praga.

NoD Roxy is situated in Skolska street 28 in Prague. It’s supported by the city of Prague. The project EasternAlliance will be presented there until 28th August 2007.

Whether smoking should or should not be prohibited in restaurants is now a ‘hot topic’ in the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic may join other countries, such as Great Britain or Italy, where smoking in public indoor spaces is prohibited. A new anti-smoking law should be discussed by politicians this September.

According to the survey of Median agency, 54% of Czech people would prohibit smoking in restaurants. 74 % of non-smokers in the Czech Republic want non-smoking restaurants, on the other hand smoking in restaurants want 87% of smokers.

Smoking in the Czech Republic is prohibited in theatres, cinemas, sport halls, railway stations, waiting rooms and bus or tram stops, in offices of state administration, in schools, hospitals and other medical institutions. People can smoke in restaurants provided the restaurant does not have any extra places for smokers.

Travelling in the first class in SC Pendolino trains will be more comfortable but also more expensive. Czech Railways want to offer more types of newspapers, more food and newly a glass of bear, but the price will be 12% more expensive from 1st September.

Travellers will be also able to buy the travel tickets for Pendolino via their mobile phones. The service is called Teletiket. Customer will pay for the ticket with their credit card.

A new fare SC Net will enable travellers to travel by Pendolino trains as well as regional trains with only one ticket. More information about customer fares and reductions can be found at www.cd.cz.

Prague and Budapest are popular cities in central Europe for homosexually oriented people. According to the analyst of tourism Jaromir Beranek, it’s mainly because Czech people are more tolerant and friendly towards homosexuals than neighbouring nations.

Prague also offers a wide range of services for homosexually orientated people, such as gay clubs, bars, hotels, saunas or gay trips and sightseeing tours. These trips for homosexual people are often advertised as “get-acquainted trips”.

According to Tourism Intelligence International, about 10% of all international tourists are homosexual. Most of them don’t have children, therefore they can afford more frequent trips abroad. Beranek says that there are about 600,000 tourists coming to Prague every year to search for services connected with their minority sexual orientation.

Thanks to the road works on Palackeho square that have caused seven tram disruptions in Charles Square, there are more travellers on metro lines B that go via Charles Square.

The Prague Public Transport Company decided therefore to increase the number or metro trains in the morning and afternoon peaks in the section Smichovske nadrazi – Florenc. This situation will last only until 31st August 2007.

Other lines run thanks to the summer period in longer intervals. The metro is overcrowded many times, especially in station Dejvicka, Andel and I.P.Pavlova. The situation should get better with the new metro line D.