Compact archive December 4, 2007

Vegetarian Food in Prague

Tuesday 04 December 2007 19:09

smazeny syr A food which is vegetarian, does not necessary have to be dietary. This is the case of the traditional vegetarian food in the Czech Republic. There are at least two meatless dishes about which Czechs have been mad about for centuries. The first is smazeny syr and the second is ovocne knedliky. And yes, you should definitely try it.

Smazeny syr, fried cheese, is really popular among Czechs. Actually, it is so popular that many Czechs claim now the Czech Republic needs a trademark on it. Typical pubs as well as good restaurants have smazeny syr on their menus. It is served mostly with potatoes or fries.

Ovocne knedliky, in English fruit dumplings, are not the same dumplings as those you know from the dish: pork, dumplings and sauerkraut. Oh no! Those fruit dumplings are sweet!

Read the whole article here

Past and Present of Prague Gardens Exhibition

Tuesday 04 December 2007 16:55

Which flowers were grown by our ancestors? Some light into the matter sheds the exhibition of Prague historical gardens.

What is to be seen there? Maps, pictures or drawings from those almost three hundred historic gardens, which were/are on the maps of Prague.

Visitors will learn not just the fate of the historical gardens, but also the fate of their creators and about interesting plants which grow there.

The oldest garden of Prague is the one close to Saint Jiri temple in the area of Prague Castle. Since 10th century there was a garden with healing plants and flowers for decoration of the Church.

Most of Prague gardens date its origin in Early Middle Ages. The gardens were established by monasteries, and they served mostly for embellishment of the surroundings.

The Exhibition takes place in ‘Architect Hall’ of the Old Town square City Hall, since 5th December, until 16th March 2008. Everyday 9 – 18, Mo 11-18.

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Gas Lamps Lighters Returned to Prague

Tuesday 04 December 2007 15:16

Lampar - the lamplighter at work Historic center of Prague is illuminated by 182 gas lamps. Gas lamps produce pleasant, warm light and the feeling of nostalgia.

The deputy of Prague Mayor Pavel Klega went through the ceremonial acceptance to the Guild of Lamp Lighters of Prague yesterday. He didn’t say his pledge to support gas light just in vain – it is his credit and work of past years that gas lamps came back to the historic centre.

To restore the specific light, evoking noble atmosphere of Prague of the 19th century, is the main point of changing lamps to gas again, and it has started in 2002 already.

Lamp lighter Prague To do ground-works in Prague centre is extremely difficult, especially because of number of engineer sites and number of tourists. For example when the constructions took place at Old town Square, they had to interrupt the works every hour.

In the future gas lamps should be by the whole Royal Route, even continue to Prague Castle.

The historic center of Prague so joined the ancient Europe metropolises, especially London, which is said to use gas lamps widely, but definitely was the first city, which in 1813 introduced gas lamps to its streets. This is also why the uniform of the Guild of Lamp Lighters of Prague resembles wear of Londoners of such times.

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Czech Theft of the Century: 564 Millions CZK (20,14 mil.€)

Tuesday 04 December 2007 13:03

Frantisek Prochazka - if you see him, you can get 2 mil € - photo by police CR The crime is the first of such cunning here. There were similar thefts before, like the one five years ago, when an organized group with guns in masks assaulted a hard-faced car in Prague Europe boulevard, stealing 5 millions €. This time the thieves didn’t even have to be armed, they just abused (probably) their knowledge of the security agency and a disguised car.

Security agency G4S Cash Services was insured for such a case, but they offer two millions € for an information leading to the arrest. The main suspect is an employee of G4S, who started to work in the company four months ago, and was supposed to guard the money at the time of the theft. He hasn’t been seen since.

Altogether, 564 millions is a huge amount of money and he wouldn’t be able to load it by himself, as the weight of banknotes is a few quintals. They used a van – white Volkswagen transporter of the same year of production as the rest of G4S vans, they even stole company logo stickers, so the van looked like an original company car.

Karel Steigerwald points out in MF Dnes such amounts were always stolen in the CR by ‘masters’; rich men, ruling class men. This is the first time half a billion was finally stolen by ordinary people from the low social class. He also points out there is nothing ever going happen to them – they stole too much to be affected by the law.

Digitalism performing blend of rock and rave arrives to Prague

Tuesday 04 December 2007 10:55

digitalism photo by collectivision wordpress Digitalism consists of Jens Moelle and Ismail Tuefekci, who are among the finest world dance music producers. Their style is called electro-punk and it is a blend of club electronic music with independent rock elemnts.

Digitalism’s songs are described as simple chapters in a complex novel about social interaction and attraction, with distorted baselines and thumping rhythms comprising the punctuation.

Digitalism has remixed tracks for Tom Vek, The Futureheads, Daft Punk, Tiga, Klaxons, White Stripes, Monk, Depeche Mode, Cut Copy and many others, including a re-edit of “Fire in Cairo” by The Cure (entitled “Digitalism in Cairo”). Their tracks and remixes are played by DJs such as Erol Alkan, Soulwax, Boys Noize, and Justice, among others.

Digitalism is pioneering the electro-punk and indie dance movements, making appearances at festivals such as Coachella and various clubs worldwide.

20th December 2007, Palac Akropolis, Kubelikova 27, Prague 3

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