Compact archive March 17, 2008

Lukas Bauer got the prize for the best sri runner – World Cup. Until now no Czech cross-country skier had ever clinched the World Cup title, not even the great Katerina Neumannova who won gold in the Turin Olympics.

He ended his best season by gaining 1462 points, he has in front of the second Rene Sommerfeldt from Germany by 633 points. By this, he beaten the record of German Tobias Angerer, who win the world serie with the highest headstart of 551 points.

Bauers’s dream season
First place: Five times. According to the official records Tour de Ski wins counts as one, so the other three wins doesn’t count.
Second place: fourth times
Third place: 0
World Cup: incredible 1462 points
Finantial prizes of the World cup: approx. 212 000 €

Prague had a few demonstrations on Saturday going on, on the day of Nazi occupation 1939 anniversary. The biggest gathering was organized by the opponents of the American Radar in Brdy, close to Prague. The demonstrates were equipped with paper-maché impressions of US politicians.

A few hundred people came to the Hradcanske namesti, close to Prague Castle. Allegorical pageant than continued to the American embassy. The demonstrates than tried to hand over a box with “Iranian weapons of mass destruction” which contained plastic models of guns. Deputies of the embassy refused to accept the ‘present’.

This demo won’t change anything on the fact the radar will be, with highest probability, build. Two thirds of the Czech nation disagree.

Prague Zoo rejoice after two weeks of tight waiting. The keepers have checked the feline pavilion, which was closed for three weeks because of valued baby Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) birth.

When it was born, its mother Buri missed her lover Lozun to such extent she left her baby. The Zoo keepers were doubting, whether she will be back. That would mean to feed the kid artificially, like the Berlin zoo did it with Knut.

The keepers made a trick, which worked: they carried all the boots, where she could sleep, from the pavilion, so she at the end returned to the maternal one. And started to take care of her only baby again. They checked it last week, and saw it was happy and well fed.

This probably be another case of endangered specie baby of Prague Zoo. It shows it is really one of the world’s elite.

This post definitely belongs to the ‘funny stories’ column, the only thing that can be asked is whether it was funny for officers of Czech Food Inspection Authority as well. They came for inspection to a bakery in Dolni Chabry, the Czech Republic, after one customer complained.

During the first visit they paid there, they found the light on, machines running, but the bakers run away by back doors and they weren’t find. But the inspectors didn’t give up, and the evening of the same day they came again, this time with police support.

When thee first two employees saw them, they started to run again, but this time police was waiting. With these two, they continued into the object. After a moment they found a ‘sophistically’ closed doors, behind which, after a moment, they found the baking team, playing hide and seek and waiting, how the situation will develop.

What did they find there? Mold in materials fridge, moldy plates for keeping of buns and rolls, parts of ceiling falling down, directly in the manufacture the ‘bakers’ had a little place, where they smoked and drink liqueurs, (which, as the police found out, were smuggled bottles). Also, there lived a cat in there, who also came to check, how the police is working. The whole place was closed down immediately.

Charles Bridge of Prague is in much worse shape, than the experts expected. The reconstruction moves up in price.

Some parts of Charles Bridge were invariably damaged by salting and mistakes of the last reconstruction in 1975. It was proved by the current reconstruction of the bridge.

The biggest surprise is the extent of damages. The railing, where most tourists lean against to have a nice picture of them taken with Prague background, is damaged quite a lot – two thirds will have to go.

The Prague town council even wants to open their own stone quarry. Until now, damaged sandstone from the bridge was replaced with sandstone from a historic quarry, but it may run out of stone during the reconstruction, which is now clear to go on all the 2008. The bridge is accessible, though.