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St. Nicholas, devil, and angel who reward good children with
sweets and bad ones with potatoes!
` Carnival (Masopust)
The February Czech Mardi Gras festival combines Czech traditions
with international carnival celebrations. Masopust (literally “meat
fast”) festivities take place throughout the country, and in Prague
culminate in a Žižkov parade on Fat Tuesday.
` King’s Parade (Královský Průvod)
This two-day parade in early June, rooted in the medieval
traditions of Charles IV, recreates the royal procession from
Prague Castle to Karlštejn Castle with music, activities for
children and a colorful cast of characters dressed in historical
costume.
` St. Martin’s Festival
St. Martin’s festivals are common throughout Europe and center
around feasting on heavy food to keep people in good stead
through the wintry months. A number of restaurants in the
Czech Republic celebrate by serving roast goose with cabbage
and dumplings.
czech FolkloRe
The Czech Republic is steeped in myth and superstition and the older
generation in particular strictly adheres to these old wives’ tales.
` Happiness and Luck
Breaking glass brings good luck. So does throwing a shoe over
your shoulder. Spiders in the house are also lucky. Christmas
superstition says that it’s bad luck to write a love letter on
Christmas Eve. Laundry should not be done on New Year’s Day
if you want to avoid unhappiness.
` Love and Marriage
A uniquely Czech custom is the breaking of a plate by the
bride to bring good luck; the luck being that the new groom
should sweep it up. The newlyweds then keep a piece of the
plate for themselves. Eating soup from one bowl symbolizes a
harmonious marriage. Superstition dictates death for those who
marry in May. Note to single ladies: should someone sweep
beneath your feet, you’ll be alone forever.
` Pregnancy and Childbirth
A pregnant woman shouldn’t walk under a clothesline or the
umbilical cord will become wrapped around the child’s neck.
To induce labor, drink water in which an egg has been boiled.
Another way to speed up labor is to open all the cupboards in
the house. In the first six weeks after birth the mother shouldn’t
change her underwear, visit a cemetery, or go to the cellar,
attic, or pub.
` Edible Wisdom
It is considered beneficial to drink alcohol after a heavy and/
or fatty meal. Alcohol, especially beer and spirits, are believed
to help the body break down these foods. Perhaps the biggest
custom in Czech cuisine is that people should always have a
warm meal once a day. According to folk wisdom, it is healthy.
Folk wisdom also maintains that meat is necessary to a healthy
life.
` Drink to Your Health
Pivo je lék (Beer is medicine): The bitterness of some beers is
believed to prevent the development of gall stones. It is believed
that slivovice, as well as being a digestive aid, fights off colds
and promotes longevity. But the Czech medicinal beverage par
excellence is Becherovka. This bitter herb liqueur is a traditional
digestif.
` Common Cures
One purported cure for the common cold is to eat onion with
sugar. Onion is touted as a cure for snoring. In two liters of
water, boil a chopped onion for fifteen minutes, then add garlic
and marjoram and cook for another five. Strain the mixture and
add a teaspoon of honey and olive oil. Take a small amount
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every hour. Another, less demanding, cure for snoring is warm
Vincentka, a type of mineral water. Another use of onions is for
treating bee stings.
the nAtuRe/cottAGe cultuRe
Czechs love spending their free time in “the nature”, as it’s commonly
referred to in Czechlish. National pastimes include hiking, camping,
and mushroom-picking, and of course warm weather brings a rush of
weekenders to the countryside to tend the gardens of their beloved chata
or chalupa (cottage). Having a weekend cottage seems to be as much
a part of the Czech national identity as good beer and dumplings. Even
wintry outdoor sports like skiing are national leisure-time pursuits. For
those who want to get in on the act, it’s possible to rent a summer cottage.
Whether you choose a chata or chalupa (the larger of the two) always ask
if the place charges za noc (per night), za týden (per week), or za osobu za
noc (per person per night).
When it comes to sleeping arrangements, inquire whether the beds are
defined as lůžko (ordinary bed) or přistýlka (fold-away bed). A number
of agencies can help you find a countryside retreat either in the Czech
Republic or abroad. One good locale for renting a chata is the Beskydy
area. These low hills in the southeast of the country are famous for their
beautiful wilderness. It’s claimed this is the only region in the Czech
Republic where bears have been seen in recent years.
Camping is fun and the Czech Republic is the place to do it. A variety of
camping facilities can be found all over the country, many by rivers or
lakes. Lots have showers and washrooms as well as electrical sockets at
each pitch. Some campsites have chalets or bungalows to rent if you need
a more covered camping experience and if you have your own camper,
there are spots for you too with electricity and water hook-ups. Some
camps open in April, some not until May and most stay open into October.
Nice campgrounds that aren’t far from Prague include Camp Džbán, Sunny
Camp, and Klánovice. The Czech Republic is also a walker’s paradise not
only for its beautiful mountains, rivers, and forests but for the amount of
castles and chateaux connected by trails. There are so many different
landscapes and paths that you can explore a different part of the country
every time you want to go out.
czech humoR
Czechs pride themselves on their comedy. Many of them believe their
humor is unique and that it is a defining element of their character,
especially in the form of one man, Jaroslav Hašek; and at least in
the form of his famous creation, The Good Soldier Švejk, the story
of a simple-minded soldier who blunders his way through the First
World War. Live here long enough and you will hear that old chestnut
that to understand the Czech mentality you have to understand this
seemingly incompetent, somewhat opportunistic soldier and dogfancier.
There is another comic figure who captures the mentality of
the nation and that is Cimrman. Who is he exactly? Cimrman is the
great renaissance man of the nineteenth century; playwright, linguist,
inventor, explorer, pedagogue, counsel to some of the greatest minds
of his age and wholly the invention of Zdeněk Svěrák, actor, playwright
and screenwriter and Jiří Šebánek, screenwriter and author. Cimrman
has been embraced so much by Czech people that lines from the plays
are frequently recited and the plays quickly sell out. He was in the
running to win the greatest Czech award, until the show decided to
disqualify him for not existing. During the introductory seminars before
each of Cimrman’s plays, the various experts played by members of
the Cimrman theater group explain some great theory or discovery by
Cimrman. The Czechs seem to be making fun of themselves. They are
in effect laughing that such things never happened. Which is perhaps
the most distinctively Czech aspect of the humor.
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