One of the chief concerns of travelers to a foreign country is whether they can communicate with others. Being able to be understood by the locals and being able to understand them is very important for conducting business and enjoying the local culture. Prague is the capital of the Czech …
Happy Independent Czechoslovak State Day! It is a great day for pork knuckles, klobasa, knedlíky, and raising your glass of ležák pivo to toast the Czech people and their nation! We moved to the Czech Republic in 2018. Prague to be precise. We love it here, and very quickly we …
Like in many big cities, Prague requires parking permits to park on certain blocks of city streets. Our street is no exception. Most people obey the rules, but when you don’t, this happens. We don’t own a car. We are happy about that.
A year ago the Czech government announced they would be enacting restrictions to control the Covid pandemic. Their swift and decisive actions led to one of the lowest rates of infections and deaths in Europe. We had a very good summer until the government failed to act as swiftly and …
Finally, a decent snowfall in Prague. Took this simple view of the sky with millions of snowflakes.
Back in the US, where we’re from, some people get all bent out of shape that some signs and labels are in Spanish. It never bothered us; we actually saw it as kinda cool. Inclusion of other people is nothing to be afraid of. Well, in Europe, you get lots of signs and labels in multiple languages. In the Czech Republic, pretty much every product label is in at least two languages: Czech and Slovak. That makes sense because the Czechs and Slovaks used to be members of the same country–Czechoslovakia. Companies selling products prudently understand that the more accessible their products are, the more sales they can get. So it is not a surprise to see multiple languages on a label. More languages means more people can understand what is being sold.
This is the European Union, so there is a common market for manufacturers. If you are willing, you can sell to over two dozen countries. Of course, it works best if you can describe your product in as many languages as possible. That’s what we see so many packages with four, six, ten or more languages on them. We don’t know why but the packages with the most labels are bags of chips. Potato and corn tortilla chip bags get their ingredient lists translated into 14 or 17 languages. Here’s the current record holder that we’ve seen. A bag of tortilal chips with ingredients in 21 languages.
When we first looked at the apartment we eventually moved into, the real estate person did say its one draw back was that it was near a busy street. It is within sight of Vinohradská ulice, a major east-west artery through Vinohrady neighborhood into Žižkov. “You’ll get some street noise,” …
The Czech government has released most of the restrictions imposed because of the Coronavirus pandemic. D finally had caught up enough on his work to go for a walk down to Prague’s central square. Here is a short video of what it was like standing near the astronomical clock in …
The Czech Republic, having successfully controlled the Corona virus, has begun the process of reopening stores, restaurants, and other public spaces. Food (potraviny) and drug stores (lekarny in the Czech Republic) have always remained open. Today, restaurants and pubs could begin serving food and drinks at outdoor tables. Our adopted …
Praise where praise is due. This goes well beyond politics. Actually, this is where partisan politics stops and the good of human beings is what matters. The Czech Republic has handled the Coronavirus epidemic extraordinarily well. We must say we are very surprised. The president and prime minister are oligarchs …
