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Czechoslovakia gained independence in 1918. But even now, after nearly a century you can find customs and traditions that are very similar to most countries that formed the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire. What Czechia shares with Austria and especially Vienna, is the tradition of classical dance classes that are still considered something of a “rite of passage” in both neighboring countries.

With the Christmas season underway many of Prague’s museums and galleries are offering special events and programs, among them a museum dedicated to the seminal works of the great 20th century animator and film director Karel Zeman - behind films like Journey to the Beginning of Time and Baron Munchausen. The Karel Zeman Museum has plenty planned for each advent weekend, including a steampunk robot photographer ready to snap visitors’ pictures.

Prague’s O2 Arena is set to see a very special concert next week. One of the most popular Czech bands Chinaski will team up with the Whakaari Rotorua group from New Zealand to perform a traditional Māori dance, called haka, trying to set a new record for the largest-ever haka. Whakaari Rorotua will also mark the visit of the late Czech president Václav Havel to New Zealand in 1995 with a special program at the Václav Havel library.

Antonin Kokeš is a well-known Czech entrepreneur behind the enormously successful greeting card and board game publisher Albi and - more recently – the hugely popular Antonín Bakeries.

Fidget spinners may be all the rage right now but if your hands are free maybe it’s time for a bigger challenge, something requiring skill and dedication. The yoyo. The pastime has grown significantly in popularity in the Czech Republic since the early days (that is, around the year 2000) and a man who knows a thing or two about that is Jan Kordovský (aka. Korda) a former national champ and owner of Yoyo Store in Prague.

Situated in Prague’s Žižkov district, the Kočičí Kavárna Freya (or Kočkafé) is a cat café, which opened back in 2014, and was the first of its kind in Prague. The phenomenon of the cat café harks back to the late 1990s in Taiwan and Japan, but has now come to the Czech Republic as well. There are seven cats on-hand for customers to interact with here, predominantly from shelters, and this cat café has already attracted significant media attention. I’m going to go and visit inside and meet both the staff and the cats.

For more than 10 years, the Roma Education Fund has been helping young Roma students to receive higher education and become professionals in their fields. At the moment, the programme is operating in 15 European countries, including the Czech Republic. I spoke to Yveta Kenety from the Czech Republic’s leading Roma advocacy group Romea, who is in charge of the programme here in this country, and I first asked her to tell me a bit more about its objectives.

The Prague Animal Protection Association is an NGO which helps abandoned, injured, sick and abused animals, mainly in and around Prague. One of their projects is the Kocour Felix cat shelter, located in the town of Klecany, just north of Prague on the eastern banks of the Vltava river. Hana Janišová, who heads the Association, very kindly agreed to show me around the shelter.

The Prague-based Cimrman English Theatre is taking their successful and very funny production of The Stand-In (Záskok) to America. It is the first time audiences in the US will be able to see the English-language production. Performances are to be held in three cities (from April 19 to 28).

One of the most famous more recent quotes about the nature of money is by the fictional Baltimore drug dealer D’Angelo Barksdale in the US series The Wire: “Money be green…” he says, “money feel like money!”, reacting to a scam where a buyer has passed poorly counterfeited bills. Money feels like money… except when it doesn’t. Money of the future will no longer be bills and will not be the digital money of today, either. Scientists at Palacký University in Olomouc have demonstrated that in all likelihood it will be quantum, ultra-secure and impossible