Letter from Prague | All stories

In Czech the word "pout" means pilgrimage and from it is derived an event that takes place in almost every Czech town and village at some time in the spring summer or autumn. Staying at my grandparents' house as a child I perceived the annual "pout" as an important event. Preparations for the big day started well in advance with housewives stocking up their larders and baking a vast amount of "kolace" delicious pies with poppy-seed, jam and cottage cheese. There was always enough to feed an army. And indeed, on the day itself an army of relatives would

You have probably experienced it yourselves. One minute you're thinking about something and the next moment it happens. "Speak of the devil and he appears", that's how popular wisdom describes those situations. The Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung gave these coincidences a name: he called them synchronicities.

A tale of 'dramatic irony' from the recording studio to the streets of Zizkov.

Getting around in the Czech Radio building is something of an adventure at the moment. Bit by bit, the whole place is being rebuilt, and to get from our offices, in the old building at the front, to our studios in the new steel and concrete building attached at the back - we have to go down two flights of back stairs, through gloomy underground garages, past workmen with drills and piles of bricks and mortar - and then take the lift up again to the fourth floor. At a brisk pace you can just about manage the trek in five or ten minutes - but I wouldn't

Whenever there is a state holiday here in the Czech Republic, pairs of little Czech tricolour flags appear on the front of the country's trams. Given the fact such holidays are on the same date every year, when a holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday (when you're off work anyway) the tiny red, white and blue flags can be a reminder that an important day in the history of the state is being marked.

Every family has its own series of legends constantly retold. In my own, one of the enduring legends that fascinated me since youth was the story of my parents' marriage, which took place in 1965, in then-communist Czechoslovakia. My parents, both in their twenties then, took their vows at a local town hall.

In the fourteen years since the fall of communism Prague has undoubtedly undergone remarkable transformation in the city's infrastructure. Its beautifully restored architecture and rich cultural heritage attracts millions each year and every time I meet a group of tourists I'm always sure to tell them about my golden rule - when you walk along the city's sidewalks don't forget to look up!

"Nemluvim Cesky." I don't speak Czech. It's by far my least favorite phrase in the Czech language and one that unfortunately I've had to say quite often. On Monday's edition of this program, Dominik Jun took a look at the growing trend of Anglicization in Prague's tourist districts. I enjoyed the segment but must admit that it made me feel a bit uncomfortable when it occurred to me that I am one of this trend's perpetrators.

Not only does summer bring smog and sweaty trams to Prague, it also sees the return of women in open-toed high-heels tettering across cobblestones.

This year's summer in the Czech Republic has been rather disappointing so far, with not many of the blazing hot days that we experienced last year. While some people might be pleased because they don't have to suffer in smelly trams and buses, others say that the rainy weather has been influencing people's mood, the color of our skin and most importantly our daily intake of ice-cream and beer. All in all we are depressed and pale.