Letter from Prague | All stories

On Monday it was 37.3 degrees Celsius here in Prague, making it the hottest July 16 since records began at the Clementinum weather station in 1775. It was half a degree short of the city's all-time high of 37.8 Celsius, a record set in 1983. But when it's that swelteringly, brain-bakingly, ridiculously hot what difference does one half-degree Centigrade make? Either way, you just do not want to set foot outside if you can at all avoid it.

It is well known that Coca-Cola is the most popular soft-drink in the world. In fact, only a few countries can boast a beverage which sells more than the mighty Coke. In my native Scotland, the drink of choice is Irn-Bru, with Scots apparently spending more than 40 million pounds on this syrupy orange liquid a year. My fellow countrymen would proudly tell you how this humble soft-drink 'made in Scotland from girders', as the slogan goes, blew Pepsi and Coca-Cola right out of the water. And here in the Czech Republic too, it is a local fizzy drink

When I was travelling by metro to work a few years ago, I made a bet with myself. Muzeum - where lines A and C intersect - is a favourite spot of ticket controllers. Sure enough, they were there, and even accompanied by a couple of police officers. I had a ticket because I was no longer a teenager, when it was more funny than embarrassing to ride without a ticket. Anyway, a slight wave of adrenalin flooded my brain because this reflex will probably never completely fade away.

What do you think happens when a black cat crosses the path of a Swiss, Austrian, German or Czech? The Swiss walks on without taking any notice. The Austrian and German may hesitate but eventually they will walk on anyway. The Czech will most likely turn back or take a different route in case the black cat puts a jinx on his day.

In just a couple of weeks' time, Charles Bridge - without doubt one of the greatest symbols of Prague - will be the centre of celebrations. On July 9 it will be exactly 650 years since the laying of the first stone. On this "jubilee" anniversary, Charles Bridge is receiving its first extensive renovations in three decades. But already there has been some discussion about what the future holds for the landmark - and a call for a toll system to be introduced to reduce traffic.

With the temperatures soaring to 30 degrees in the Czech capital these days, ice hockey is probably the furthest thing from many peoples' minds, mopping their foreheads at work, ticking off the days before their holidays start. All of the year's big tournaments have wrapped up and the Czechs didn't do too well in any: at the Ice Hockey World Championship in May they struggled through three losses before finally giving up the ghost. Likewise, this year was the first in a while that saw no Czechs win North America's Stanley Cup. True, at least there

Olsanske Cemetery in Prague is in fact a large complex of several cemeteries: including a Jewish and Orthodox cemeteries and graveyards of soldiers killed in both WWI and WWII. The whole area is some fifty hectares large and according to estimates some two million people have been buried there. First founded in the 17the century, not only are the cemeteries packed with history but they appear to be a whole ecosystem within the city. Framed by busy thoroughfares from all sides, the two rectangles are real oases of wildlife under a canopy of

There was an interesting piece in Mlada fronta the other day about the number of people who could be housed in shelters here in Prague in the event, heaven forbid, of some terrorist attack or other disaster. The city's shelters have room for an impressive (or at least to my mind impressive) 500,000 of a population of almost 1.2 million.

"If it were a soap opera we would have switched it off long ago" - that is how one Czech journalist characterized the most stupefying story in Czech criminal history. When the story broke a fortnight ago it seemed to be a horrifying case of child abuse.

Prague and Vienna are on relatively good terms but there is one issue that has been causing friction for almost a decade and I'm afraid it's an issue that will be very hard to solve. Nuclear free Austria fears that the Temelin nuclear power plant in south Bohemia - which is some 50 km away from the border with Austria - is dangerous and puts its citizens at risk. The Czechs, on the other hand, say their plant is safe and follows all safety precautions by the book.