Letter from Prague | All stories

I wanted to go back to Afghanistan the minute I left it. No less because within twelve hours of doing so, I found I’d swapped all the gritty wonders of that country for the faux mystique of Dubai. Dubai has as much mystique as Disneyland, but a cloud of volcanic ash kept me captive there for three days. At least I had a chance to fill myself up with fish, before going back to Prague, and to consider everything I had seen and heard over the two weeks past.

Though the weather has been quite miserable lately, that doesn’t take away from the fact Prague is at its loveliest in May. And one of the loveliest spots in the city at this time of year is Petřín Hill on the left bank of the Vltava.

The beautiful land of great wine, mediocre beer, long vowels and good-hearted if slow people – that’s Moravia, the eastern part of the Czech Republic. The Czechs are so jealous of their older brothers that they fear any mention of their existence. Well, the time has come to claim what’s ours, or else.

The sun has brought out the flowers, the flip-flops, the ice-cream stands, the short shorts, people who shouldn’t wear short shorts wearing them regardless… and the dogs in Riegrovy Sady park, a five-minute walk from the radio station. I often go to the park after work or on the weekend, just to sit on a bench or lie on the grass and soak up some sunshine.

I recently came back from a visit to Prague’s Pankrác prison. Such were the preliminaries and security checks that it was harder to get in than out. My mobile phone was taken from me, my recording gear looked at suspiciously and passport scoured before the keys rattled and buzzer sounded. But it was all handshakes, smiles, and a brisk goodbye on the way out. Needless to say it is not the same story for most of those inmates in one of the country’s most famous prisons.

Czechs have been living in the state of permanent political campaigning ever since the fall of the government last March. Early elections were supposed to be held in October, but in the end we have had wait for the regular term next month. All this time, political parties have been coming up with new ideas, slogans and counter-slogans to catch people’s attention.

The decision of the Czech Republic to declare two full days of mourning to remember the victims of the air crash in Smolensk was no overreaction. The fates of the Czechs and the Poles, whose countries today share a common border of nearly 800 kilometres, are closely tied and always have been. The sense of loss that many Czechs felt at the news of the crash was deep and sincere.

I have recently come back from a few days in the town of Český Krumlov – and it was an eye opener. I should explain that my last visit to this small south Bohemian jewel was around 15 years ago.

A couple of months ago a Czech firm came up with an idea so wacky, when most people first heard of it, they thought it was something like an April Fool’s joke. The company offers you the opportunity to send no, not your loved ones, but your plush toy (or toys) to Prague. That’s right, toys: stuffed animals, your Paddington Bear or Pink Panther, or worn out teddy from childhood who’s never really ever left home. Now is his or her chance. The idea is so crazy my first reaction was almost ‘I wish I’d thought of that’, after all, it has often been

Spring has come to “the land that vegetables forgot” as Anthony Bourdain recently dubbed the Czech Republic in a Prague episode of “No Reservations.” Trust me, my best friend Claire and I are aware of the approaching bikini season, doubly so because we spent the majority of winter exploring the Czech cuisine and forgetting the existence of vegetables ourselves.