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The rumbling railroad track that used to pass through Žižkov in Prague was completely natural to the gritty-but-chic image of the 19th century proletariat quarter. The main western entrance to Žižkov was arched by three foreboding railway bridges, and the noisy, spray-painted cars passed alongside Vítkov hill to the cargo station. Four years ago the trains were still rattling the plaster off that lower end of the neighbourhood, just as they had been since the late Industrial Revolution, and then the route was cancelled for a higher-capacity

Many will remember the joy of getting toy trains as children and watching them zoom down the electric track. Now, somewhat unusually, that innocent excitement can now be relived at a popular Czech restaurant. Located in Brno, Prague and elsewhere, Výtopna is a venue like no other where toy engines – not waiters – deliver drinks to your table. For a country not big on theme-restaurants it has become surprisingly popular: a big hit especially for families with young kids.

Spotlight this week comes from Pardubice, which lies about an hour away from Prague in east Bohemia. The pretty Renaissance buildings on Pernštýnovo náměstí and the impressive chateau nearby give an indication of this town’s long and rich history, which saw it evolve from a prosperous hamlet in the Middle Ages to an industrial powerhouse by the start of the 20th century.

Prague’s wealth of traditional coffeehouses is a legacy from the era of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But even in today’s hectic time, grabbing a quick cup on the run is fortunately not the only option for coffee lovers in the Czech capital. Probably the best-known café in the golden city is Kavárna Slavia, or Café Slavia. We recently visited this traditional coffeehouse.

A town surrounded by deep pine forests, dotted with old timbered German-style villas and occasional Communist-era prefab houses, a town boasting many parks, a river, two churches – and the country’s first Buddhist temple. This is Varnsdorf, a town of 16,000 in the northernmost part of the Czech Republic.

In this week's Spotlight, we visit Prague's infamous TV tower and find it in the middle of a major re-construction.

In this week’s Spotlight we take you to an independent culture centre decorated with an abstract array of industrial machine part artistry.

The functionalist Mánes Exhibition Hall, located on the right bank of the Vltava river between the bridges Jiraskův most and Most Legií, is one of only two buildings in Prague that were expressly designed to house art – the other one being the famous Rudolfinum gallery. Martin Pavala, the chairman of the supervisory board of the Czech Art Foundation, which owns it, explains that the art gallery’s history started in 1930.

Prague’s leafy central suburb of Karlín may best be known outside of the Czech Republic for the devastating floods that laid ruin to it in 2002, but much of the world has been using the machines and products born of Karlín factories for more than a hundred years and aside from that it is also Prague’s oldest suburb – a point recalled by an exhibition being held this year at the City Museum in Prague that was created by historian Dr. Zdeněk Míka:

Nestled between busy Wenceslas Square and Prague’s number one tourist destination, Old Town Square, the House of the Black Madonna houses a small museum of Cubism as well as the only surviving Cubist café in the world – the Grand Café Orient, which was renovated between 2002 and 2005.