You say Good Friday, I say Great Friday

In the Czech Republic, Great Friday (Velký pátek) is the popular name for what most call "Good Friday".  Velký pátek is a day of fasting for Roman Catholics who will not eat meat until Saturday evening after the church bells start ringing on their legendary return from Rome.

 On Velký pátek, we prepare our holiday bread (mazanec), which must not be cut or eaten until the priest says, "Christ is risen!" (Kristus vstal z mrtvých!) on Easter Sunday.  It is a universal custom to make a new loaf of bread with the sign of the cross before cutting it in order to bless it and thank God for it.  Bread baked on Velký pátek - if hardened in the oven - can be kept all year, and its presence protects the house from fire.

There are many (surprise surprise!) superstitions associated with Velký pátek.  Although Praguers have gotten away from some of the annual traditions, people in small villages still practice time-honored rituals.  These customs, dating back to at least the first century, are designed to bring health and happiness to the participants throughout the following year.

We're a superstitious bunch aren't we!?  I have to admit that I won't allow laundry to hang dry on Velký pátek, and I also won't eat meat, but these traditions are a little harder to adhere to:

• Women carry out their quilts to air out in order to chase illnesses out of the house.
• Some believe that water dipped before sunrise without a spoken word has healing power and will stay pure all year.
• People get up very early on this day and hurry down to the brook (or stream... or river) where they wash themselves with cold water and then cross the brook with bare legs because they believe that this ensures good health for the entire next year.
• People also take their daughters down to wash at the well so that they'll be pretty and well spoken for.

 It's also believed that water sprites come out onto dry land on Velký pátek.  Water Sprites are a story for another day, but if you come across this guy...

A few more interesting beliefs and superstitions are:

• Work.  Just don't do it!!  I'm not sure if it's out of genuine respect for the religious festival, or from superstitious fears that to do it will somehow bring misfortune.  According to an old Czech saying, "Na Velký pátek zemi nehýbej", which translates to, "On Great Friday, do not move the soil."
• Supposedly, the weather for the whole year is foretold by the weather on Velký pátek.  For instance, if it rains on Velký pátek, then the rest of the year will be dry.  Another saying is "Velký pátek deštivý dělává rok žíznivý", which means, "A rainy Great Friday makes for a thirsty year."
• On Velký pátek, according to legend, anyone can look upon the sun without being blinded by its glare (you know I'd be trying this one if it wasn't so darn CLOUDY!)

 There are several legends associated with Velký pátek as well, and the one I find romantic yet disturbing is this one:  High up in the mountains amidst the cliffs there is a stone figure of a maiden.  She is seated and holds in her lap an unfinished shirt, also of stone.  Eash year, on Velký pátek, at the hour of the Passion, she sews a stitch:  one year, one stitch.  When the shirt is finished, the world will end.  Everything under the sun will die, and Judgement Day will be at hand. 

Let's hope she never finishes that shirt!!!

Easter Egg Hunt vs Easter Beer Hunt

Czechs will think of any reason to drink beer!  

I'd prefer it to be pink because green reminds me of St. Patrick's Day, but I can envision skipping with my Easter basket through a field of green...

Here's the article from the Prague Post Food Blog:

Breweries are just as eager to find an excuse to put out a special beer as beer lovers are to drink it. In the run-up to Easter this weekend, several breweries are capitalizing on any celebration’s penchant for drink by releasing limited-edition craft beers. So, if you’re the type who prefers liquid gold to chocolate eggs, you can pile these pints into your proverbial basket.

Green may not normally be a color associated with “Easter” let alone “beer” — unless we’re talking St. Patrick’s Day and boozy parties at Irish pubs. But there’s also the tradition of “Green Thursday,” also known as Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. Marking the Last Supper of Christ may seem an odd occasion for brewing a green-colored beer, but several breweries, such as the Velké Březno brewery, are releasing an envy-colored pint this Thursday, April 21.

Velké Březno’s zelené pivo is a special flavored beer brewed in the brewery Starobrno. According to the brewery’s press release, it combines spring water, barley malt and Moravian Saaz hops. Given an eight-day traditional fermentation using Velké Březno yeast, the brew is 13° and has a “typical taste” and “well-rounded flavor.” What they won’t divulge, however, is the “secret herbal extract” that gives the beer its tint, saying the brewers guard the secret fiercely.

Velké Březno has a catalog of equally interesting and quirky beer specials that it produces annually, including a pepper beer. It markets them quite heavily through Facebook, and websites for each specialty beer feature an alphabetical list of every single pub and restaurant (by town) in the Czech Republic serving each one — an ingenuously helpful tactic.

The list for places pouring the zelené pivo starting this Thursday is too long to recount here (the listings for Prague are even divided into districts for easy searching), and range from restaurants to pubs to dive bars. A few of the most well-known spots include: Petrínské terasy, Kozička, Limonádový Joe, V Cípu, PopoCaféPetl, Merenda, U Sadu, Pivní Tramway,Mirellie and U Bilého lva.

Prague’s own Novoměstský pivovar, on Vodičkova street, pours a special Velikonoční 14° dark lager starting on Green Thursday, for 45 Kč a half-liter. The microbrewery also has a special lunch and dinner menu for the weekend.

Farther afoot, near Plzeň, the Dobranská minipivovar has two Easter specials: a 7° honey lager and a 12° nettle lager. In the same area, the Purkmistr brewery, in Plzeň’s Černice district, has a festival of beers for Easter, starting April 21 and running through the 25^th. Specials include a green beer and a Velikonoční 15°, brewed using two kinds of hops. The green lager, according to Marketing Chief Petr Míč, combines “three types of herbs” for its festive flavor.

Pivovar Holba also releases an Easter special, the 13.51° Šerák, which boasts a greater proportion of hops and malt. Brewer Luděk Reichl says it has had an extraordinarily long production period in large cellars, where it has matured and fermented for up to two months. “The ideal is to drink one or two and enjoy its excellence in every sip,” says the brewer.

This Saturday, April 23, the Chodovar brewery opens “officially” for the season, celebrating both Easter and the warmer months by welcoming visitors to its grounds, for tours and festivities. The brewers will lead a traditional barrel-rolling contest in the courtyard, among other activities, as well as keeping thirst at beer with a special yeast beer.

Other breweries no doubt are offering similarly unique specials this weekend, making for a veritable Easter egg hunt for interesting brews. Seek and ye shall find!

Happy Name Day, Evženie! Všechno nejlepší k svátku!

Today we honor Evženie.  Happy Name Day, Evženie!

The name Evženie is the Czech form of Eugenia, which is of Old Greek origin and means "well born; noble".

It's Zelený Ctvrtek...Got Greens?

Today is Holy Thursday, aka Green Thursday (Zelený čtvrtek) in the Czech Republic.  It's a day of fasting where Catholics did not eat any animal products of any kind and only consumed one meal of vegetables.  Can you guess what kind of vegetables?  Yep, green ones, such as spinach or cabbage were eaten on this day so that one would stay healthy for the entire year.

 What's in a name?

Zelený čtvrtek (Green Thursday) was perhaps derived from the green mass chausable that was used on this day and which is still used today.  The bells "departing for Rome" were heard for the last time in church on Green Thursday.  They would then fall silent until Holy Saturday.  A superstition existed (of course it did... Czechs are such a superstitious bunch) that when a bell was rung for the last time on Green Thursday, one was supposed to jingle money so that one would hold on to it. 

 Another Green Thursday custom includes the boys' game of Chasing Judas and the baking of twisted spiral buns representing serpents, the symbol of betrayal.  

In some villages there are processions led by a captive Judas in a straw suit, which is ceremonially burnt at the end of the day.  When sprinkled into a clean jug of water, the ashes of Judas were believed to have special powers including the abilities to guard against fire and protect the health of livestock for the coming year.

In the evening of Green Thursday, village boys used to equip themselves with a wooden rattle (řehtačka), which was specially made for the purpose.  They formed a group and walked through the village, rattling their rattles vigorously so that the noise could be heard from afar.  

The meaning of the rattling may have been to chase away Judas.  The same procedure would repeat on Good Friday (Velký pátek).  The last rattling day was White Saturday (Bílá sobota), when the boys didn't just walk through the village, but stopped at every house in the morning and rattled until they were given money.

Happy Name Day, Alexandra! Všechno nejlepší k svátku!

Today we honor Alexandra.  Happy Name Day, Alexandra!

The name Alexandra is of Greek origin and means "man's defender".  It's the Latinate feminine form of Alexander.  The name Alexandra was seldom used in the English-speaking world before the 20th century.  It became very popular in Britain after the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) married the Danish Princess Alexandra in 1863.

Alexandra of Denmark

Happy Name Day, Marcela! Všechno nejlepší k svátku!

Today we honor Marcela.  Happy Name Day, Marcela! 

The name Marcela is a variant of Marcella, which is of Latin origin and means "dedicated to Mars".  

Saint Marcella was a Roman matron.  She was widowed after nine months of marriage, refused to marry Cerealis, the consul, and formed a group of noble ladies to live a life of austerity and asceticism. She was tortured by the Goths looting Rome in 410 to force her to reveal the whereabouts of her wealth, which she had long since given to the poor, was released, but dies shortly after, in August.  Her feat day is January 31st.

Happy Name Day, Rostislav! Všechno nejlepší k svátku!

Today we honor Rostislav. Happy Name Day, Rostislav!

The name Rostislav is of Czech origin and means "to usurp glory".

Saint Rastic or Rastiz (in modern Slovak Rastislav) was the second ruler of Great Moravia between 846 until his death in 870.  He was canonized in October 1994 by the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church.  His feast day is May 11.

Prince Ratislav

Happy Name Day, Valérie! Všechno nejlepší k svátku!

Today we honor Valérie.  Happy Name Day, Valérie!

The name Valérie is the Czech form of Valerie, which is of Latin origin and means "strong, healthy".

Happy Name Day, Rudolf! Všechno nejlepší k svátku!

Today we honor Rudolf.  Happy Name Day, Rudolf!

The name Rudolf is the Czech form of Rudolph, which is of Old German origin and means "famous wolf".

This is my favorite Rudolph!

Happy Name Day, Irena! Všechno nejlepší k svátku!

Today we honor Irena.  Happy Name Day, Irena!

The name Irena is a variant of Irene, which is of Greek origin meaning "peace".

Hey, nice pens were a rarity for 45 years!

Czech leader's vanishing pen act is YouTube hit

(AFP) – 1 day ago

PRAGUE — A clip showing Czech President Vaclav Klaus spiriting away a pen during a press conference has become cult viewing on YouTube and inspired a tongue-in-cheek Facebook campaign.

The clip, copied from a report on Klaus's visit to Chile which was broadcast by public Czech television on Sunday night, was posted on Youtube the same day.

It had drawn more than 550,000 views on YouTube by Tuesday afternoon.

Klaus, sitting next to his Chilean counterpart Sebastian Pinera, is seen first opening a pen case lying on the table in front of him as the Chilean president gives him an enthusiastic welcome.

He takes the pen out, examines it carefully, hides his hands under the table, shuffles with his jacket, then buttons it up with both hands and finally lets his empty hands emerge above the table again to close the case.

Klaus, 69, is no stranger to international protocol. He has been Czech president since 2003 and was prime minister from 1993 to 1997.

On Tuesday he was quoted by the Novinky.cz news site as saying it was "standard to take a pen from an event," stressing it was no golden pen but a ballpoint.

The clip, which uses red arrows and circles to trace the route of the pen to the president's pocket, has inspired a Facebook collection for Klaus.

Participants are to send pens to his office on May 2 "as the president obviously has nothing to write with", according to the Facebook group.

Happy Name Day, Aleš! Všechno nejlepší k svátku!

Today we honor Aleš.  Happy Name Day, Aleš!

The name Aleš is of Greek origin and means "man's defender, warrior".  It's the short form of Alexander and often used independently as Alexander has become more and more popular.  It's one of the few names used with equal frequency for both genders.  

The most famous bearer of the name was Alexander the Great, King of Macedon.  In the 4th century BC, he built a huge empire out of Greece, Egypt, Persia and parts of India.  Due to his fame, and later medieval tales involving him, use of his name spread throughout Europe.

"Czechs shop longest"

Who knew!  We Czechs like to shop...apparently.

According to an article in the Prague Daily Monitor, "Czechs shop longest".

The article states:

Czechs tied with Romanians for the most time in Europe spent shopping per week according to a Eurobarometer report on consumer empowerment released April 11.

Czechs tied with Romanians for the most time in Europe spent shopping per week according to a Eurobarometer report on consumer empowerment released April 11.  

“On average consumers in the Czech Republic and Romania spend most time shopping (3.8 hours per week), though it should be noted that 10 percent of Czechs and 17 percent of Romanians don’t know how much time they spend shopping. The average time spent shopping per week is also relatively high in Bulgaria, Austria and the UK (3.7 hours each),” the Eurobarometer report issued by the EU statistical arm Eurostat stated.

Portugal found itself on the other end of the spectrum. “Consumers in Portugal spend the least amount of time shopping (two hours on average in a typical week). Indeed, 31 percent of respondents in Portugal spend only one hour shopping in a typical week. People in Greece, France and Cyprus also spend comparatively less time shopping (2.4 hours per week on average),” the report said.

There was also a divide between new and old EU members, with respondents in the 12 states that joined in 2004 and 2007 spending more time shopping, 3.6 hours on average, than those in EU-15, at 3.2 hours.

As might be expected, across the EU women spend more time shopping, some 3.7 hours in a typical week,  than men who racked up 2.8 hours, according to the report.

Respondents who live in larger towns also tend to spend more time shopping, 3.7 hours, especially when compared to those in rural villages, at 2.8 hours. “House persons,” the Eurostat term for people who spend the majority of their time on domestic chores, spend the longest time shopping, some 4.0 hours, of all socio-demographic groups; 19 percent of house persons spend six hours or more shopping in a typical week. Students spend the least amount of time shopping, 2.7 hours.

Happy Name Day, Julius! Všechno nejlepší k svátku!

Today we honor Julius.  Happy Name Day, Julius!

The name Julius is of Greek origin, and its meaning is "Jove's child". 

Julius Caesar was a Roman general and politician

Happy Birthday to my beloved Babi

Today is my beloved grandmother's birthday and I want her to know that she is in my thoughts daily, and in my heart forever.

I love you, Babi!

A timeless ballet treasure...

The Prague State Opera ballet ensemble brought another classic onto the stage...Giselle in its traditional version, as it is best known to audiences worldwide.  Giselle is one of the best-loved works of the romantic repertoire.  The production's choreography is the work of Hana Vláčilová, a former prima ballerina and the current head of the Prague State Opera ballet ensemble.

For additional information or to purchase tickets, please visit:

http://www.opera.cz/en/repertoar/giselle.html

Happy Name Day, Darja! Všechno nejlepší k svátku!

Today we honor Darja.  Happy Name Day, Darja!

The name Darja is the Slovene and Czech form of Daria, which is the feminine form of Darius.  Darius is the Roman form of Dareios, which was the Greek form of the Persian name Dārayavahush.  Three ancient kings of Persia bore this name, including Darius the Great who invaded Greece but was defeated in the Battle of Marathon. It has never been very common as a given name in the English-speaking world, though it rose in popularity after the middle of the 20th century.

Saint Daria was a 3rd-century Greek woman who was martyred with her husband Chrysanthus under the Roman emperor Numerian. 

Happy Name Day, Miroslava! Všechno nejlepší k svátku!

Today we honor Miroslava.  Happy Name Day, Miroslava!

Miroslava is the feminine form of Miroslav and is of Slavic origin.  Its meaning is "peace and glory", derived from the Slavic elements mir "peace" and slav "glory".  This was the name of a 10th-century king of Croatia, who  presided over a civil war.

Prague, My Love

Everywhere around me there's beauty...and this is why I love Prague

Happy Name Day, Ivana! Všechno nejlepší k svátku!

 Today we honor Ivana. Happy Name Day, Ivana! 

Ivana is of Czech and Slavic origin.  It's the feminine form of Ivan, from John (Hebrew), meaning "Jehovah is gracious".