Prague, Czech Republic – The Heart of Eastern Europe

‘Prague is like a vertical Venice - steps everywhere’, Penelope Gilliatt

Over the centuries, Prague has had many nicknames: Mother of all cities, Heart of Europe, Golden Prague, City of 100 Spires are but a few.

According to an old legend, in the year 700 Princess Libuse dreamed that a strong and brave knight would erect gates on the left bank of the river Vlatava and beyond those gates there would emerge a city whose fame everybody would talk about; a city whose splendor would make the stars look pale. Soon after the legend came a church, a few houses, a bridge, some walls … Prague … cradle of magicians, scientists, alchemists, mathematicians, artists and musicians. The city of Franz Kafka and Milan Kundera, where a perfect mix of allegory and pragmatism surrounds its streets, plazas and buildings. A truly living monument full of stories to be visited and then told. An atmosphere which invites the traveler to sip a beer while listening to a jazz concert. City of castles, synagogues, villas, bridges and palaces. City of hidden treasures to be found and a thousand corners to be explored. City of mesmerizing light and sounds. A city filled with steps leading you somewhere else, to another time, to a legend which became true.

Click here to view an article on things to do in the city.

Intesol premises in Prague

INTESOL Prague has a privileged location in the heart of the city, 3 minutes from Wenceslaus Square. The premises include an enviably quiet and romantic back yard with a garden and a terrace where you will be able to stretch your legs and enjoy your classmates’ company during class breaks and after class. The building, which dates back to 1920, has the aura surrounding Prague’s famous architecture. Inside, it is fashionably furnished and you will have nice and spacious classrooms, free access to internet, a well-equipped professional library at your disposal and the opportunity to meet already qualified teachers, both Czech and native speakers of English, as the location also serves as the teachers´ headquarters for Threshold Training Associates (our affiliate language school). This will provide you with the unique opportunity to get first hand information on living and teaching in the Czech Republic, and overseas. Even though you will find our facilities very well-equipped we advise students to bring their laptop computers with them if they can; this will allow you to have a well-deserved break after a long day's work and be able to resume work later in the day or on weekends without having to travel back to the premises.

More about Prague

Prague, in the north-west of the Czech Republic, has an extension of twenty-two square miles and a population of nearly two and a half million. Its historical center, sitting on both banks of river Vltava, is visited by over 17 million tourists each year, and consists of six quarters, once independent cities: The Old Town, The Jewish Quarter, The New Town, The Lesser Quarter, Hradcany and Vysehrad. Prague’s historical center was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1992.

Cost of Living

Prague is generally an inexpensive city for westerners. Food, public transport, cinema or cigarettes are very cheap. Clothes and accommodation are more in the range of prices typical of western countries although slightly cheaper.

Here are some typical prices listed in Euros

One month rent in a shared flat, including bills: €200-€400 ($240-480)
Lunch out: €3.00 to €6.00 ($3.60-7.20)
3-day metro ticket: €7.00 ($8.40)– monthly ticket: €15.00 ($18.00)
Beer in bar: €0.60 ($0.72)
Sandwich: €1.50 ($1.80)
Cigarettes: €2.00 ($2.40)

Getting around in Prague

Prague has a comprehensive and efficient public transport system consisting of bus, metro and tram lines, and a cable car. There is public transport available at all times during day and night and different ticket modalities which will allow you to change onto a different line or transport system with the same ticket. Tickets are generally inexpensive. Our student coordinator will provide you with detailed information.

Eating Out

Prague has undergone a deep transformation and it is not the unwelcoming city some felt it was. Everything has changed: restaurants are varied and numerous, they remain open until late and are relatively inexpensive. From Czech cuisine to American fast food, Japanese, Italian, tex-mex or vegetarian meals - you have it all in Prague.

Czech cuisine is extremely rich and varied: canapés, desserts, salads, smoked meats … Czech beer is one of the best there is – you need to taste it to believe it! Beer is normally served in jars which are kept permanently chilled with water. The price is one of the best too: about 50 crowns (€0.60) a pint. In Wenceslaus Square alone they serve 6000 beers a week. Accordion players usually make nights pleasant by playing folk songs for the ‘tasters’. Our student coordinator will give you detailed information on where to find the best beer.

Shopping

Prague is not a shopping paradise, not in the way London, Paris or Milan are anyway. However, you will be able to buy things that are nearly impossible to find elsewhere: Bohemian crystal, cut and colored glass, ceramics … Apart from these you have shopping centers, street markets (great for fruit and vegetables) and regular stores where you will find all sorts of items. Even if shopping is not your thing we recommend to buy one bottle of Becherovka, the famous Karlovy Vary liquor; they sell it cheaply at supermarkets and it cannot be bought outside the Czech Republic. Our student coordinator has detailed information on the best places to shop.

The Other Prague: Nightlife

Karlovy Lazne, near Charles Bridge, the largest discotheque in Central Europe, with four dancing floors is living proof of how Prague has changed into a truly modern European city. House and techno music, 60’s revival … there is something for everyone. There is live music every night, particularly Jazz - Prague is the home of several international Jazz festivals. Blues, free and fusion are also sounds with a place in the night. Café-Bars which are also music shops and where you can listen to a jazz, hard rock or country concert; cocktail bars; grill bars; salsa clubs … they even have bars where you can play chess, listen to rock music, order Mexican meals and special drinks and dance the night away to the sound of rock and funky. If you thought Prague was all about old buildings and statues you are in for a shock. Our student coordinator will provide you with a list of addresses and details of some of the most interesting bars and clubs in the city.

History, Architecture and Museums

Of all the qualities attributed to Prague magical is probably the one most suited to both its appearance and history, clearly marked by Emperor Rudolph II, 45th ruler in the history of Czech land. Very educated and intelligent himself Emperor Rudolph II ruled at a time when Prague was rendezvous to alchemists, astronomers, astrologists and painters. In Golden Lane, behind St. George’s Basilica, used to live the Emperor’s alchemists. There the legend goes an artificial man, named Golem, was invented and is still hidden at the Old-New Synagogue. Click here for more on the history of Prague.

Kafkian Prague, mystic universe of a thousand hues, is home to a perfect mix of different architectonic styles: Romantic, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassic, Romantic, Modernist, Cubist … they are all represented in all their splendor.

Along with the exhibitions held at the Jewish Museum and the art gallery at Strahov monastery less renown museums such as The Puppets Museum or Bertramka, where Mozart finished Don Giovanni, can make very interesting visits. Other interesting museums are The National Museum, Prague’s Capital Gallery and The National Gallery.

Franz Kafka

If there is one name people immediately think of when talking of Prague, it is Franz Kafka. Snubbed by his own countrymen for nearly a century due to his writing in German, these days numerous spots in Prague have become a tribute to his literary talent. His work was heavily influenced by the atmosphere surrounding the alleys of Josefov, Belvedere Gardens and Chotek Park amongst many others. When you visit these places you inevitably feel being transported to the pages in his novels. Kafka is buried in the New Jewish Cemetery.

Josefov or The Jewish Town

In Jewish history for as long as one can remember Prague has been referred to as the Mother City of Israel. Six synagogues, the old Jewish cemetery and other buildings are testimony to historical links with the people of Israel. The Jewish Museum is filled with small historical treasures which speak of the tragedy lived by thousands of Czech Jews during World War II. Some of the synagogues hold exhibitions of Jewish customs and traditions. Pinkas Synagogue has a hall with commemorative writings about the 80000 Jews murdered by the Nazis. Next to each name there is the last place in which they resided and dates of birth and death. This monument is accompanied by the drawings of Jewish children in the Czech prison camp of Terezín, a moving tribute to the horrors of war and human courage.

Weather

The climate is continental with cold winters and warm-hot summers. The average yearly temperature is 9.2 degrees Celsius. Temperature ranges from –3º C in January to 22º C in July. From May to September it tends to be sunny and warm with occasional rains. Prague is extremely beautiful when covered in snow, although you will need appropriate clothes and do as natives do: have a drink of Becherovka, the famous herb liquor, in a coffee shop to shake the cold off!

In the following table you have maximum and minimum average temperatures:

Links of interest

>> How shall I get there?

Flight Comparison to Prague - Compare cheap flights to Prague
www.csa.cz – The only Czech Airline. Great service. Take your chance to try the Czech cuisine for the first time!
www.britishairways.com – Traditional British quality.
www.smartwings.net – A new cheap airline. Flights from Spain, France, the Netherlands and other well-known European cities.
www.bmibaby.com - Cheap airline. Flights between Prague and East Middlelands, London, Manchester (Great Britain).
www.ryanair.com - Cheap airline operating in Europe.
www.easyjet.com - Cheap British airline running flights between Great Britain and the Czech republic and many other European countries.

>> Already planning trips round the Czech republic and Europe?

http://www.jizdnirady.cz/JRCis.asp?tt=c&cl=E5 – Bus and train routes round the Czech republic and between the Czech republic and Slovakia.
http://www.idos.cz/ConnForm.asp?tt=c&cl=E5 - Bus and train routes round the Czech republic and between the Czech republic and Slovakia.

>> Interested in Czech culture and history as well as the latest news in the region?

www.czech.cz – Everything you wanted to know about the Czech republic. History guide, culture program, latest news, weather and much more.
http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/europe/czech.shtml
http://www.czechtourism.com/index.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1108489.stm - BBC profile
http://www.pis.cz/a/index.html - The best web site if you are looking for any information of any kind, especially the latest ones.
http://www.prague.cz/ - Web Sites exclusively about Prague.
http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/ - Latest news about the Czech republic.
http://www.praguepost.com/ - English newspaper published in Prague on the Net.
http://www.praguetribune.cz - English newspaper published in Prague on the Net.
http://www.myczechrepublic.com/prague/history/ - From the founding of the Prague Castle in the 9th century to the present.

>> Any more pictures?

http://www.google.com/images?hl=cs&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=prague

>> Would you like to learn a few Czech words or to learn a bit more about Czech?

www.bohemica.com
www.ujc.cas.cz

>> Any official information and advice?

www.mzv.cz – Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web Sites
www.canada.cz – Canadian Embassy Official Web Sites
www.usembassy.cz – US Embassy Web Sites
www.britain.cz – Web Sites of the Embassy of the United Kingdom

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