Czechia, also known as the Czech Republic, is a country located in Central Europe that was formed in 1993. While most visitors go to explore the architecture, history, and nightlife of the capital city of Prague, there are actually many outdoor and natural experiences to be ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Czech Republic
Climbing and trekking your way through Czechia
Czechia, also known as the Czech Republic, is a country located in Central Europe that was formed in 1993. While most visitors go to explore the architecture, history, and nightlife of the capital city of Prague, there are actually many outdoor and natural experiences to be ...Prague's astronomical clock gets a makeover
The famous astronomical clock that is Prague's most popular tourist attraction has lost some star players for the next two months. The four outside figures, including a skeletal Death, have been removed and are being repainted to protect them from the elements.
The ...
A (not-very) special Czech Christmas
As the last tiny fireballs shot into the tree, marking the end of this bizarrely belated Christmas celebration, my Czech friend's father, Ladia, looked at me and giggled nervously.
Was he happy we didn't burn down this bone-dry pine tree in their living room? Or was ...Where they ate: chefs' and food/travel writers' best meals of 2011, part II
I ate well this year. Maybe better than any other year. I spent a week in Hoi An, Vietnam eating cau lau--an obscure noodle dish that technically can only be made in the small coastal town. I ate my way through Barcelona, dining at restaurants whose chefs had a ...Where they ate: chefs' and food writers' best meals of 2011, part I
For an increasingly large sector of humanity, eating has become more than just stabbing at something with a fork, putting it in our mouths and masticating. Chefs are perceived as rockstars, the food blog-o-sphere is inhaling Miracle Grow, and eating has been given a kind ...Japan wins World Rafting Championship
As we mentioned last week, the World Rafting Championship took place in Costa Rica over the weekend, with 48 teams (29 men, 19 women) competing against one another on a wild stretch of the Pacuare River. The competition, which began on Friday and finished on Monday, ...Holy Water and Wafers in the Czech Republic's Karlovy Vary
I had walked for an hour in the northern Bohemian spa town Karlovy Vary looking for a place to eat. I have a general rule when I'm in these tourist-crammed towns: no hotel restaurants and no obvious tourist trap eateries, of which this town formerly known as Carlsbad has ...The Most Dangerous Beverage in Prague
There's a specter haunting Central Europe. A very quaffable, sweet-tasting specter, that is. And no, it's not absinthe. This bibulously inspired drink is only around for a few weeks in September. Which means there's much debauchery happening right now in the center of ...Israel, Chile, Slovak Republic among countries with highest adventure travel potential
A new study conducted by George Washington University, Vital Wave Consulting, and the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) shows that Israel, Chile, and the Slovak Republic led the way in adventure tourism in 2010. The study, which resulted in the third annual Adventure ...Bud vs. Bud: Travel and the Great Beer War of the Last Century
There's not enough beer in Bohemia to ever help you pronounce Ceske Budejovice, a Czech town located in southern Bohemia, about 100 miles from Prague. But there is at least one reason why you should go there.
Why? Let's go back to the early 1870s, when soon-to-be ...Big Apple Beer Gardens Making a Comeback
Let us consider the beer garden. For many of us, the lasting imagine of this outdoor suds-flowing extravaganza is one of older gentlemen showing great prowess in swinging one-liter steins of beer while lederhosen-clad musicians hammer out polka tunes on accordions. ...Prague in pictures
Today's featured summer travel destination has undergone a massive transformation in recent decades. Once regarded as an isolated capital on the red side of the Iron Curtain, it is now the sixth most visited European city behind London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Berlin. Having ...A Stinky Tour Through the Czech Town of Olomouc
The last thing I wanted to do before I got to Olomouc [pronounced Oh-low-moatz], a town in the north-eastern part of the Czech Republic, was eat cheese that reeked of unwashed feet. But there I was, in a village just outside of the historic university town, at a museum ...Useful foreign phrases, Part 2: how to say, "Can you write this down for me?" in 10 languages
A post written by Chris on Tuesday reminded me of this little language series I started in March. In "Ten things Ugly Americans need to know before visiting a foreign land," Chris recommended brushing up on the local language. He joked about dashing around Venice clutching ...Useful foreign phrases, Part 1: how to say, "I'm just looking" in 10 languages
I've frequently pimped Lonely Planet's Phrasebooks on this site, but I swear I don't get kickbacks from the company. It's just that I'm a big believer in not being a). A Tourist (although, let's face it, if I'm not at home, I am indeed A Tourist) and b). helpless.
Even if ...The ten best castles in Europe
Castles originated in Europe over a thousand years ago. These fortresses were one of the original defense systems, and erecting the structures on hills or just beyond moats was a functional choice. Castles were built to house rulers, impose power, and above all, spurn ...Schengen and the disappearance of European passport stamps
Creative new use for border crossing posts at German/Austrian border.
In the late 1980s, an American spending a summer traveling across Europe with a Eurailpass would see his or her passport stamped possibly dozens of times. With a few exceptions, every time a border ...Lovely Bones: The East Bohemian Bone Church
When I got off the train in a barren-looking town in eastern Bohemia, I was initially alarmed. Communist-era apartment blocks rose to the sky and broken down cars from the '70s were plopped in front of houses. It wasn't supposed to look like this.
I was in Kutna ...The sushi invasion of Eastern Europe
Traveling through Eastern Europe recently, what stood out to me the most (aside from ultra low prices and varying success with capitalism) is the extreme popularity of sushi. Particularly in Kiev and Warsaw, sushi restaurants are nearly as prolific as the national cuisine ...The Top Non Santa Claus European Christmas Traditions
When I was young, my dad liked to narrate Santa Claus' travels to me on Christmas Eve. I'd hang on his every word as he'd announce, just after dinner, "Welp, Santa should be pulling into China right now." A few hours later, around 9 p.m. St. Nick would reportedly be in ...
