We've all heard of movie theaters banning food not bought on premises, and certainly it's a no-brainer that you just can't buy take-away food somewhere and go sit in a restaurant and eat it.
But this is the first time I've heard of a country banning food not purchased in its ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Czech Republic
Croatia bans tourists from arriving with their own food; Czechs are outraged
We've all heard of movie theaters banning food not bought on premises, and certainly it's a no-brainer that you just can't buy take-away food somewhere and go sit in a restaurant and eat it.
But this is the first time I've heard of a country banning food not purchased in its ...From the New Europe: Eating bugs and worms because you can afford it
The luxury restaurant market in the Czech Republic is apparently looking for new, creative ways to cater to their clients and be "distinguishable from others."
The strategy? Putting insects as an item on luxury restaurants menus, the Prague Daily Monitor reports. The Brno ...From the New Europe: Marketing beautiful women to tourists
God help us! Prague has unveiled its latest desperate attempt to find a new identity and market it to tourists. I hope you are ready. The punchline, in essence, is: Come here because we have beautiful women. (And architecture, but really, who cares. Too many syllables in ...From the New Europe: How do you like the new library design?
Perhaps never before has the Czech Republic been so divided over a piece of architecture. The winning proposal for a new National Library in Prague, which is supposed to be built in Letna, in the Prague 7 district, not far from the Castle, is a source of major controversy in ...From the New Europe: Self-tapping pub promotes drinking games (and drinking)
The world is definitely about to get fully automated any day now. Just yesterday, I blogged about a German restaurant that's based solely on automated service: no waiters, no tipping.
Today, I have a new culinary efficiency concept for you: the self-tapping pub. Leave it ...From the New Europe: The Unbearable Appeal of Being in Prague
It is still a fairly common cliche in Prague: a backpacker with a beat up copy of Milan Kundera's 1984 novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, trying to discover the Prague Kundera once described.
That Prague--desperate amidst the Russian invasion--does not exist anymore. ...Drive-thru Easter story (and more about Easter in Ohio)
So I actually made it to Cleveland for Easter. It was not exactly easy, but I guess Easter is all about suffering so I am not complaining. The flight from Prague to New York was delayed and the flight from New York to Cleveland was three hours more delayed because Ohio got ...From the New Europe: 106 cars collide in a snow storm
They don't call the D1, the major Czech highway, a "death trap" for nothing. Yesterday morning amidst a surprising spring snow storm which brought down as much as one inch of snow within minutes, the D1 turned into a bloody mess. Lucky me, I drove to Prague from Moravia just ...Traveling the day after St. Patrick's Day can be hellish
Happy St. Patrick's Day, to all of you aside from the guy who sat next to me on an EasyJet flight from Prague to London a couple of years ago (the morning after St. Patty's day) and almost threw up in my lap.
He had a black eye and body odor of a dying donkey. I am trying ...From the New Europe: Three hemp plants? No problem in the Czech Republic
On Friday after a hearty Czech meal, my Mom popped the question. She asked me if I could somehow manage to get her a hemp plant or two. At first, I thought it was a trick question. What do you answer? So I said what any good Czech daughter would say. "Sure Mom. I think I can ...From the New Europe: Want to live here? Must speak the language.
The days when foreigners could simply drift in and out of Eastern Europe, staying in Prague for 6 months, Budapest for 7 and Krakow for a year, might be over. With the Schengen agreement now applying to some Central/Eastern European countries, it has gotten more difficult ...What do they call John Doe in Iceland?
In the US legal system, parties who wish to remain anonymous or are otherwise unidentified are often given the names "John Doe" or "Jane Doe." Other titles, like "Average Joe" or "Joe Sixpack" or "John Q. Public," are used when referring to the typical American man, and some ...The New Europe: Prague now one of EU's richest regions
If you visited Prague fifteen years ago, you probably didn't think it was on its way to becoming one of the richest regions of the entire EU. Prague now ranks No 12 among all EU regions. Tourism, of course, is partially responsible for the vast influx of cash.
The ...First Starbucks in Prague is a hit
It's been a couple of months since Starbucks opened their first Czech Republic location. And, you guessed it, it is smashing success, and not only with tourists.
I remember just a few years ago the idea of a $4 cup of coffee was a science fiction concept in this country. ...What were your biggest traveling mistakes? Here are mine.
Every traveler makes mistakes. They are rites of passage that even seasoned travelers can never entirely avoid-- whether it's missing a flight or eating a regrettable roadside meal or wandering around lost for hours. If you have the right attitude though, mistakes are part ...Czech Republic celebrates an Academy Award. Beer flows for Once
I was getting teary-eyed last night when Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard received an Academy Award for their song "Falling Slowly," which they performed in the indie hit "Once."
Irglova is a 19-year old Czech girl from Valasske Mezirici in Moravia. Needless to say, that ...Hard alcohol banned from Wenceslas Square stands. Kielbasas saved!
The sausage stands on Prague's Wenceslas Square are probably familiar to anyone who stumbled its cobble-stoned streets after midnight, looking (unsuccessfully) for a more civilized place to eat. The after-dark scene around these stands is not what most people have in mind ...Man fakes his own death while surfing in Greece
At first, it sounded like a great, simple idea. The husband pretends he is dead while the wife collects his life insurance. She will send him money periodically as he assumes new identity abroad. It almost happened that way, Czech press reports.
A Hungarian man, Zoltan Rex, ...Prague under wintry (read depressing) skies
I was reading the Sunday NY Times article called "Under Wintry Skies, A City Revealed". It's just what you would expect: an American writer who lives there is trying to justify living there by telling everybody that the winter there is "really not that bad." He is listing ...American man stabbed to death by a Prague cop
It has not been a good week for American tourists in the world. First, an American got attacked by an elephant in China. Then I read the morning news in Prague only to find out that a cop stabbed a 44-year American guy to death near the hockey stadium Sazka Arena in Prague ...
