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Three Kings (www.studenec.cz)

Based on Czech and Slovak traditions, today is the last day, also known as the twelfth day, of Christmas. The 6th of January is celebrated as the Three Kings Day. During this day you can see children walking the streets caroling in their neighborhoods. It is also common today for many organizations to use this festive day for humanitarian activities to help others.

The three kings of three different countries, also known as wise men from the east, saw a bright star on the night when Christ was born. They followed it to Bethlehem and met the baby Jesus, to whom they gave three gifts: gold, myrrh and frankincense. Their names were Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar. Based on biblical stories, the three men represented three life stages - history, presence, and future (young, middle-aged, and old king). The oldest man also had a dark face that represented the shadow of death. Read the rest of this entry (Ctete vic ZDE) »

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Wilson monument in Prague

How many of you know that there was a monument to an American President in Prague? Yes, there was a statue of Woodrow Wilson located at the main train station in the center of Prague. The monument was destroyed by the Nazis in 1941 and was forgotten for more than 60 years. A new project, initiated by American Friends of the Czech Republic (AFoCR), will renew this monument in Prague to remind us of the close ties the Czech Republic and United States share.

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Euros (www.moneymatterstome.co.uk)

The year 2009 is not only very significant for the Czech Republic but also for Slovakia. The Czech government took over the EU presidency for the next six months, while Slovakia became the 16th member of the euro zone. Both of the countries separately joined the European Union in 2004. Slovaks are proud of the switch to the euro currency and see this change as a source of their pride and future economic growth. When will the Czechs switch to euro currency then?

The Czech leadership will be tested for the next six months as it assumes the European Union presidency. The country will face lots of important issues such as the worst economic meltdown in Europe, a dispute with Russia, and the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. Read the rest of this entry (Ctete vic ZDE) »

Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole

Don’t forget to check out our events for January 2009. Our list is growing every day and we recommend visiting this page frequently. CLICK HERE.

Did we miss your event? Please, let us know HERE.

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Nezapomeňte se podívat na naše akce v lednu 2009. Náš rejstřík akcí roste kazdým dnem, a proto doporučujeme navštěvovat tuto stránku opakovaně. KLIKNĚTE ZDE.

Zapomněli jsme na vaši akci? Prosím, dejte nám vědět ZDE.

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Fontana pre Zuzanu

One of our latest posts in December was about Czech films online. Our article today is about Slovak movies over the Internet. Rental fees are very similar to Czech TV prices, but you can only rent each movie just for one day and not for one week. You can, however, watch some titles in the Slovak language and some are even free. A list of known Slovak titles includes, for example, Fontana pre Zuzanu, Modre z neba and so on.

All information about the service and movies for rent can be found at the end of our article.

Enjoy!

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Every New Year is associated with solemn speeches. Today, Czechs and Slovaks had the opportunity to listen to speeches by their presidents. Both speeches were significant, but somewhat similar. Perhaps because both countries are very close to each other, not only geographically, but also economically:

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New Year’s fireworks in Prague were in a theme of the number nine this time. Fireworks, named Nine Images, lasted exactly 999 seconds in a form of nine countries from four continents: France, Italy, Japan, South Africa, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Spain and Portugal. The whole program consisted of a 19-seconds-long prelude, nine images - each 99 seconds long, and an 89-second-long finale representing the Czech Republic to remind everybody that the Czech Republic is taking over the Presidency of the European Union.

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New Year’s celebrations are almost here. Would you like to prepare a special drink for this extraordinary occasion? How about punch? Both of the spirits below will keep you warm for a long time!

Recipe for New Year’s Eve punch:

Ingredients:
1 cup of water
120 grams (1/4 lbs) of granulated sugar
1 cup of red wine
1 cup of white wine
50 ml (1.7 fl oz) of lemon juice
60 ml (2 fl oz) of vodka or cherry vodka

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As you may already know, Czechs and Slovaks eat carp on Christmas Eve as their main dish. Is this the only day that they eat fish then? Peter Gandalovic, Czech Agriculture Minister, started a project to encourage Czechs to eat more fish all year round. Apparently, the Czech Republic is one of the biggest producers of fish but it is a country with the lowest rates of fish consumption (we don’t have information about Slovakia). Moreover, recent news announced that Czech scientists will launch a three-year project to prove that carp meat will improve overall human health. Will these incentives change this sad statistics?

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Author: Lukáš Vrtílek

In today’s global world, it’s difficult to determine the origin of traditions in different countries because they already overlap each other. We can even see it in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Santa Claus, formerly known in English-speaking countries, is also known there. Some Czechs fear, however, that little Jesus will soon be replaced by the new and popular Santa Claus, which is already visible across the country. Will little Jesus be replaced by a new commercial symbol in a red jacket?

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Článek v ČEŠTINĚ dole (Klikněte na „Read the rest …”)
Another alcoholic beverage associated with Christmas in the Czech Republic and Slovakia is also very simple to prepare. Last time we introduced a recipe for mulled wine. Today you will only need rum (brandy or whisky) and some other items you already have at home. Our recipe shows just one of many ways you can prepare “Grog” - a drink originally prepared by British sailors.

Recipe for Grog:

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Birkenau

It has been more than half a century since World War II ended. There are fewer and fewer people in the world that can describe what they experienced during these tough times. Stories about German concentration camps are almost forgotten or even dismissed as exaggerated or even fabricated. One Czechoslovak Jewish citizen lives today to tell you that the camps existed and her tattoo with her ID number remains as a reminder of her traumatic experience. Her name is Alice and she moved to the USA along with her children that are now in their 50s. This year they spent Christmas separately but Alice was still present in a way - they watched her interview named “Shoah” (Holocaust) that describes her experiences prior, during, and after her stay at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

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