I'm going on an adventure ... to the Easter Markets in Prague!

This hand-painted "Easter from the Heart Egg" was given as a symbol of peace and friendship to the city of Prague, its citizens and its tourists by the county of Koprivnica-Krizevci.

Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day. If all goes well at the immigration office in Prague, Stéphane and I will be official residents of the Czech Republic. Here's hoping that we don't have to impress the officials with any language skills beyond dobrý deň (hello), děkuji (thank you) and na shledanou (goodbye) because those three phrases are all that we've mastered.

The odd thing is that Czech people seem to be convinced that I've got more of their language up my sleeve. I suspect it's because of the way I look. In Paris, French waiters invariably switched to English as soon I said bonjour. In Prague, it's the exact opposite. Last weekend, the waiter turned away from Stéphane, who was ordering in English, and started questioning me in Czech. It was only when a look of panic replaced the smile on my face that he realized that I wasn't any more talented in the native language than Stéphane and switched to English. I'm tempted to wear a t-shirt with the message, "dobrý deň - I promise that's all I've got", at least until I've learned some more Czech.

The other reason that tomorrow is going to be a fun day is because I'm taking the Instagram account of @VisitCZ, the official tourism board for the Czech Republic, to the Easter Markets in Prague. I'll be on a quest for colorful Easter eggs, cakes and sweets, willow whips with colorful ribbons that are used for a somewhat surprising Czech tradition and green beer. Originally, I thought that the green beer had something to do with St. Patrick's day but have recently learned that the beer, which is produced by adding a green herbal liqueur, relates to Maundy Thursday, which is known in Czech as Zelený čtvrtek (Green Thursday).

It's going to be a real adventure!

Comments

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks, Bridget. I had a really fun day visiting the Easter Markets!

      Delete
  2. Regarding people assuming you are Czech - I think it's because you are blonde. On my trips to Paris, people assumed my daughter was French because she had dark hair and pretty. Being pretty doesn't hurt you either, Mary Kay. At another time, while walking with an American couple in Paris, they assumed he spoke French because he had a short beard and was wearing a tan, belted trench coat. This kept happening so his wife & I bought him a neck scarf to complete the effect. - Carolyn V from Boston

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carolyn, I can see why people would have thought Hilary is French. She's effortlessly elegant! As you're also blond, it will be interesting to see what happens when you're in Prague this summer. Maybe you should start practicing "dobrý deň"! ;-)

      Delete

Post a Comment