Day 17 of Advent: Foretelling the Future

If someone told you that there is a famous poem about Christmas Eve you’d probably think that it must be some warm story about a beautiful snowy Christmas. If that’s the case then I have to disappoint you. The poem “Christmas Eve” (“Štědrý den” in Czech) was written by K. J. Erben, and it’s a dark tale about foretelling the future on Christmas eve. But don’t worry, the actual tradition is much less gloomy.

Day 14 of Advent: Good King Wenceslas

As some of you surely know, “Good King Wenceslas” is a popular British Victorian carol. Whether you have already known this fact or just now learnt about it, you are probably wondering what it has to do with Czech Christmas. Truth be told, this carol is not sung in the Czech Republic, yet there is a significant connection to the country’s history.

Day 12 of Advent: Narodil se Kristus Pán

There are many beautiful Czech carols but only very few of them have such an interesting story behind them as the carol Narodil se Kristus Pán. To be honest, it is usually because most of them are folk carols which means that their (hi)story is difficult to trace. Narodil se Kristus Pán is, however, an exception to this rule. There are actually some facts about this particular song that even Czechs are often completely unaware of. 

Day 8 of Advent: Vanilla Crescents Recipe

There are many popular Christmas pastries, desserts, and sweets to chose from when celebrating Christmas in the Czech Republic. One of them is Vanilla Crescents, vanilkové rohlíčky in Czech. When baked well, they basically melt in your mouth – almost like a piece of cloud. But to bake them to be this perfect is quite tricky. So what does one have to do to achieve that level of perfection?

Day 6 of Advent: Chtíc, aby spal

Carols are an essential part of Christmas and there are some which are popular in every country where Christmas is celebrated. Everyone knows, for example, Silent Night or Jingle Bells. However, different countries also have their own popular carols that are sung along with these two and the Czech Republic is no exception. One of the most popular ones is Chtíc, aby spal – a baroque carol composed by Adam Václav Michna z Otradovic and this year you can sing it with us!

Day 4 of Advent: St. Barbara’s Day

Christmas is supposed to be the part of the year when people spend time with their families and loved ones. But what about those people who are alone? What are they supposed to do? Lie in bed wearing festive pajamas the whole day and munch on some sweets and junk food while watching Netflix; basically giving up on their life? Well, it’s a solution too, however, there is something else they can do. It won’t change the person’s dire situation but it will at least help them find out if the next year will be better. And for some of us, that’s definitely something! But what does it have to do with st. Barbara’s day?

Project Kamenná: Brand New and Irresistible Apartments for Sale in Brno

Living in the center but at the same time having nature at your fingertips is a dream of most of us, especially of people in big cities. And now, this dream is coming true. Luxury, quality and timeless building materials – that’s the Kamenná project. The untraditional complex of apartments for sale in Brno are perfect both for staying and as investment housing mainly for its location just a stone throw away from the city center.

Women’s Voices in Rowing – Newly Published Book of Inspirational Interviews

Are you a passionate reader? We have a tip for a newly launched book Women’s Voices in Rowing written by a former Czech athlete! In this book, voices of world-renowned female rowers emerge to fight for diversity and sportsmanship. The book responds to the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 that will be the most gender-balanced Olympic Games in history – with an expected 48.8 percent of women’s participation in all sports.

Day 1 of Advent: The Calendar

The most wonderful time of the year? Yes, Christmas is here! The magical moments, festive mood and a lot of twinkling lights are back! It’s December 1 and we can finally count days till Christmas Day! We know that you – our lovely expats – come from many different countries around the world and that you may be celebrating Christmas differently. Anyway, now you are in the Czech Republic and we are so happy to have you here! So we would like to show you how we – Czech people celebrate this festive holiday and you can learn more about Czech Christmas!