If you’ve been dreaming of spending the holidays somewhere less commercial than the United States, but more traditional than a tropical enclave, plan a journey to the Czech Republic’s notoriously beautiful capital of Prague.
From the start of the Advent season through New Year’s Day, the seasonal spirit soars past the city’s famous rooftop spires. A Prague holiday promises soon-to-be cherished memories of
festively decorated castles and chateaus, candles ablaze atop the Jewish quarter’s giant menorah, folk traditions on display at the Prague Christmas markets, or fireworks lighting up the chilly night air against the Charles Bridge. Now a popular Christmastime destination, the Golden City delivers a holiday gift to the senses with its decked-out cobblestone squares, a citywide New Year’s bash rivaling Times Square and, of course, the enticing aroma of soup simmering and sweets baking. Consider spending an old-world holiday in an area of Central Europe still relatively new to Westerners. After all, how could one go wrong celebrating the season in a country that has Good King Wenceslas, long-immortalized in his namesake carol, as a patron saint?
Prague officially unwraps the holiday season on the first day of the Advent season, the fourth Sunday before Christmas. Concert venues and churches commonly hold classical, choir or folk music concerts to mark the day; ask a guide or hotel concierge for recommendations. The music hails the holiday season and many performances support charitable causes. Since anticipating Christmas can trigger a bit of “acting out” in even the best-behaved young ones, the next day packages offer some seasonal discipline with the traditional children’s festivity, Saint Nicholas’ Day. Called “Mikulas” in Czech, this Dec. 5 holiday is the Santa Claus-like saint’s busiest day of the year. Perhaps because the Czech
Republic is smaller geographically, Saint Nick forgoes the sleigh and travels to children’s houses on foot to hand out small gifts. Sporting a full white beard and a long robe, the saint obviously influenced Santa’s style. In a Czech home, children also get a Saint Nicholas gift from family members. The day reminds both children and adults that Christmas is close at hand.
If you are in Prague on Saint Nicholas’ Day, make sure you are in the Old Town District’s main square, where Saint Nick makes his highest-profile stop in the late afternoon.
With an angel and chain-rattling devil as escorts, Nicholas talks to young children in the crowd to ask if they have been good during the past year. Those who answer
in the affirmative receive sweets and other small gifts from the saint. According to legend, any child who admits to bad behavior not only receives coal; the boy or girl risks a free trip “below” via the devil’s sack. Understandably, small children may be frightened by this part of the tradition and need some assurance from parents. Anyone making a list and “Czech-ing” it twice will surely cross off most of his or her gift list at one of Prague’s renowned Christmas markets. The Christmas markets (“Vanocni trh” in Czech) draw locals and tourists from the beginning of Advent through New Year’s Day. The city’s two biggest bazaars can be found in the New Town District’s Wenceslas Square and in Old Town Square. Picture rows of decorated wooden huts, from which merchants sell one-of-a-kind handicrafts, hot food and warm drinks. Those accustomed to U.S. retailers may discover Christmas shopping is much easier with a cup of hot spiced wine in one hand and a roasted sausage to nibble on in the other,
although full hands do make it more challenging to carry finds like Czech glass, hand-carved wooden toys, traditional Christmas tree ornaments, handmade jewelry and wooden puppets.
In Prague, Christmas shopping is an event in itself. If your credit card needs a temporary break, the Old Town Christmas market also boasts a mini petting zoo, a live nativity scene in an actual stable and a towering Christmas tree draped in glittering lights set against the gothic skyline. For background music, choirs and ensembles perform from a nearby stage. School-age children from around the Republic wriggle into traditional Czech costumes to give song and dance performances. Indoors, the spot to shop is a department store like Kotva, Bila Labut and Maj. Alas, American travelers will find the all-too-familiar pre-Christmas shopping madness extends into the former Eastern bloc nation. One caution: the people who love the madness of Christmas shopping the most are pickpockets, who count on the carelessness of seasonal shoppers. No one wants the season of “giving” to include purse-snatchers, so keep your billfold stored inside your clothing and hold on tight to those shopping bags. Czechs wish one another a heart-felt “Veselé Vánoce” (“Merry Christmas”) on Dec. 24, the most festive and important day for Christians in Prague. Inside a typical Prague home, people spend the afternoon decorating the Christmas tree in preparation for the night’s activities. The evening incorporates customs said
to foretell
the coming year’s destiny. It is a tradition to do a modified fast until the evening meal, consuming only lentil or sauerkraut soup. This primes the appetite for the traditional Christmas dinner: carp cutlets, fish soup, homemade bread and special potato salad. During the feast, adults use creative ways to distract the children so one parent can sneak away to stash gifts from Jezisek (the baby Jesus) under the tree, which are opened after the meal.
If you aren’t staying with friends or relatives, you won’t go hungry or be left out of celebrations. Because Prague has become a popular Christmas destination, many of the city’s restaurants and inns serve lavish holiday meals. Christmas market activities are open at the large markets. For a sense of a Czech home, turn on your hotel’s television, which airs holiday fairy-tale programs and films throughout the day. Churches light candles and open their doors on the night of Dec. 24, as Prague’s Christians celebrate midnight services. The predominantly Catholic city showcases its stunning cathedrals and parishes for Christmas, and Old Town Square becomes a citizens’ sanctuary with an outdoor mass at 10 p.m. on Dec. 24. It’s a magnificent sight, but don’t depend on body heat for warmth if you go. Average low temperatures can sink to just above zero degrees F in December, so pile on those layers.
What is known as Christmas Day in the United States is recognized as Saint Stephen’s Day in the Czech Republic. As in the United States, on Dec. 25, people in Prague gather with friends and family, feast, watch television, bundle up and go for walks or just get some rest
after all the Christmas preparations. For a select troupe, Dec. 25 and 26 are workdays: the State Opera closes the Christmas holiday with two concerts.
As Christmas winds down for the year on Dec. 25, Jews will bring flames to the first of eight wicks that will glow during Hanukkah. A relatively minor holiday in the Jewish calendar, Hanukkah originally gained cultural prominence so Jewish children wouldn’t feel left out of the Christmas season’s gift exchanges. With 11 centuries of Jewish settlement, Prague is the perfect place to spin a dreidel or simply learn more about Judaism. You’ll find most Hanukkah festivities in Josefov, the Jewish Quarter near Prague Castle. This was once Europe’s largest Jewish community. Because the city was spared the worst demolition of World War II, Prague sustained the largest number of preserved original Jewish monuments in Europe. Many are part of the Jewish Museum, a collection of buildings, sites, relics and the Old Jewish Cemetery, where residents of the former ghetto buried their departed 12 deep to conserve space. If you are looking for Hanukkah festivities, head to Male Square to gaze at the huge menorah. The city has a collection of distinct and preserved synagogues with holiday services, including the Old New Synagogue dating to the 1200s.
New Year’s is Prague’s grand finale holiday, drawing more visitors than any other night of the year. Planning ahead of time is required for the best experience, since all hotels and vacation rentals fill far in advance. A little forethought, however, will put a visitor in the middle of one of Europe’s wildest parties. Revelers spill from the busy pubs into the city’s squares for midnight fireworks eruptions. The most over-the-top displays are held at the landmark Charles Bridge and in Old Town Square, where brilliant but nearly deafening rockets whizz directly into the crowd.
If you’d rather not risk having to “stop, drop and roll” on New Year’s, the State Opera offers an elegant and less flammable alternative. Its annual New Year’s Eve gala includes fine dining and dancing in the perfectly preserved opera house. An operetta caps the evening; this year the company will perform Strauss’s “Die Fledermaus.” Wherever you may be when the clock strikes midnight—Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, on a dinner cruise, in a restaurant by the river or in a nightclub—Prague is an unforgettable spot for New Year’s Eve. Greeting a new year in this fine European city is sure to lead to good fortune during the next year or, at the very least, a January starting with happy spirits.
Bring home a Czech-inspired holiday
If you can’t make it to the Golden City this year, you can still “Czech the halls” with these Prague-inspired holiday traditions:
SOMETHING'S FISHY. The carp is one symbol of Christmas in the Czech Republic. Just before Christmas, carp farmers haul huge barrels of the ubiquitous fish from southern Bohemia into the city to sell on the street. According to custom, fish are kept alive in bathtubs, until household members decide to either cook their holiday guest for the traditional Christmas dinner or set it free in a lake.
SAVE A FEW JULY 4 SPARKLERS. Czech people set their skies ablaze at midnight on Jan. 1.
PEER INTO THE FUTURE. Czech lore specifies that an apple, walnuts, nutshells and lead can
all predict what the New Year will bring. First, cut clean through the core of an apple. If you see a star shape inside, the coming year will bring health, happiness and success. Cracking four walnuts to find healthy nuts inside signifies good health in the coming year (or maybe it’s the omega-3 content of those nuts). You can also have your future read according to the shapes molten lead makes when poured into water, although this may be one you don’t want to try at home.
THERE'S ALWAYS FOOD IF FISH OR FORTUNE-TELLING DON'T QUITE RING IN THE SPIRIT. Holiday favorites in the Czech Republic would have any sweet tooth singing: “All I want for Christmas
is my two front cavity-free teeth.” Savor traditional honey gingerbread, Linzer cookies, luscious vanilla hazelnut rolls or spiced Hoska bread—with a nice glass of hot mead, punch or mulled wine, of course.
Preview Prague To learn more about traveling to Prague for the holidays (and the rest of the year, for that matter), contact a travel professional or get a good preview at one of these Web sites:
