Prague City Beat

As well as writing Grant’s Prague Bike Blog, American journalist Grant Podelco also has a more general weblog, dedicated to drink, food, travel, music, writing, photography, observations and “stuff that amuses [him].” (And me.)

I particularly like The Most Unwelcoming Grocery Store in Prague.

Link

Any immediate threat of a Prague public transport strike has been averted, according to Deník.cz, following talks between union leaders and city officials earlier today (Thursday).

After Wednesday’s talks ended in “fiasco”, the two sides returned to the negotiating table and seem to have made significant progress.

Leaving the talks, union leaders refused to discuss the date of a potential strike saying that negotiations were heading in the right direction.

Despite this, employees of Dopravní podnik hl. m. Prahy (DPP), Prague’s debt-ridden public transit company, remain on standby for industrial action that, potentially, could bring the city to a standstill.

Separately, alternative transportation is being organized in readiness for a strike.

ROPID, the organization responsible for coordinating Prague’s public transportation system with that of the surrounding Central Bohemian region, hopes to have extra trains and buses running into the city center in the event of a DPP strike.

Operators of riverboats on the Vltava have also offered their services to the authorities and the Prague 11 district would hire private buses to run its own alternative service.

Hopefully, though, it won’t come to that.

RELATED LINKS
Bezprostřední hrozba stávky MHD je odvrácena (Deník.cz)
Přípravy na stávku: parníky místo tramvají, autobusy pro jednu čtvrť (iDnes.cz)

Public transport workers in Prague won’t strike on Tuesday as originally feared, and have begun negotiating with city officials — but the threat of industrial action still remains.

Prague Mayor Pavel Bém set up a crisis team over the weekend and pledged to give Dopravní podnik hl. m. Prahy (DPP), the city’s debt-ridden public transportation company, an extra 900 million crowns.

Union leaders representing DPP employees had a “stormy” meeting with Bém’s crisis team today, making seven demands related to the running and financing of city transit.

If those demands aren’t met by Wednesday, union leaders say they will go ahead with the strike but would give 72 hours’ notice of any planned action.

DPP, which runs the city’s trams, buses and metro trains, is reportedly billions of crowns in debt and won’t be able to meet its December wage bill.

Union leaders blame the city of Prague for this situation, for failing to provide DPP with adequate funding and, by striking, hope to show how important public transportation is to the city.

To ease the current crisis, city officials had wanted DPP employees to accept pay cuts, which the unions refused, pointing out that most of their members already earn wages below the Prague average.

RELATED LINKS
Stávka MHD nebude dřív než ve čtvrtek (Deník.cz)
Lhal jste, vyčetli dopraváci Bémovi a požádali ho o dvě miliardy (iDnes.cz)

Today marks 20 years since the Berlin Wall unexpectedly fell. Check out some of these great links detailing that powerful time.

Listen to this great podcast from the BBC looking back at those events and where the region is now.

Chaos and contingency marked the fall of the Berlin Wall and its political aftermath. Bridget Kendall with leading former Czech dissident Jan Urban, political historian Mary Elise Sarotte and globalisation political economist Saskia Sassen.

Download BBC mp3

Watch this moving video about the opening at Berlin Bornholmer Strasse:

And check out the NYT’s interesting interactive gallery of readers’ photos and stories.

Public transport workers are set to strike in Prague, potentially bringing the city to a standstill.

Unofficial sources suggest industrial action affecting metros, trams and buses could take place next Tuesday (November 10) but, if it happens, it’s unclear how long it might last.

According to reports, Prague’s public transit company, Dopravní podnik hl. m. Prahy (DPP), has billions of crowns in debt and won’t be able to meet its December wage bill.

Union leaders blame the city of Prague for this situation, for failing to provide DPP with adequate funding and, by striking, hope to show how important public transportation is to the city.

To ease the current crisis, city officials want DPP employees to accept pay cuts, which the unions are refusing, pointing out that most of their members already earn wages below the Prague average.

RELATED LINKS
Prahu čeká totální kolaps dopravy. Zřejmě už v úterý (Lidovky.cz)
Prahu čeká dopravní kolaps. Stávka odborářů vypukne zřejmě v úterý (iDnes.cz)

(Via @pavelhelge)

President Václav Klaus signed the Lisbon Treaty earlier today (Tuesday) removing the last barrier to the treaty’s ratification by all 27 European Union members.

RELATED LINKS
Klaus Signs Lisbon Treaty (Prague Monitor)
Czech leader signs Lisbon Treaty (BBC News)
Czech President Václav Klaus signs the Lisbon Treaty (Aktuálně.cz)

Demand for apartments in Prague is on the rise again, according to a report on the ČTK news agency’s FinančníNoviny.cz website.

Developers Central Group, Ekospol and FINEP reportedly all plan to begin selling space in new developments in the coming months, following an upturn in sales of already-completed properties.

In the article, King Sturge consultant Ondřej Novotný takes a more cautious view, however, arguing that the only reliable indicator of increased demand for flats is a corresponding increase in the number of new mortgages taken out by buyers.

RELATED LINK
Poptávka po bytech prý oživuje, stavitelé prodávají nové projekty (FinančníNoviny.cz)

Ice hockey team HC Sparta Praha has dismissed coaches Pavel Hynek and František Výborný following a poor start to the season.

Currently ninth in the O2 Extraliga standings, Sparta will now be coached by David Volek and Miloš Holaň.

“It was a difficult decision for us,” club president Viliam Sivek told the HC Sparta website. “On behalf of the whole club, I want to praise František Výborný, the most successful coach in Sparta history, who led us to three championship titles.”

Having served as Sparta’s head coach last season, Výborný was replaced by Hynek over the summer, only for Hynek to hire him as his assistant.

Within hours of being dismissed, Výborný was appointed head coach of Sparta’s Extraliga rivals HC Mountfield České Budějovice.

RELATED LINKS
David Volek a Miloš Holaň novými trenéry Sparty (HC Sparta Praha)
Hynek a Výborný ve Spartě končí, novými trenéry jsou Volek a Holaň (iDnes.cz)

Gentlemen, start your moustaches — Movember is almost upon us.

Starting on Sunday, this “month-long celebration of the moustache” aims to raise awareness of of prostate cancer, and money for its prevention and treatment.

Participants are encouraged to begin November clean-shaven then grow a “mo’” as the month progresses.

Originating in Adelaide, Australia in 1999, the Movember (”Moustache November”) phenomenon has now spread around the world, reaching the Czech Republic.

Movember in Prague culminates with a Stereo MC’s concert at SaSaZu on November 28 and will benefit the Nadační fond onkologie pro 21. století cancer charity.

See the links below for more information on Movember here and around the world.

RELATED LINKS
Movember Česká republika (in Czech)
Movember Worldwide (in English)

The City of Prague’s Opencard system has proven so unpopular with Praguers that “there is talk of stopping the project,” according to iDnes.cz.

Introduced last year, at a cost of around 800 million crowns, the smartcard was intended to replace public transport tickets and can also be used as a library card, a way of paying parking fines and as an access key to the City of Prague website.

But after attracting 300,000 users within a few months of launching, the Opencard has failed to catch on and currently has only around 360,000 users.

Counters that issued Opencards are now unstaffed, iDnes.cz reports, while some of the card-readers installed in metro stations are broken and haven’t been replaced.

City officials are reportedly looking at new ways to make the Opencard more appealing, including extending it to the national rail network and using it as a micropayments system, but might also scrap the project.

RELATED ARTICLE
Pražská tramvajenka Opencard ztrácí dech. Nikdo neví, co s ní dál (iDnes.cz)

The Transitions Online (TOL) website recently launched a special section marking the 20th anniversary of the revolutions that swept through Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania in 1989.

Featuring everything from profiles of the era’s political leaders to a look at Communist-era shop displays, it’s a timely reminder of how much things have changed.

Link

I just saw the coolest thing on my way to work this morning. I am not sure if you are all aware of this, but the city released these small hawks a few years ago into the city to help control the growing pigeon problem. The hawks are smaller, rusty speckled birds which typically patrol the rooftops seeking unsuspecting pigeons who they then kill and eat.

I often sit on my balcony and watch how they swoop in on groups of pigeons who then immediately take flight in unison and then perform quite complicated maneuvers to avoid the oncoming onslaught. Never have I seen victory for the predators — in fact, never have I even seen them come close, until today.

I was walking my usual route to work this morning around 8am. There was a light mist and the small park was full of old ladies, small dogs and of course groups of pigeons dining on small shards of discarded rohliky. As I came to the end of the park there was a group of pigeons about 10 meters in front of me. As I was walking towards them I kicked a small piece of bread in their direction.

All of a sudden all hell broke loose, the pigeons immediately started to take flight, but not in the normal way when they are startled by a human (typically they flutter and land another few feet away). They flew up and kind of upside down and around, then something brushed my leg. It was one of these hawks. He chased through the kit of pigeons like a lioness after a herd of wilderbeest, he targeted one and they broke off from the main group and descended into the bushes several meters away. I heard some high pitch screeching I can only assume was the cry of the predator’s victory. It was over in a flash.

I have to say it was an amazing thing to witness in the heart of the city. I had recently gone to a predatory bird demonstration out at a local castle and had witnessed how these birds hunt, each bird differently, with their own style and technique. These birds fly low along the ground to surprise their prey in the wild. I had no idea this happens in the city as well. I guess you learn something new every day.

Politicians and officials beware: mySociety is setting its sights on the Czech Republic.

The British nonprofit responsible for websites such as TheyWorkForYou, which monitors the activities of elected officials, and WhatDoTheyKnow, a site that simplifies freedom-of-information requests, is now accepting proposals for similar “transparency and democracy” projects in Central and Eastern Europe.

With the backing of George Soros’s Open Society Institute, mySociety is offering funding for projects in the region that meet two criteria:

1. The projects have to generate some kind of meaningful transparency, accountability, or democratic empowerment of another kind.
2. The projects must seize the unique benefits that the Internet brings with it, such as scalability, two way communication, easy data analysis and so on.

RELATED LINK
Call for Proposals launched (mySociety in Central and Eastern Europe)

(Via @robsog)

From Thursday, October 22 through Wednesday, October 28, Village Cinemas Anděl is showing an English-subtitled version of the wine-themed comedy sequel 2Bobule in its Gold Class Cinema:

Village Cinemas Anděl
Radlická 3179/1E, Prague 5
16:30 — Saturday and Sunday Only
19:00
21:30

Tickets cost 319 CZK at the box office or 299 CZK if you reserve them via the Village Cinemas website.

Prague TV Cinema Listings

He’ll only be here for one night but US Vice President Joe Biden’s Prague visit will still cause disruption to the city’s transport.

Biden arrives in Prague on Thursday but the main impact of his visit will be felt on Friday.

Most notably, Nábřeží Edvarda Beneše, the road running along the Vltava’s western bank, will be closed between Klárov street in Malá Strana and the Čechův most‎ bridge from 9am until 1pm.

Also, delays are possible as Biden’s motorcade moves around the city.

The US vice president is coming to Prague to hold talks with Prime Minister Jan Fischer and President Václav Klaus following President Obama’s decision to scrap planned missile-defense bases here and in Poland.

RELATED STORIES
Návštěva viceprezidenta USA omezí dopravu v Praze (Pražský deník)
Biden to meet Fischer, Klaus in Prague – Czech govt spokesman (ČeskéNoviny.cz)

Prague is set to host a major celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution on Tuesday, November 17.

Entitled 20 let bez opony (”20 Years Without the Curtain”), the event will begin with speeches from former student leaders on Albertov street then retrace the route of the original 1989 march to the point on Národní avenue where it was violently halted by riot police.

Here, there’ll be live music from Czech acts representing the pre- and post-1989 generations.

According to the 20 let bez opony website, the pre-’89 generation will be represented by Vladimír Mišík, Vlasta Třešňák, Vladimír Merta, Jaroslav Hutka and Michal Ambrož; the younger generation will be represented by singer Dan Bárta and rappers PSH and James Cole (real name Daniel Ďurech), all backed by funk band Monkey Business.

The event was announced last week by concert promoter David Gaydečka, a member of the Opona (”Curtain”) nonprofit group.

Gaydečka also owns the Joe’s Garage agency, works for the Liver Music agency and helps organize the United Islands of Prague festival.

RELATED LINKS
Prague to see Velvet Revolution jubilee celebrations on Nov 17 (ČeskéNoviny.cz)
Velvet Revolution Walking Tour (Prague TV)

A technical proofreader by trade, Sherry “Sher” Vacik blogs about life in Prague as an American expat and the tourist sites she visits, and also helps organize World Blog Surf Day (October 31).

(We also hear she makes a mean garlic soup…)

Czech Off the Beaten Path

Check out the trailer for the upcoming production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead:

The show plays at Alfred ve Dvore on the 4th, 5th, and 6th of November.

The Czech Republic joined the European Union over five years ago but some companies still don’t seem to have got used to the idea that we’re part of the single market here.

Here’s an example from Liberec-based Christophor Rick, posting on his Gamers Daily News (GDN) weblog on Saturday:

I’m a Czech gamer. Well OK, I’m a gamer and I live in the Czech Republic. So when something comes up that royally screws gamers here, I have to write about it. Well, I have to write about it no matter where it happens actually.

Today Microsoft announced several new titles being added to the Xbox 360 Classics roster – GTA IV [pictured], Midnight Club: LA – Complete Edition and Bioshock.

They also announced new prices here in the country for older titles starting at 799Kc, roughly $45 or 30,90 Euro

Meanwhile, they announced the same titles for the UK with a price of about 15 Pounds.

Let’s do some math with today’s exchange rate

799Kc = $45 = 30,90 Euro

15 Brit Pounds = 420Kc = $24 = 16,25 Euro

Therefore – An old Xbox 360 classic title here is about TWICE THE COST of most other countries. Wow, way to screw over a country that has a lower cost of living than most others around it including the UK. Who made these prices and in what universe is this proper pricing?

It’s a very good question.

RELATED ARTICLE
Czech Gamers = Screwed! (GDN)

Meteorologists are forecasting strong winds across the whole of the Czech Republic plus snow in many areas — but not Prague — over the next few days.

The strong wind warning came into effect at 10am today (Monday, October 12) and remains valid until 3pm on Thursday, October 15.

The same warning applies to the Central Bohemian Region (Středočeský kraj) surrounding Prague, along with a snow warning lasting from 11pm tonight (Monday) until 8pm on Friday, October 16.

As you’d expect, temperatures in Prague will be considerably lower than they were last week, dropping towards freezing point during the night.

Time to get that winter coat out of storage, perhaps…

RELATED LINKS
Meteoalarm
Český hydrometeorologický ústav (Czech Hydrometeorological Institute)