In Magazine: what do Czech men and women expect on a first date? One Prague hotel now offers the services of a resident butler and the fashion of pop-up restaurants in private homes has arrived in the Czech Republic.
Photo: CzechTourism
What do Czech men and women expect on a first date? An opinion survey conducted by Equa Bank has revealed some interesting facts. While 70 percent of Czech women think that the invitation to a first date should come from the man, 40 percent of men are happy to have the ladies take the initiative. As regards the ideal place for a first date 51 percent of men and women are happy to settle for a coffee-house or restaurant followed by a walk. The vast majority – 90 percent of women – expect to get flowers on a first date and 85 percent of men agree this is a must. It appears that women are more modest and men more generous when it comes to expenses. Women say they would be happy with a rose or posy costing around 100 crowns on a first date, while men expect to spend around 250 crowns on flowers. Women also have lower expectations as regards their first meal out – they expect the man to pick up the tab (up to 500 crowns) on a first date after which 50 percent of women are ready to go half-and half, while men are ready to pay up to a thousand crowns on a first date and only 25 percent of them are ready to let the woman they are taking out pay her share of the bill on a second date. A possible area of friction is being late. Women say they would not wait longer than 10 minutes for their date, but men are willing to wait for 15 and some even up to half an hour, knowing that women take a longer time getting ready. 90 percent of women expect to be accompanied home after a first date, 25 percent of men would rather put them in a taxi and pay the bill. The question of sex on a fist date was not for some reason broached – so you would have to undertake your own research in this respect.
Illustrative photo: archive of Radio Prague
What’s the most you are willing to pay for a bottle of wine? Many Czechs say 200 crowns is the most they would fork out, connoisseurs of good wine are willing to pay a thousand, but some bottles are just way out of reach. The most expensive bottle of wine – a 12 litre bottle of Chateau Margaux – from 2009 is available at the luxury wine store Le Clos at Dubai Airport. A bottle costs 195 thousand dollars which is 3.6 million crowns. Given the average monthly salary in the Czech Republic most Czechs would have to put in 15 years of work to be able to afford that luxury.
The Augustine, photo: CzechTourism
The country’s five-star hotels are vying for visitors, offering breath-taking views of the Prague skyline, exquisite food and special services. The Augustine now hopes to get an edge over the competition by offering its guests the services of a resident butler. The English butler was trained at London’s Ritz hotel and his services are included in the price of the hotels four luxury suites. Other guests can avail themselves of his services for the additional price of 7,500 crowns. If the idea takes off, the hotel says it would engage another two butlers next year.
Illustrative photo: archive of Radio Prague
The fashion of pop-up restaurants in private homes has come to the Czech Republic. The pioneer in this fashion trend in the Czech Republic was Darina Křívanková from central Bohemia. She and her husband had just moved to new home, having renovated a vicarage which suddenly provided her with ample space to host parties and family gatherings. An acclaimed cook, she read about pop-up restaurants in private homes in London and decided to give it a try. The idea took off and today she cooks sumptuous meals for strangers in her own dining room, combining French, Italian, Thai and Scandinavian cuisine. In time she attracted more than enough regulars to open a restaurant but she says she is happy with the concept of pop-ups – she creates a menu and puts it on the web together with the price and the first guests to respond get to come to dinner. One of her diners was so impressed with the idea that she followed her host’s example and set up her own home restaurant in her home in Prague’s Nova Harfa district. She says she has added a house rule of her own to the business – guests who are not pleased with her cooking don’t pay. So far, it has never happened.
Photo: Marco Cecchini, stock.XCHNG
Sports clubs are ringing alarm bells over the fact that children and young people today do not engage in any sporting activities – with the exception of gym class at school. In a poll conducted among primary school children only 22 percent of them said they engaged in any kind of sporting activity during the summer holidays and only attended the one hour a week obligatory gym class at school. Jiří Kejval, the head of the Czech Olympics Committee said he was shocked by the result. The legendary Czech gymnast and Olympic winner Věra Čáslavská, who has spent years training young gymnasts, says she is saddened by the trend, noting that many kids today can’t even skip a rope. Among adults, the situation is not much better –according to the results of an EU study only 32 percent of Czechs exercise on a regular basis, compared to Germany where 74 percent of people do so.
The episode featured today was first broadcast on October 19, 2013.
