Easter Magazine
Welcome to Magazine and happy Easter. A few minutes later you can join me on a stroll through the Old Town Square which has become a mecca for tourists and children alike with over 100 Easter stalls and all-day performances.
But Easter is not just about fun and games -and spending money - so let's first talk about things spiritual. I asked Daniel Herman, priest and spokesman for the Czech Bishops Conference whether he thought that the growing money cult had erased some important values from the minds of the Czech people. Now as I promised earlier, lets take a look at what's happening on Old Town Square at this time of the year. The thing to do is arrive in style -by horse-drawn carriage- just in time to see the majorettes' parade. As I said earlier, there are over 100 Easter stalls, selling hand-painted Easter eggs - which old grandmas dressed in regional costume will personalize with the requested name or message right there on the spot, wood carved toys, crystal glass, intricate pieces of embroidery, dolls in costume dresses, and hot Karlovy Vary wafers, to name just a few things. Of course there's plenty of good Pilsner beer and the appetizing smell of some terribly unhealthy but delicious smelling barbecued sausages... So let's take a look at what people are actually buying... Anyone who has been here knows that the Old Town Square is a gem of historic architecture and nothing suits it more than period dances in historic costumes... Go to any outdoor event of this kind and you won't fail to find competitions. Usually these are beer drinking, dumpling-eating or strong-man contests - but Easter is different and what more appropriate that an egg eating contest. I don't know how many hard boiled eggs you manage to consume at breakfast time but the Czech record is 13 eggs in three minutes. I'd never want to see an egg again in my life. But having consumed them - maybe a good stomping competition helps to get them down... Well if you're in town make sure to pay this place a visit - as for me I must move on because it's time to pamper your mind with some poetry. Two poems in fact, by a man probably better known in the West for his prose Jachym Topol. They are read of course by Bill Bathurst. Have a very happy Easter holiday and join us again some time soon.
