Some shoes are made for walking...
Ahoj and welcome back to Radio Prague's program ABC of Czech. Over the last few weeks we have been talking about Czech shoes - ceske boty. Today is our last look at shoes. Hopefully by the end we will be able to say without any hesitation: znám to jako své boty - I know Czech shoes like that back of my hand or literally I know Czech shoes as my own.
Ahoj and welcome back to Radio Prague's program ABC of Czech. Over the last few weeks we have been talking about Czech shoes - èeské boty. Today is our last look at shoes. Hopefully by the end we will be able to say without any hesitation: znám to jako své boty - I know Czech shoes like that back of my hand or literally I know Czech shoes as my own.
Not long ago I wrote a Letter from Prague called 'Cobblestones are no place for high heels' because my feet hurt so much wearing dainty sandals - pantoflíèky. Pantoflíèky is a diminutive of a kind of Czech house shoes pantofle, which comes from the French "pantouffles." In case you do come to Prague, I do not recommend pantoflíèky! But lots of people, especially woman, as you may notice do not wear comfortable shoes...Knee-high boots, dressy or not, are called kozaèky, these boots are generally leather and take their name from a kind of high boots worn by the Cossacks. Women's dress shoes are called lodièky, which comes from the Czech or rather Slavic word for boat - lodì. Unfortunately however floating across cobblestones in Prague especially in dress shoes is not a smooth experience.
In the summer a lot of people both men and woman wear sandály - sandals, though men tend to wear their sandály with socks - pono¾ky. Kids usually wear sandálky - sandals. Flip-flops - vietnamky are quite popular - so-called because you can buy them cheap at stalls usually run by people from Vietnam.
They are also frequently kristusky - hippie style leather sandals, named after none other than Jesus Christ himself! Martensky or Dr. Martens tend to be popular with students. And depending on their profession or who they hand around with, you may see Czechs wearing army boots - called either kanady or baganèata, which are hobnail boots.
In case you are curious, I think all of these shoes sandály, vietnamky and kristusky are a safe bet for maximum comfort while walking on cobblestones in the summer. But for winter walking I would recommend martensky or kanady just to keep your toes warm!
I hope you've enjoyed today's lesson and will remember to choose your shoes wisely for walking on cobblestones. Until next time! Na shledanou!
See also Living Czech.
