In Magazine: To shave or not to shave? Firefighters lobby against the no-beards rule. Wine-makers in Moravia celebrate the ancient tradition of young girls crushing grapes with their bare feet. Nationwide celebrations of Czech beer are in full swing and a veteran plane makes its last journey to the aviation museum –by road.
Photo: Kristýna Maková
Czech firefighters are embroiled in a heated dispute over a hot fashion issue. “To shave or not to shave” is the topic of the day and some firemen are lobbying hard to soften the safety rule that says firefighters aren't allowed to have any facial hair that interferes with their protective mask. This 11-year-old safety norm targets beards since the mask seals just underneath the chin and a beard could prevent the mask from making a complete air-tight seal, thus endangering the wearer. Moustaches are allowed but firemen have now started breaking the rule and growing a beard that is more than just a three-day stubble. Jakub, who sports a short beard, but refused to give Czech Radio his full name or say where he is serving, argues that present day masks are of a much higher quality and make the regulation pointless. He and others have launched a drive to get the norms changed and the national fire-fighters management has taken up the issue. Unable to decide, it has commissioned an expert safety assessment from the top authorities in the land – the State Institute for Nuclear and Chemical Safety and the National Institute for Work Safety. And hundreds of firemen around the country are waiting for the verdict that may completely change their image.
Illustrative photo: CTK
On a more serious note, 29 teams of firefighters, police officers and emergency workers took part in the Manhattan Memorial in Liberec on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary, an annual tribute to Manhattan’s life-savers. The memorial is a stamina contest in which teams of life-savers run up the 21 storeys of the tallest building in Liberec wearing masks and dressed in full gear weighing some 25 kilos. The winning duo this year covered the 860 steps in 3 minutes 46 seconds. The record set a few years ago – of just 2 minutes 56 seconds remains unchallenged.
Illustrative photo: CTK
Wine-makers in the town of Boršice, Moravia, are celebrating the ancient tradition of young girls crushing grapes with their bare feet. A harvest festival grape stomp will be the highlight of this’ years wine harvesting celebrations in the town, together with a prayer for a good harvest and plenty of food and drink. The wine harvesting street celebrations start at 2pm on Saturday October 1. Wine harvesting celebrations are also underway in Prague with events taking place on Grébovka Hill and on Náměstí míru on Saturday. There will be live music, a procession in period costume led by King Charles IV who established the city’s vineyards, a fencing tournament, dancing, good food and most importantly the sampling of young wine – the so called burčák – a beverage made from partially fermented white grapes. So if you are in Prague don’t miss out on it.
Photo: Eva Odstrčilová
And if you manage to recover quickly from the wine harvesting celebrations – join in a week of events celebrating Czech beer which take place from Sept 23rd until October 1, and will see 6,000 pubs and restaurants around the country bring out the best they have to offer –including a vast variety of flavoured craft beers made by the country’s 300 mini breweries. The week-long event is a celebration not only of Czech beer but of Czech pub culture and food. Breweries around the country -big and small- will open their doors to visitor on the occasion and offering night tours, lectures and workshops on the art of beer-brewing.
Illustrative photo: Kristýna Maková
The tropical heatwave in the first weeks of September had visitors throwing off their inhibitions and taking a dip in the city’s fountains. A woman strolling through the park on Prague’s Karlovo naměstí (Charles Square) took it all off to skinny dip in the park’s fountain to the amusement of passers-by. A police officer called to spot by an outraged parent persuaded her to come out and dress.
Tu-154, photo: CTK
In its hey-day it carried numerous VIP passengers – flying president Vaclav Havel to destinations the world over, later his successor Vaclav Klaus, ferrying Czech soldiers to foreign missions and in 1998 bringing home the gold-winning Czech hockey team from Nagano to a royal welcome in Prague. The Tu-154 is a veteran with a very special history and a group of enthusiasts raised the alarm when it was headed for the scrapyard. Thanks to crowdfunding, which raised 1.2 million crowns the plane, dubbed the Nagano Express, will get a new lease on life, albeit in the Kunovice aviation museum in Moravia. The plane will be transported there by road in one of the biggest ground operations involving aviation technology in the country’s history. It will be carried on a 50 metre long ramp leaving Kbely airport in Prague early on Friday morning and reaching its destination on Sunday.
