Getting your child into a good school is no mean feat – some parents are ready to queue all night for the privilege! Pregnant mums are now enjoying special concerts to “bond” with baby, and want to see a yellow submarine? Head for Brno! Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarová.
Photo: CTK
Getting one’s offspring into a really good elementary school is no mean feat. Around thirty Czech parents spent a frosty night out in the open last week queuing up outside a prestigious elementary school where English is taught from first grade. Kids from the neighbourhood are enrolled without a problem but parents from further afield have to get there first to fill the few vacancies left. Not even a night of queuing can guarantee success but parents are ready to take the chance – as one mum put it : one has to wait for the good things in life. Well, Czechs have had a lot of practice in that. A few decades ago they queued up for new cars, colour tv sets and holidays in the former Yugoslavia – now at least they are queuing up a better education for their kids.
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However a parent’s life is not always so rough – in fact pregnant mothers are currently enjoying a series of concerts intended to soothe the child in their womb and help its development. The music –performed by a harpist and mezzo-soprano is carefully selected to help expectant mothers to relax and “communicate” with their babies. The concerts are scheduled at regular intervals between October of last year and June 2011 and the interest is overwhelming.
Photo: CTK
Who wouldn’t want to see a yellow submarine with their own eyes? Soon a visit to Brno will do the trick. A bright-yellow reconnaissance mini-submarine designed by Czech experts in Switzerland will soon be on show at the Technical Museum in Brno. It was donated to the museum by its designers Pavel Gross and Jaroslav Kohout and will have pride of place in a showcase of Czech designer successes. E2 –as the submarine is named –was developed by the Swiss company Underwater systems for which the two Czech designers worked as immigrants in the 1960s. The reconnaissance mini-submarine is extremely mobile, weighs only 630 kilo and is 1.4 meters high and just under two meters long.
The inhabitants of Prague may be urban lovers but they are not against a bit of country life where their taste buds are concerned. Farmers markets are immensely popular as are fresh milk vending machines. So much so that one farm has even started a home delivery service – bringing fresh milk, cheese and yogurt to people’s doorsteps. The farm makes a bigger profit and its customers are happy. The project was launched with very little publicity – and thanks to publicity by word of mouth it needs very little. The white vans bringing fresh produce are on the road daily and still unable to meet demand. It’s hard to miss them – when they arrive at their destination they make their arrival known by the typical jangling sound of cow’s bells and a loud moo from a megaphone.
Pig slaughtering feasts are a regular part of country life –but Prague 2 city hall has decided to give the city’s inhabitants a treat – they can attend a typical pig slaughtering feast on Námestí Míru square, watching the butcher go about his work and cooks making the traditional meat specialties which will be sold on the spot. The event is not for the faint-hearted and takes place on Saturday, January 22nd.
