I experienced my first Czech Christmas dinner way back in 1996. It proved one of the more shocking of culture shocks! In the UK I had grown accustomed to the belly busting tradition of a huge Christmas feast; Turkey, roast potatoes, sausages, bacon, brussel sprouts, parsnips, roasted chestnuts, bread sauce and gravy.
What I was served, all those years ago… was a fish.
For all their differences, Czechs and Brits seem to share one peculiar obsession. The weather. More specifically, talking about it…
When all else fails, mention last week’s freak temperatures or how rubbish the Summer turned out and you’re onto a winner conversation wise. It helps people connect, breaks down barriers, turns enemies into friends. At the end of the day it’s the same rain that falls on us all. They should broadcast more weather reports in Afghanistan, maybe it would sort out all that nonsense.
Last week I read an article which claimed back in 1999 Saddam Hussein had been plotting to blow up Radio Free Europe at the top of Wenceslas Square. Thankfully the nutter never managed to pull it off but I suspect this report had been rattling around my head when I saw…the BAG.