Christmas In Prague

Christmas is a big holiday in Prague. There are lots of people all over the city from Christmas through New Years. The City was as packed as it was at the height of the summer tourist season. For the Christmas Season they put up up the small shack-like kiosks in the central parts of the city. They sell various things from food and drinks to ornaments to clothing and beautiful rock lights...think of it like all the extra little carts that show up in the mall at Christmas time. These same booths are used for Easter time as well. There are also dozens of Christmas trees put up around the city - some fake, some real - all beautifully and very differently decorated. The largest of these was a real tree set up in Old Town Square. It was a very large tree but rather crooked and, while not perfectly shaped like the trees you expect at home, it had a very natural look. It was kind of scraggly, with lots of missing branches at the bottom...which they made up for by placing many smaller trees around the base for a fuller appearance.
We got our tree a few weeks before Christmas. Alex and I went out and found 'the one' 1 metro stop away right by the top of the exit. It was about 6 feet tall and cost about 25 dollars - a rather large savings from what we would have paid back in the States. They netted it up and then I put it on my shoulder and we brought it home on the metro. As our flat is on the 5th floor with no lift, I got quite the workout bringing it up. Alex and I then went out and got a stand and some lights at Tesco. When we got home we got the tree set up and had to explain why it needed some water before we did anything else. Over the next week, the tree was decorated with all the ornaments that Alex had made last year and topped with a nice sisal angel Pam and Alex got at one of the Christmas booths at a nearby tram stop.
A few days before Christmas we ventured down to Old Town in the evening to see the big tree and check out the booths they had down there. Apparently everyone in Europe had the same idea and it took us over an hour to walk the 1/4 mile from my office to Old town square usually a 5-7 minute walk. The streets were packed wall to wall with people and you could barely move. Once we reached the square it was not much better. Think Times Square on New Years at midnight... We met up with Kelly, Alain, Paige, and Colby and after a treat of warm, candied nuts (one of the delightful items available at the kiosks) we all headed out the nearest street to go to dinner far from the square where it was much less crowded.
Alex was very excited about Santa coming this year. She put out cookies and carrots for Santa and the reindeer and was very excited to see the empty plate the next morning. It appears that Santa thought Alex was a good girl and Logan a good boy in 2007 as there were many presents under the tree Christmas morning.
We both have to admit it was wonderful to have this Hodson Family Christmas for a change and do everything on our own schedule, without having to travel here, there, and everywhere for the holiday. Normally we never get to open our stockings or our gifts around our own tree until the day after Christmas so, while we did miss seeing our families, it was very nice to have this relaxed day and the kids really enjoyed being able to open everything and play right then and there!
We did pass on the major holiday tradition they have here...the Christmas Carp. All around the city, barrels and holding tanks sprung up on the street corners days before Christmas with live carp in them. Upon purchase you could choose to take the carp home alive where it would most likely live in your tub until meal time, or they would gladly beat it with a bat, gut, and clean it for you while you waited. This made for a somewhat gory street scene...one which Alex did not enjoy at all. It also made for an interesting time walking around since these fish were in barrels of water, which were filled via courtesy of the hydrants and thin hose lines that apparently had some unpatched holes, and the immediate area became mini ice rinks. The daytime was better since you could readily see the ice and steer clear of it, but at night it was a bit more of a challenge.
From the street it appeared that few people here have taken up the Christmas tree tradition. We had been told that trees and outward decorations had not been on display during the Communist Era here and it seems that it has been a very slow build up since that ended. Mostly Expats are the ones with big holiday displays so we probably stuck out so a sore thumb...our tree was pretty much the only one you could see in any of the neighboring buildings, although candle lights were a big thing. We were also the only ones who kept things lit up until the Epiphany. However the city put up a large tree with white lights and a star on top and decorated all the

surrounding live trees at the gate across from our building so there was a whole Winter Wonderland feel to the area and we all enjoyed the view.
What seemed to be the big thing was to buy the tree a few days before Christmas and leave it netted out on a balcony until Christmas Eve. Then a day or two after Christmas, it found its way back outside in a holding pattern until the trash men could pick them up. Pam had read on the Expats site that you could just leave it by the Recycling Dumpsters and they would pick it up when ready, but that the best
method was to simply wait until you saw a pile of trees somewhere and then add yours to it. Last weekend we noticed 3 or 4 trees had been placed by our local dumpsters so we immediately added ours to the pile and are now enjoying the process of daily vacuuming as pine needles spring up out of nowhere. A live tree is wonderful, however we all appear to share the same tree allergy so next year we will most likely join the Eco-Friendly community and purchase a tree we can enjoy for years to come!
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