The 'People's President' Vaclav Havel passed away a few days ago and the country is in mourning. It seems he touched the lives of many people, who saw him not only as their political leader that transitioned the country from communism to democracy, but as a fellow friend, someone who was looking out for them. He was a person who lived by his simple motto, 'Truth and love must prevail over lies and hate'.
His death I suppose is in some way the end of an era, but in other ways it reminds the Czechs that the struggles and hardships that its people and country suffered didn't happen that long ago. For anyone under 30 it's hard to imagine but there are still generations who still feel the after affects of communism. My husband's family are one such example - torn apart by family members running away and not being able to return for years.
Czechs celebrate on the 24th of December, and it's mainly centered around an evening meal. I suppose it's no surprise that a nation of meat-lovers has fish on this special day, but it's no ordinary fish....it's carp which has spent the year growing exponentially in ponds around the country. The fish get 'harvested' in November when the ponds are drained and the fish are moved temporarily to farms ready for the supermarkets and markets.
But naturally most people like to buy their carp fresh....but if you want it really fresh you'll buy it live from the many fish tanks around town, take it home and keep it in the bath tub for a few days.
Just make sure you've had a bath first.
...some carp lucky and get released back to ponds and rivers once the kids have made pets out of them, others are destined for the chop if you're not too squeamish
(I'm thinking we might just get a filet...).
Then it’s breaded and fried and served with a potato salad.
The Christmas tradition here is that Ježíšek, a sort of baby Jesus, brings presents under the tree and lights the sparklers on the tree at the same time after the meal is finished....it's always a bit of a struggle working that one out whilst sitting at the table, and not burning the house down.
Ježíšek is having a hard time in the Czech Republic at the moment - because the much more robust and commercial Santa Claus has muscled his way in on the scene and traditionalists are up in arms. The problem is Ježíšek / baby Jesus just doesn't have a great marketing image, he's not arriving on a great big sleigh with bells tinkling shouting 'ho ho ho', in fact most of the time he's not even depicted at all.
My kids are lucky. They get to celebrate twice as Ježíšek and Father Christmas have worked it out between themselves, they get a gift under the tree on the 24th, and a stocking on the 25th so let there be peace and harmony between all.
My family are due in the next few days, which we're very excited about - so before the christmas madness begins....
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