Czechia Country Introduction and Recipes
May 19, 2018
Prague, Czech Republic
Yesterday, I woke up early and went for a 3 mile run before I met up with a (duh) free tour. I learned about the medieval history of Prague, the Hittites, and the 3 famous cases of defenestration. We also learned about the history of communism and how some college kids lit themselves on fire to protest it.
Then I went to the John Lennon wall to see the protest against communism. THEN I got a de-freaking-licious chimney cake with salted caramel and brownies!
The next day, we walked to the Prague castle and got the audio guide to take us on tours of the gardens, the cathedrals, & more.
My favorite part was the Golden Lane, which was an old street of Medieval houses within the palace walls. They were all decorated like the houses really would have been back then and were really fun to look at!
Prague was just so surreal. I felt like I was living in a Disney movie. Castles, pastel towers, and old-timey, medieval music made me feel like I had just stepped out of the movie Tangled. I am so glad that I chose to visit this place!
On the Menu
- Chlebíčky
- Bublanina (bubble cake)
Fun Facts about Czech Republic
- Parts of the Narnia movies were filmed in Czech Republic.
- The country has more castles than anywhere else in Europe at 2,000 castles!
- The country recently announced that a nickname for their English name will be “Czechia”.
- Czechia has the lowest unemployment rate of any country in the European Union.
Flag of Czech Republic
The flag of Czech Republic is the same as the former Czechoslovakian flag. It is made with two bands of identical width running horizontally across the flag, one red and one white. The stripes are intersected by a blue triangle that emerges from the left side of the flag.
The stripes don’t officially stand for anything but the typical understanding is that the white represents Bohemia (the Western part of the country), and the red symbolizes Moravia (the Central and Central Eastern part of the country).
The blue triangle represents Slovakia, though Slovakia isn’t part of the country.
Geography of Czechia
Czech Republic is located in Central Europe. It is a landlocked country that is bordered by Slovakia, Poland, Germany, and Austria.
The capital of the country is beautiful Prague, also known as the City of 100 Spires (it now has over 500).
The Western part of the Czech Republic is called Bohemia, but ONLY the Western section. The Central and Central Eastern section is called Moravia. The thin strip on the Eastern section of the country is Czech Silesia.
Czech Republic used to exist as part of the former Austro Hungarian Empire.
The People of Czech Republic
Czech Republic is home to more than 10.5 million people. Czech is the national language with most people in the country speaking it. This language is in the West Slavic language group, so it’s very similar to Polish or Russian.
Many Czechs work in car production, as the industry makes up 18% of all exports from the country.
Czechs LOVE their beer and consume more per capita than any country in the world. For fun, they like to go mushroom picking to pick edible, wild mushrooms!