This year, with work demands being what they are, I was unable to travel back to my home town in the UK and spent the Christmas period in Prague. Luckily I was able to find a room in my usual place at Hostel Downtown. I thought you might be keen to learn of my experiences, and besides, I wish to extend a great big hug of thanks to all the staff at Downtown for making such a huge effort to make everyone feel welcome and being able to share the festivities.
.JPG)
The Czechs have their Christmas Day on the 24th, which is a new experience for me. With this in mind the hostel had prepared a Czech Christmas Dinner with lots of carp, schnitzel, potato salad, hot wine, christmas cookies and sweets and a range of canapes and Christmas nibbles. With Prague recently being declared the top winter city destination by CNN it was perhaps unsurprising that I got to share my table with not only Czechs, but also Russians, Americans, Australians, Chinese, some Brits, French and Ukrainians, and a few others from where I didn't get to find out about. A truly international Christmas gathering.
.JPG)
Of course the
Hostel was not content to simply provide dinner, but laid on some traditional customs and activities all delightfully guided by Petra. So for those of you who may not have heard of slipper throwing, floating your boat and apple prophecies there is always some mistletoe to kiss under! All in all everyone had a great time, and my big thanks to the hostel for providing a very memorable Christmas welcome and hospitality for those of us away from home, family and friends, along with the opportunity to make new ones!
By the way, the Hostel fills up quickly so I advise people to book in advance for the best prices.
Neil Andrew Taylor
Narodni 19, Prague
Czech Republic
