Tip for Velvet Revolution Day

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Just a short, no pictures entry. On wednesday there was a public holiday in the Czech Republic celebrating the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which overthrew the Czechoslovakian single-party communist state in 1989. On this day many small towns have markets popping up, as it serves as a great reason for people to start their christmas shopping.

Jessica, Jakub and I took a 2 hour trip to Havlíčkův Brod, a small historical town about halfway between Prague and Brno in the midst of the Vysočina region, where I had previously never been. The town square was thriving with interesting stalls, mostly of craftwork and local food (the speciality of this region is "zabijáčka", basically meat from a ritual pig slaughter). We also saw someone serving goulash from a cauldron, and a lot of honey-based snacks (including home-made medovina, a thick, sweet spirit made from honey). I did about half of my christmas shopping on this day and can already tell it's not going to be the same as every year this time around!

I definitely recommend visiting a smaller historical city on this bank holiday, for this reason. The atmosphere is great, and the markets in the centre of Prague are nothing special whatsoever, even on special occasions.

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