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I've been to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. I LOVED it! Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, and the little towns between Prague and Bratislava are like hidden jewels. I really like Brno as well.
The people are very, very friendly and polite - just the right mixture of pleasant and reserved. Very dignified in general. My dad thinks that Czech women are some of the most beautiful women in the world.
I also liked the food. The Cyrillic language however is pretty difficult, but in spite of that, we were able to get around easily enough. No one spoke English (this was twenty years ago, right after the fall of the Berlin Wall) but between our butchered German and their butchered German we managed somehow to communicate! It was all done in good humor by both parties and the exchanges were inevitably full of laughter!
It was a very pleasant trip and I'd love to repeat it.
I learned an interesting thing when I was in Prague on vacation several years ago: the beautiful hand-cut crystal is made there and not in Ireland (and my crystal stemware, decanters, vases are all Waterford or Galway or Cavan Irish Crystal), or Poland or anywhere else. One Czech crystal company, called Moser, makes stemware so magnificent it is the one owned by Queen Elizabeth II, and most other royalty and heads of state.
Oh, and isn't the famous Pilsner beer originally from there?
My favorite banjo was made in Prague. (the Czechs are the best craftsmen in Europe, and oddly, are big bluegrass fans)
I know the guy who made it personally, and he's never once mentioned Bohemia to me. He always refers to his home as the Czech Republic. The 'the' is optional- when asked where he lives, he always says "Prague, Czech Republic".
It's natural enough for old folks who immigrated here when the nation was still called Czechoslovakia to use the old name. Things change back home, but in their minds, it always remains as it was when they left forever.
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