Christmas is well and truly upon us, so we are here to spread some Holiday cheer. We have put together our tips for things to do and see, buy, eat and drink to celebrate the Christmas season in Prague. Today, we will focus on Christmas gifts.
The gift-giving part has always been one of our favorite things. Making other people happy puts an even bigger smile on our faces than a bowl of hot soup on a freezing day. The gift-receiving part isn’t bad, either, though.
If you’re like us, we have some suggestions for cool gifts that can be bought here in Prague… and they don’t have to cost a fortune, either.
Let’s start with edible or potable, but always delicious, presents. The first thing that comes to our mind is a jar of well-seasoned, delicious pickles. Yes, the Znojmo area in the South of Moravia is a pickle superpower, and we think the best pickles in a lovely jar can be bought at the Red Pif winery. Is your loved one a devoted carnivore? Then look no further than the Real Meat Society in the vicinity of the Dancing Building. Founded by Paul Day, the chef at Sansho, TRMS takes the best meat from well-treated Czech animals (“happy animals”) and creates beautiful things out of it. We think a pair of delicious sausages from TRMS will bring tears of joy to your meat-loving significant other. For coffee lovers, we recommend Doubleshot coffee and tools for coffee-brewing which you can buy at Muj salek kavy. If you like creating more than eating, get the “Sweet Sixteen” bundt cake form. You can get it at the Osteria ai Galli restaurant.
Do you have a spirits aficionado in your family or amongst your friends? A bottle of Moravian slivovitz, absinthe or other spirit from the Žufánek distillery will definitely make a great gift. A family-owned business from Moravia, Žufánek is unanimously declared the best distillery on sale in the Czech Republic today. Their slivovitz tastes just like the homemade stuff and can be bought in Prague.
In search of a gift for a student or a stationery fan? We have that, too. For truly cool, modern stationery designs, head over to Papelote and Paragraph. The former has been on the market for a longer time and makes really lovely diaries, stationery and felt-based covers for your iDevices. Paragraph is a newer brand (founded in early 2012). Both brands offer eco-friendly or recycled designs. Well, you have paper, but what about pens or pencils? If you want to go local, buy a pencil, pen or other artistic supplies from Koh-i-Noor, a traditional Czech brand, in their cool concept store.
Traditionally, “soft gifts” have a bad reputation here in the Czech Republic, but you don’t have to buy socks and cheesy sweaters, do you? Instead, you can opt for some really cool Czech fashion made proudly here in small series. Our favorite shops include Novesta, Timoure et Groupe, Boheme, and Leeda for women, and Jozef Sloboda for men. For a unisex gift, visit the Botas 66 concept store and get some original Czech sneakers.
We also have great jewelry (and no, we don’t mean the fake garnets on Karlova street). We like Antiperle, Belda Factory, and Věra Nováková. You can find their creations at Kubista, Futurista and Modernista stores.
Many of our guests usually ask us about crystal and porcelain. Yep, the Czech Republic is famous for that, too. When we ask about any of these things, we always recommend the Modernista and Futurista shops for that. If money’s no issue, pay a visit to an Artel store. If this is your thing, look for Rony Plesl, Blackbox, Olgoj Chorchoj, and Jiri Pelcl (we have his Bohemia white tableware set at home – you can also get it in a decent blue onion design for that special Czech feeling).
Finally, we have some tips for those hunting for home accessories. The perfect gift for those who can’t bear cold? Home-made wool blankets, of course! At home, we have one made by Katerina Soukupova. They come with handy textile bags. Those long winter nights will be more bearable when you light up Meadows, original Czech scented candles sold in hand-blown glasses. We are huge fans of cool posters, too. We really like Myokard, vintage posters by Jan Skácelík (Design Attractor), and Terry’s Posters, which sell old Communist-era movie posters.
Happy shopping to you all!!!
PS: The picture was found on Pinterest. Show Christmas presents on a larger map