I'm going to Prague, where to bead/glass shop

[AnnDK]

Hi
I'm not sure this thread belongs here but I don't know where to put it.

I'm going to Prague from the 28th of June to the 3rd of July \\:D/
I would like to get some inspiration for where to go shopping for glass & beads while I'm there.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.

:smile: Ann

[Paul Ewing]

I was there for a month in April, and I have to say I was a bit disappointed in the beads I saw there. Most were the standard pressed glass stuff you would get from Fire Mountain.

The shops in Prague seemed to be mostly into larger blown pieces and crystal. There was also a lot of small soft glass figurines.

The prices in Prague seemed high to me, but there are some shopping areas that are to be avoided. The shops around the major tourist attractions like the Astronomical Clock and the old town square. Lesser town on the Castle side of the river seemed to have better prices. If you go there, it is best to take the metro and tram to just past the castle and then walk down the hill. You will notice that the gift shops seem to have been taken over by the Russians. There is a large percentage of cheap Russian and Chinese stuff in the gift shops.

I actually did most of my gift shopping in Karlstein. This is a common excursion from Prague because it is a fairly nice castle that is close. The big problem is that the castle is at the top of a hill, so you either have to walk up the main street about to it, or take a carriage. The street is lined with shops with everything from nice artwork to the ever present Russian/Chinese tourist garbage. There are some bargains to be found here, and I especially liked the shop at the top of the hill right before the final climb to the castle.

Getting to Karlstein is fairly easy. There are bus tours that include the castle tour and lunch for around 900-1000 kr ($45 to $50) for 4 hours. If you don't need the handholding, it is an easy 45 minute train trip through very nice countryside. The train cost only something like $2 or $3 I think. Did it both ways. The second time by train since I didn't have enough time to shop after the castle tour and lunch. There is only about 30 minutes to spare for the trip back to the bus as you walk down on the bus tour.

If you have any questions, let me know and I'll try to answer them or direct you to a good resource. One website that was very useful to me was http://www.livingprague.com which has some good info on reading menus and other tourist info. It is geared to British visitors (written by a Brit expat) and has a lot of useful pictures of things like the metro ticket machines that really help. Prague is actually fairly easy to travel in since it gets a lot of British tourists. Many of the younger people speak some English, and a lot of instructions and directions are available in English.

Also Hiedi has her work in two muesuems there. I forgot the names, and will try to look them up again.

Have a good trip, and safe journey.

Cheers,

[AnnDK]

Tanks a million, Paul.
I'm going with my in-laws, so a museum or 2 would be nice to have in mind (my in-laws are mostly to out-door things...... ;D).

[Blair]

Ooh! I have no idea of where you should go shop, but I LOVE Prague! I was only there for a day but it's still one of my favorite cities!

[Lisa]

Check the back issues of Bead & Button and/or Ornament - I remember there being an article about going to Prague, and how secretive they were about how they make their glass - they're very protective of their procedures/recipes.

Also, you may want to check with Cheryl at http://www.beadventure.info/ -- she's very knowledgeable.

I was there several years ago, and I remember at that time that the local artists displayed their work on the bridge, and around the square, and they had licenses, approved by the local government. I got some really nice small enamels.

I agree with Paul - the shops across the river down from the castle were a lot more interesting, but again, my trip was back in the late 90s.

Lisa