PRAGUE CHRISTMAS MARKET - Prague’s Christmas Market at the Old Town Square has been named in the top 10 best Christmas Markets in the world. With the beautiful buildings surrounding the square on all sides, including two beautiful churches, it’s easy to see why.

My favourite part of the whole market - and it’s crowning glory - is the gigantic live Christmas tree in the centre of the square. Not only is it incredibly beautiful but it’s sourced in a very sustainable way. The company who is responsible for finding the perfect tree gives a monetary reward for tips on where to find it. They look for one that is already in danger of being cut down to minimize the environmental impact of cutting down such a large tree. After the market is over, and everyone has enjoyed its beauty, the tree completes its lifecycle by being turned into mulch.

The best view of the market, and the Christmas tree, is from the central viewing platform. If you’re lucky, you might catch the timed light show on the tree where the lights are coordinated with music.

We passed a Serbian booth selling bureks and I couldn’t help myself because I love bureks. Bureks are made by stretching dough over a long table and then adding different fillings. I got one with cheese and spinach and it was nice and flaky. To cap it all off, I tried some traditional Czech food of cabbage with ham and potato.

Something I noticed in the Czech Republic is that fortune-telling is very popular, especially around Christmastime. One of my favourite ways people forecast the future is on Christmas Eve after everyone has finished eating. Around the table, everyone must cut an apple in half and show both sides to everyone else. If the inside reveals a star, it forecasts good health and success for the next year and means there’s a good chance everyone at the table will gather again next year. If, however, you have a cross with four points it’s a bad omen that something bad will happen to someone sitting at the table in the next year. It forecasts sickness or even death and means that someone could be absent at next’s year’s gathering. Could definitely be a real downer after a lovely Christmas meal, don’t you think? Luckily it sounds like most apples have stars! Try it yourself, it you dare.

Another Czech tradition I discovered is specifically for unmarried women. The idea is that you stand with your back to a door and throw a shoe over your shoulder. If the shoe lands with the toe pointed at the door, you’ll get married in the next year. If the toe isn’t pointing towards the door, you’ll stay single the next year and have to wait until you can try throwing a shoe again next year.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of the Prague Christmas Market at the Old Town Square. It was my personal favourite in the city and my favourite Christmas tree we saw in Europe. What did you think of this market? Would you rank it in the top 10 in the world?

Subtitles available in English, Czech, and Spanish! Click the 'CC' button (bottom right).

MY VLOGMAS 2017 SERIES
This December I’m doing Vlogmas on my channel! Vlogmas is usually where you daily vlog each day of December leading up to Christmas. I’m doing my own version where I’ll upload new videos three times per week on my regular schedule (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) and each ‘episode’ will be Christmas themed from my travels in Europe! I’ll be exploring Christmas markets - and trying all the special foods - in 6 different countries and learning about unique and sometimes crazy-sounding Christmas traditions. I absolutely love this time of year. I’m looking forward to experiencing all the different ways people celebrate and sharing it with you.

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