KAFKA, BOND & COMMUNISTS

Imagine this peculiar situation: you arrive in Prague; you are transferred to a hotel on the outskirts of the city. And … everything is somehow strange. The name of the hotel fits the hotel you booked but ... gloomy claustrophobic atmosphere, absent minded bell-boy, a cleaner, weird guests, dozy receptionist unable to do the booking… you are watching, yet not believing. „Is this really the hotel I booked? “ Welcome to Kafka's world, but here you have the possibility to escape it. A waiter with a moderator, snack and drink appears and shows you the hidden camera. After a while you will be transferred to a hotel you really booked.

You go through a path to the main hall. Everything is lined out with agents wearing special sunglasses, you enter the hall and:  Welcome to Casino Royale! Bond girls handing out special gaming dollars you can turn into real dollars in the casino. You hear James Bond movies music, you drink martini with vodka, shaken of course, not stirred. Themed decorations all around, espionage games, remote controlling of robots with cameras. You can even fire laser guns, deactivate bombs, or experience the lie detector test. Welcome to the world of James Bond!

Communist Era 1975, East German Trabant being a hit! Now you can experience the 1970s again! Guests are picked up at their hotel, they get changed into the clothes of 1975. Then riding in a Trabant car to the city centre, they are checked by communist police, then they are driven to concrete tower blocks and have lunch in a typical canteen of the time. Afterwards they can try to drive the famous car by themselves. They can try to cross the state border and experience rigorous and dramatic customs check. Afterwards they are driven through an unlit shaft in the transport wagons originally used by the miners to a mine, where they mine iron ore, make a fake bomb, and simulate a blast.

If you are a fan of Franz Kafka this incentive is the best choice for you! You will visit various places in Prague that are directly connected with Kafka’s residence in the city. Kafka, the famous author of novels such as The Trial, The Castle or America, is known for moving quite often. Many of the buildings where he lived are true architectural treasures. Kafkaesque means something confusing, tangled, or complicated in Czech. It is something that ignores people, for instance bureaucracy. We all live in a world of bureaucracy, so come and learn something about a man who reflected the feelings of helplessness facing the bureaucracy in his books and literary style.

To move back to the Middle Ages go to Dětenice near Jičín.  After visiting the close by baroque chateau, the small brewery and the museum of brewery, you will finally move to the local pub. The pub is all decorated in medieval style - including straw strewn over the stone floors. You can drink unlimited amount of beer, wine and soft drinks. Beggars and jugglers will be stealing your slices of bread, gypsy dancers will dance around you, fire eaters, and even a witch burning in an iron cage. Middle Ages are back! Since no cutlery is provided you have to use your hands when eating. Peculiar behavior of the waiters is also shocking. Don’t expect any decorum – after all this is just a pub for the dregs of the society. The guests will be lucky not get hit by the meat the thieves will try to throw at them. If you have sense of humour, you will definitely experience something different here.

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