PragueBuzz!

Effective last Thursday, November 22nd of 2008, public riders can send text SMS from within Prague (P zone) to buy tickets.

How to buy tickets by SMS

1. Write SMS with the text “DPT“
2. Send to this number 902 06 20 (902 06 26 after January 1st as the price per ticket increases to 26 CZK)

Within 2 minutes, you will receive an SMS ticket which looks like the following:

Pros
Convenient in situations where vending machines are not nearby, ticket kiosks are closed for the holiday, you forgot to buy tickets when already in the trams and metros (tickets not sold there) or you don’t have enough changes.

Cons
People can still cheat by texting for tickets only when they spots ticket conductors. I’m not sure how Prague’s Transport System will minimize this doing.

Remark
Please don’t cheat by sending these SMS to your friends because the conductor can validate if it was sent from the cellphone shown to him by using the special code at the end of the message, “YrQPtMKs7 /12345″. Anyway, it’s not worth it.

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Too busy to take a long vacation? Or simply don’t have the money? Doesn’t matter. Student Agency (the colossal yellow bus) offerers attractive weekend trips to many European cities for quite decent prices.

Some of the girls at work were planning to Athena for the weekend but then changed their minds because the city was too far and it would cost them a fortune. But is this too good to be true?

Trip to Athena - 3184 CZK (Feb. 7 to May. 20 2008)
Include: airport and service fee, 2 night accommodation  in 2* hotel w/ breakfast (double), return ticket with SkyEurope

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This intimate musical gathering at Male Nosticovo Divadlo put together two solo acts of explosive mixed of experimental and festive Brazilians rhythm performed by a Brazilian percussionist, Flavia Torga and a more traditional and elegant style of music from accordion artist Vesna Vaceres.

Vesna Vaceres

 I’ve never been to any concert where accordions were played so Vesna’s performance commanded my full attention, especially her accordion skills. Her frail voice–rather weak in a few songs–can be charming in some of those longing, dreamy like composition.

Website: www.vesnacaceres.com

Flavia Torga

Flavia has been the teacher at my company’s Samba Music club. Apparently some Brazilian in the company came up with a cool idea that the company should have its own percussion Samba band. After all, most big companies in Brazil sponsor some sort of musical activities. The club starters somehow convinced the company to purchase an entire set of percussion’s instruments and rent a basement studio somewhere near Flora for us to practice. Through another Brazilian employee, Flavia was invited to teach us all these funky beats coming from this amazing country Brazil. The artist herself arrived from Rio de Janeiro, the famous “city of god,” in a country known internally for its cult-like soccer activities and street dancers vigorously shaking their bon-bon.

From the chaos and beauty of the most famous Brazilian city, cradle of the samba and of the Bohemian movement, land of music and culture mixed to the urbane chaos of a Latin-American megalopolis, of any inspired movement, of where all the colors can be seen and all the sounds are hear

Flavia on MySpace.

Jukebox

Website: Male Nosticovo Divadlo
Entrance Fee: 120 CZK

Screw that New Year plan you had about crossing Czech border for a new tourist stamp. The effect date for Czech’ joining the Schengen passport-free area will not be January 1st of 2008. As a gift to this country, current Schengen members moved the date up to December 21st or 2007.

Nice gestures to Czechs and legal Schengen stamp carriers, but can’t say the same thing for you!