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I was born and raised about 5 blocks from where you live and I am just surprised that there are no second levels in any of your rooms. Pretty much everyone I knew had a second level with a bed, storage spaces, or a "false attic" constructed under the ceiling.
Exactly, pretty much a "must have", if you have kids. They sleep above their desks (I did). Especially if you want to cram more than one into a room...
Why would you put second level in a flat 3+kk/3+1 that is occupied by 2 people? Just nonsense. I saw a few flats with second levels and it's pretty awful. Makes sense in small flats (under 80m) with 2+ kids.
@@anniefrankeFlats in Prague are expensive last 6, maybe 8 years, not last 30-40 years. These modifications (second levels) were always popular, no matter what the rent was.
Here in Austria bathrooms were often shared, so there was one bathroom for the whole floor. With higher living standards this obviously wasn't so popular anymore and a lot of bathrooms were built where there was already water supply: the kitchen. And in previous times they probably did have less clothes and those were also stored in wardrobes and chests. The wood from those wardrobes would also help to keep bugs away.
It was the same even here in late 19th century or even first half of 20th century. You mostly had shared toilet and in some cases, there was only running water down behind main door, so people had to go there and fill some buckets and take it to their apartments, you can still see these sinks in some buildings. People don't realize how modern communist apartments were after war compared to these old buildings from Austria-Hungary time. Ofcourse, all apartments already have bathrooms and toilets now, I remember one person who still had shared toilet like 20 years ago, but that building was demolished many years ago and new buildings stand there now.
May be but also in the early communists era they were dividing the big old flats into smaller ones, so someone ended up with the original toilet, someone with the bathroom, someone with the kitchen and the rest had different solutions, when my parents bought the flat I saw a lot of things, a bathtub in the kitchen and a toilet that you went to from the living room
@@Pidalin Modern apartments with a bathroom are definitely not a communist, post-war thing. En-suite apartments became a common standard in the 1920's.. and in the 1930's, apartment buildings with district heating, elevators and all amenities were quite common in Prague. The Communists didn't surpass this standard during the entire 40 years of government.
@@marcokoehler8832 Ofcourse buildings built in 30s already had bathroom, but many people in that time still didn't have even running water. My grandma has nice big apartment from 30s, but back in the day, it was apartment for rich people, there is even room for maid, normal people didn't live like that in 30s, such level of comfort became standard in like 60s, minus maid ofcourse. 😀
@@Pidalin Sure, but that were all apartments from the end of the 19th century. New buildings from the 1930s had all own bathrooms, also the apartments for poorer people.
Thank you for posting these videos! My husband, myself, our newborn and two pets will be moving to Prague in February. Your videos have been super helpful for painting a realistic picture of what to expect. We're coming from living in Beirut for the last two years so we're looking forward to more green-space, good food/drink, trains, travel opportunities and more!
@@rev.buttons2482 Waiting for a train? Because České dráhy (our main railway company) always comes late with their trains.. Several hour delays are quite common unfortunately XD
@@marieblahoutova2544 several hours are only common on international connections, or when there is a really large storm, on normal links which don’t go into other countries (or only one other like between germany and czech republic, you usually don’t get over 45 minutes
Dear Jen, thank you for letting us in on an excursion! :-) I think having a "mess room" is another very Czech characteristics! :-) About the vent in your koupelna - mabye there is some device above your heater? Sometimes the turbine gets broken, but can easily be replaced. Also, if you feel like having too much things you don't need, you can try to sell them on some online "bazar" on in an auction. :-) Thank you for sharing your experiences with us! It's both fun and educative! :-)
Towel tip: adding dissolved citric acid (1:10) instead of fabric softener will make the towels a lot softer. You can buy citric acid in the Bez Obalu shops or they sell 1kg packages in some of the "green" shops but they call it "odstraňovač vodního kamene" from Tierra Verde.
The towel problem: I add plain fermented vinegar from the grocery store to the soak instead of fabric softener. It doesn't have to be wine vinegar. (It will have a similar effect to citric acid). Don't worry about the smell - it will disappear. The way it is hung also has an effect - better if the towel is hung loosely and allowed to dry more slowly. So no radiator, no direct sun. May it succeed... It's always a bit of an experiment ;)
Room and apartment size depends on who built it and lived in the house. If it was built as a rental house then rooms will be more modest, these apartments originally didn't even have a bathroom. Old luxurious city apartments have really large rooms, double doors.
As a Slovak (born in former Czechoslovakia) now living in USA, your Czech is very good. I miss my country (Slovakia) and Czech people are my people. Ironing towels...ha, ha, ha...I remember that. I really appreciate the drier. Love your channel, I am now a Subscriber.
I also live in an old apartment with no washer, dryer or other modern conveniences. But what I miss most is a pretty basic pantry. Just some storage space for food, but also other non-daily necessities. A friend of mine has now moved into a big old apartment. When he showed me around, he showed me the first pantry - it has a 3D printer in it... the second pantry, where he keeps the components to print, and finally the third, where, to my surprise, he's currently putting together a second liquid 3D printer. O tempora, o mores
With those nice tall ceilings, you could install a pulley-operated ceiling dryer/airer. We're lucky enough to have a tiny utility room where ours hides, but you could put one in your záchod. Wet washing is out of the way, and dries in no time because, well, hot air rises! They come in different types. (Ours has one string per rod.) I thought my Czech partner was mad when he suggested we install one in our renovated flat, but it's brilliant.
I love it, you guys are complete opposite of me. I need as less stuff as possible. I like empty shelfs just in case i will need to buy something so I have a room where to place it. Also i am telling my wife as soon as she buys something new, she needs to get rid of something old. Less stuff we have, I am happier. Great video. Out of curiosity, would you be able to buy your own place or is something blocking you legally?
Thanks Jen for the tour of your apartment. I'd just like to point out that all those curtains are actually extremely Czech in style. When I was growing up in Czechoslovakia in the 70's and 80's, everyone had curtains like that. On their doors and everywhere else. Actually, your problem with the shelves in the kitchen could be solved by installing curtains on them :)
Zajímavé video :) a taky zajímavé vidět jak žijete :D u nás se tomu říká kramáři :D vzniklo od slova krámy (zbytečnosti nebověci nepoužívané léta) :D Já myslel, že Honza je Čech narozený v LA :)
Oh, you have just taken me back to my first years in Prague (1986 :o)) I moved to Vinohrady from a district town in Moravia growing up in quite a modern flat with central heating and was really shocked by the flat my husband inherited from his grandma - no hot water, only one sink in the whole apartment (so no bathroom at all; we later built one in the kitchen - sounds familiar ? 😆), wc used to be on the common balcony ("pavlač"), so no heating there - we used to heat it with a kerosene lamp to prevent it from freezing over, only one coal stove in the whole apartment etc. etc. And boy were we happy to have a place to stay at all!
O byty byla v Praze vždycky nouze (a za totáče ještě mnohem větší než dnes, protože se žádný byt nedal legálně pronajmout, natož koupit) a tak byli lidi vděční i za tu IV.kategorii, co popisujete.
Hi jen. The vent in your bathroom is really important. Because when you have water heater in your bathroom it can brake and cause carbon monoxide poisoning. And the vent is there to prevent it. So if it’s happens the carbon monoxide is not trapped in the room and it can slowly escape 😅😅
Narodil jsem se na Vinohradech.Vaše videa mají pro mě velkou informační hodnotu tak jsem vám chtěl ťimto způsobem poděkovat a také moc oceňuji vás téměř vegetariánský jídelníček a také recyklaci.Jen tak dál.
Předsíň used to be quite handy when everyone wore coats. Winter and late autumn would make a place to hang wet and heavy coats long with the shoes handy. Also tall ceilings could make a good place for hanging things if there is enough draft in the room. to answer the question where do you put all your things then the flats usually have an associated space in the basement or under the attic and it's part if the reason why having a weekend house is this popular. Having all manner of stuff on chata is perfectly acceptable for thigs that you hardly ever use.
Your towels will be soft and smell great if you use fabric softener like Lenor or similar. You can get those in any drugstore, I get mine from dm usually. Where I live the water is very hard so I also buy an anti calc for washing machine which you use every time you do the laundry.
Hello Jen, interesting video - again. about your problem with towels, have you ever tryed to used fabric softener (in cz.l.: aviváž)? I´m sure it will help you.
@@peterl0815 really??? the same way as washing powder isn´t good for environment. I use vinegar for washing collor-unstable-fabric only. I never realised it´s softer, but I always realised it smell vinegar. Jen, I´m sure as vegan/bio/animal friendly... washing powder exists, than vegan/bio/animal friendly... fabric softenerv exists too.
@@peterl0815 thanks for your offer, but I already believed in one God. ;-) = I´m not going to join your environmental sect. btw, I don´t care about the smell of the fabric, Jen has problem for 10 years with hard towels. Listen more carefully.
As it turns out, my grandmother lived not far from you in one of the side streets, the noise was not as bad, but it for sure was something to get used to. But aside from the noise, the location of your flat is just perfect - metro, tramvaj, obchody , kousek od centra ... zvolili jste perfektně.
Sklep. 1,2x1,2 m can pack so much of your hoard. On the plus side it can get broken into so you have more storoge if they steal or break your stuff in there.
I bought an apartment with a large hall for one reason - I use it as a workshop and the like. This makes the space, which is easy to maintain, priceless.
When I came to Prague from my much smaller czech town, I started by living on Narodni. And I was fascinated by these flats! Later I was told that originally, when these houses were build, there usually were no kitchens and toilets were common for two/three/four families. I once have visited a flat on Narodni which was not after any kind of reconstruction. Actually the whole level was before reconstruction. And really there was only one toliet for two flats and there was a bath in the kitchen. Unseparated. You entered kitchen and there was a kitchen with a bath. :) Owner put only a curtain there so you didn't shower the floor. And you had to go through the kitchen both to the living room and to the bedroom. Fascinating. :D I've been wondering how it looks today, as it surely is already reconstructed and very expensive. :D
@Easy Business obyvatele toho bytu take nadseni asi nebyli. Ale co meli delat, kdyz byli radi, ze vubec bydli? Ale co se tyka hygieny, tak si nemyslim, ze je az tak nehygienicke myt se ve stejnem prostoru, kde se vari. Jen je to slozitejsi, neprakticke a nevypada to pekne, ... ja jsem jen chtela rict, ze dispozicne ty stare byty byly puvodne vybavene opravdu vselijak, jen ne podle dnesnich zvyklosti. Mnoho bytu v centru napr. puvodne nemelo ani kuchyni, protoze do nich jidlo donasela pani, ktera se o obyvatele a jeho bydleni starala.
Thank you for letting us peek into your home, Jen! So what that Honza has a surfboard in a land-locked country? I have winter jackets from Sweden in my closet in SoCal. I bet it's more likely for Honza to surf in Europe than for me to travel anywhere that cold in the winter! When I was buying my house here, the realtor pointed out that I may need a larger house to have a guest bedroom. With prices north of a million, I'd rather pay for a hotel for everyone who ever comes to visit and I'll still come out on top!
you can see plenty of surfers on our ponds and water dams, especially on the biggest water dam Lipno in south bohemia, it's not Atlantic ofcourse, but I guess it's good for start
@@Pidalin windsurfing maybe, but surfing? Honza's board is quite sizeable, so it looks more like a paddle board than a pro surfing equipment (no offense to Honza! 🙂)
My flat looks a lot like this too. We have just huge kitchen, bedroom and living room.... it's tough now with a new baby because those are the only three options for baby to sleep in... but I do love the character of these old flats! Here's a recycling hack we learned the hard way over many years (and we noticed Czechs doing this too!): Keep all the recycling in a shopping bag (don't sort anything), and once the bag is full, take it down to the recycling bins on the street. This way it takes up much less space and by doing it more often it seems less stressful!
Thanks for the tour, nice flat. So glad though I didn't get one of those when I moved. I also had this idea of how nice it would be to live in an "old Europe flat with tall callings". Wasn't able to find anything to fit my budget and requirements in Vinohrady. Ended up in a modern building in Karlín and absolutely love it. It is quiet here, but not boring. Lots of places to go.
Im glad you mentioned the no ventilation in the bathroom in a lot of Czech apartments, its not even thing here. Im in one now and have been to many and I think its gross. Everytime somebody shit, shower and pee, the smell could linger on for hours. I have to put a fan in it and open the windows in the next room to cycle the air out all day. The industrial kitchen is kina cool. If ya love cooking and picky at eating, better to make yourself than getting hosed with high prices at a restaurant. We shipped a big 20 ft container from Canada, and its mostly unique kitchen tools and devices that were very unique and unreplaceable. We were willing to give up living in the city life of convenience , full amenities ,locations , just so we can have more space, cook better meals , store more foods.
These are old apartments which originaly didn't even have bathroom and toilet, by modern rules and laws, there must be ventilation, but people added bathrooms and toilets to that apartments decades ago. It's much better in first republic apartment building which was already constructed with toilets and bathrooms, you always have ventilation there, but older buildings from 19th century, that's problem.
Vestavěný nábytek nebyl v Čechách nikdy běžným standardem. Takže vaši předchůdci v roce 1850 měli stejně velké skříně jako vy. 😉 A koupelna v kuchyni také není nic neobvyklého. Možná byla právě vytvořena na místě bývalé spižírny, protože tehdejší byty obvykle nemívaly koupelny. 😉 Kouzlo starých časů. 🤷 Jinak moc pěkné bydlení.
@@veronikanavratilova1930 Tady u toho bytu si netroufám určit, pro jakou společenskou třídu byl ten dům stavěn, protože podle těch komunistických dveří byl ten byt dost pravděpodobně razantně přestavěný- měnily se dispozice, z obrovského bytu se dost možná udělaly dva menší. Ve vnitřní Praze jsou ale časté i domy, kde bylo spousta malých bytů - 1+0 až 2kk, které původně neměly vůbec koupelny a toalety byly společné na patře pro několik bytů. Tyto malé byty se pak často spojovaly do větších a budovaly se koupelny a WC v bytě. Paradoxní je, že takové domy, které měly tyto malé bytečky bez příslušenství, mívají často bohatě zdobené fasády a tolik se zase neliší od činžáků, kde byly od začátku velké, komfortní byty s koupelnou.
@@CZpersi Nic tak výjimečného dřív. Prostě ty hodně staré byty (stavěné v 19.století) byly často jen místnosti zcela bez příslušenství, i pro vodu se chodilo ke kohoutku na chodbu mimo byt, stejně tak na záchod společný s dalšími byty. Teprve postupem času si lidi na vlastní náklady dělali různé úpravy, aby ten nízký standard trochu vylepšili. Vždycky ale nebylo možný postavit plnohodnotnou koupelnu, z různých důvodů- málo místa, špatné stoupačky atd.
Very nice, the Union Jack dresser is great. We have a Union Jack carpet in the living room. I also needed it that day and now it reminds me how fashion changes :)
regarding cardboard towels: if you flick them (hold one short end and shake a couple of times like you would a picknick blanket to get rid of crumbs or grass, repeat on both ends ideally) before you hang them, they will feel softer :) not so soft as if they are from a dryer, but not like cement infused either.
Did you ever think about a tabletop dishwasher(Stolní myčka nádobí)? They are great for Prague apartments if you have a washing machine in the kitchen. By doing this you can have both a dishwasher and a washing machine.
My grandma solved the open shelves in kitchen (weekend cottage) by some nice fabric curtains hanging from a string. It worked, it was washable and cheap.
I am originally from Pilsen and I have lived there in some pretty interesting flats. Some very old, so in one of those we had a (luckily frosted) windod in our toilet that led to the communal hallway of the building. I have read somewhere that these really old flats were back in the day (18th century and prior) rented per room to familier and when times were very bad there were sometimes more familier sharinf the bigger rooms, which might be why some building have interesting layouts.
Jen, Jugoslavska 27 :) it's sometimes busy, but if you're lucky enough to have an apartment off the tram route, it's quieter, or if it's directed into the inner block.
Your bathroom is probably in the place of the original pantry, because when these houses were built, it was not common for each apartment to have its own toilet and bathroom. the toilet and bathroom were therefore probably built later during the reconstruction. before, it was common to have a common toilet in the corridor and people washed in the lavatory (into which water was collected and brought from the sink in the corridor).
You should check the term "Správná výrobní praxe (SVP)", Jen. You just do not use the same cutting board for meat and vegetables... along with other things. And is there a possibility to convert your surf board to windsurfing one? You could use it on Lipno or other big water mass.
I am sure it did. :D tho, I believe it is called "Manji" as it is a symbol commonly used in Buddhism as well afaik,... with totally different meaning than we are used to here in Europe or western world. (-:
I don't know. I may be spoiled. but I didn't like living in the old Prague house. I am just too used to central heating and elevators that actually stops on your floor and not in between (a real pain if you have a kid in a stroller). However a lot of people don't like living in a typical Sídliště, and I absolutely love it. 😀
If you want to use your sewing machine or another 110V equipment just buy stepdown transformer. Its in small metal box with american sockets check BLOW PRT-500 500w is enough or something similar but not sure what motor your sewing machine use if no problem with diferent frequency 50hz instead 60hz.
I had to laugh about the baseball cards. My mom got rid of my brothers' cards and my eldest brother who is 63 years old still hasn't forgiven her. The one time he dared to complain, she growled at him, "Get over it." (She's 50% Czech.)
Hi Jen, you can use the surf board even in landlocked Czech Republic on an artificial wave in Brandýs nad Labem. Maybe one will be built even in Prague - Štvanice. Search for: umělá vlna
The ornamented cabinet at 11:21 really brings up chuckles and I can imagine all kinds of stupid questions from "so-intelligent-friends" based on it. And I am pretty happy I do not see those in your comment section (and neither this video blocked/banned for it). Cool stuff with interesting historic symbol that was misused a lot. And definitely an icebreaker for conversations! :)
"Vinohrady" was built approx 1890 - 1910. It wasn't common to have bathrooms in this times. (In small towns there was built new detached houses without bathrooms even in 1930's.) Most houses in Vinohrady was planned for middle (or upper middle) class tenants, and every flat had toilet and running water at least. In the "Žižkov", which is part for working class near Vinohrady, a flat typically consists from kitchen and one room only, no "předsíň", no pantry, no toilet, ... There was shared toilet and sink with faucet for several flats. Yout shower room was probably a pantry, originally. The bedrooms was big, because you typically have a set of bedroom furniture in it: two big beds (one for husband, one for wife), two nightstands, huge wardrobe (sometimes even two wardrobes - two-doors wardrobe for husband, three-doors wardrobe for wife), chest of drawers (for underwear), and vanity with a chair. In addition, usually a crib and beds for childern were in the parents bedroom as well. In "předsíň" shoes, boots, coats etc. and often other things (cleaning supplies, seasonal items, ...) was stored in wardrobes and commodes.
Ok I'm an American living in Czech and firstly, I wish I could ship furniture here! I can't find the styles I want.... But also, I will share my two cents about duvet covers and flat sheets - I hate flat sheets! And I'm so glad they don't use them here! It's slightly more work to take the duvet out each time but it's so much easier to make the bed!
Well... finding your exact place using maps took me like a 2 minutes :D... Not so many blocks like this one. I thought you were closer to the Náměstí Jiřího z Poděbrad. You got one of best places!
Hi Jen I hate and so I do not iron at all …. A basic drying machine used for 40 min. on cold air cycle This softens and remove any loose lint from already dry washing That is only If you would have a room for it.
I have been living in the UK with my husband and daughter for the past 4 years. I really wish I had a toilet separate from the bath. I have considered acquiring an emergency chamber pot a few times 😳
The kitchen and the shower room share the water supply so they were often built together (sometimes even with the toilet, but there is a rule now that new apartments need to keep certain distance between kitchen or toilet and separate them with at least two doors, or something like that I do not remember it exactly).
Přijde mi hrozné, že jsou v bytě použity ty nejlevnější dveře - původní dveře v takových bytech jsou krásné, často s leptanými skly. Zřejmě majitel upravoval byt tak, aby to pro něj bylo co nejlevnější, a hodně tím pokazil celkový dojem.
Je vždycky zajímavé sledovat, jak lidé různě žijí. Já bych se asi brzy zbláznila v takovém bytě. Jsem už moc rozmazlená velkým domem. 😀 Ovšem teď kvůli cenám energií budu brzy závidět kamarádce, která má byt o velikosti mojí kuchyně. 😀
Tak tento byt určitě není malý a pochybuju, že máte v tom domě tak vysoké stropy. Jinak je to o preferencích a tom, na co je člověk zvyklý. Vy se cítíte rozmazlená v rodinném domě, ale je velká spousta lidí, kteří jsou velmi rozmazlení na to, aby bydleli "kdovíkde" a metry čtvereční podlahové plochy bytu navíc by jim ničím nevynahradily ten diskomfort neustálého dojíždění do města... nemluvě o úplně jiném životním stylu na vesnici či maloměstě, kde si všichni čumí do talíře.
@@marcokoehler8832 Souhlasím, že je to o zvyku. Já jsem bydlela ve dvou bytech, než jsem si koupila dům. V životě by mě do bytu už nikdo nedostal ani párem volů. 😁 Už jsem si tak zvykla na to naprostý ticho tady, sousedy neznám a to tu bydlím 5 let. Tenhle božský klid bych nikdy už nevyměnila za ruch velkoměsta. Ale každý má jiný preference. Já zase holt musím do kina dojet 40 km, na nákup 10 km a tak.
cardboard towels: Since I changed to hanging clothes to dry (after my dryer ceased working), I switched to micro fiber towels. Much cheaper than a new dryer and still very fluffy after air drying.
@@veronikanavratilova1930 I don't wash my doona (quilt) for months at a time. Because I don't directly touch it. I find it quite annoying to remove the filling, wash the cover, then put the cover back on. Definitely an activity I'm happy to delay.
We moved to Prague in July 2021 for 6 months (we planned to be there permanently but it didn’t work out right now 😢) and we left everything in the US except clothes and some of our kids toys. My favorite thing was getting to start over with all our “stuff” and a empty flat!
Moved to Prague 5 years ago, for a job from the other side of the country. Lived in Vrsovice/Vinohrady border, but honestly, I moved from there, not to deal with all the quirks these old buildings have. It felt like a huge downgrade in every aspect, except service availability :D And I come from a border town of 1500. P.S. - We have two windsurf boards in our barn. Yea... it's ...a landlocked country.
nicely explained ..I lived in Vinohardy tooo ...however my flat has more bedroom space than living room. However there are closets in kitchen and no closet in bedroom ...
Hello Jen, I have a tip for you about that peeling ceiling in the "shower room". You have to peel it of and paint it with a paint that contains latex (for example Prolux Latex UNI bílá). We used that in our bath room when dealing with the same issue and it worked perfectly. :)
4:13 - if you don't want to waste your space, just but bed there 🙂 In some old apartments, there was little kitchen behind door 10:55 - people didn't have bathrooms and toilets at all in 19th century, you have "hajzl na chodbě" and umyvadlo pod schodama. 😀
Actually, that sink in the hallway wasn't part of some flat. That used to be the *ONLY* source of running water for everyone on the floor for decades. Water pipes going to individual flats probably got first installed sometime between 1930s and 1960s.
Kitchen appliances - oh, one can enjoy fun with them ... sometimes they can really spare some workload - when we have twelve guests etc :-) Rest of the year - it´s for fun, of course. But the key is (IMHO) have them on hand, not somewhere deep in the cabinetry - pick them, use them, move them to the sink ( :-( )
Jen please, you have to explain the "recycling" more to me. We "třídíme" which means to "sort out" the garbage into the recycable sorts (plastic, glass, paper, metals, bio material, waste electrical appliances) and ordinary (common - komunál) trash. But you (like you said) put it in garbage ... so it means, that the garbage company sorts the garbage itself ? Or how does it work ? I am a bit confused.
Plenty of places in the US have "single stream recycling", meaning that many recyclable items are placed in the same bin, the recycling company picks it up and (presumably) sorts it out in their own facility. Which, in principle, is better for them, because to sell that stuff it has to be sorted out really well, and they want to keep tight control over it. But in practice I think most of it ends up in landfills anyway now that the usual Asian customers are not buying it anymore. Garden trash and old appliances, car batteries, used oil and such all go through different channels in the US and are not part of the household recycling stream.
When I moved away from my family with my boyfriend and we hardly had money to afford the price of safety deposit and first three rents, we bought every piece of furniture (except of bed and mattresses) on Facebook Marketplace. I vividly remember, when we moved 80kg, 2 metres high fridge up to spiral staircase. One corner of the fridge ended up going through a window with my own hand. Luckily I have only one small scratch, but I swore I would never move anything this heavy again.
I moved 11 times before buying an old house. Your comment brought many old scars to life. As the saying goes. It might be better to have your place burn down than to move. 😆
Předsíň serves as an “airlock” between the dirty outside and clean inside. It is also used to store bikes, strollers etc., because they are bulky and also came in contact with the dirty outside and frankly, who wants to hang a dirty bike in a bedroom?
14:05 They usually used chests for that, or some cupboards with drawers, which looked like chests, there was no way to make large closets like the modern ones, the technology for that was not yet invented.
The no screens in the window thing really is strange. I like the idea of a shower/bathroom being separate. But compared to America the apartment looks small.. so that little extra space could have been a nice storage unit or something. Do you have any videos or recommend any sites that might help you find a roommate in Prague? Might make transferring from America to Prague easier. So something I want to look into
Surfboard... can it be modified for wind surfing? People do that here. I remember when you were trying to rent a flat on Václavák and Honza was like no way. And now, with exact knowlidge of your street I think you didn't get much better with one of the most crowded tram-metro crossings in the city just one crossroad away from you.
Czech here. Those old houses have some genius loci in them, but they are not very practical for modern way of living. They have awkward bathrooms with bad ventilation, super high ceilings which costs you a lot of money for winter heating (all warm air will accumulate very high under the ceilings, so you have to heat much more to have acceptable temperature 2,5-3 meters lower at you body height, it can be difficult to hang heavier stuff on the walls because of very old, crumbly bricks, if you want to ventilate your flat you have to open 2 sets of windows EVERY TIME etc. Idk... some people have nostalgia for living in this kind of old houses, but I'll prefer living in modern houses/flats any day... it's just way more practical.
I used to live in Prague but never in those old flats (pff, Vinohrady). Do you not have sklep in those flats? Also, yeah that shower room 100% used to be spizirna.
ja chodim doma taky v botech ,,, nj asi se budu muset odsunout do USA lakaji me hlavne tornada.. ale radej bych zil v Japonsku nebo Svycarsko kde je krasna priroda a klid
We also have an apartment in Czech, but not Prague. I don’t know if I can get used to the limited kitchen strip it offers. I have so much kitchen things that I would seriously have to go through and really eliminate so many things!!! I still complain here how small my kitchen is, 🤣! I don’t know if I can manage!
People in 1850 sure had enough clothing. And they had enormous heavy wooden closets for their pants, coats and stuff. You said that your bedroom is big enough? Sure not big enough for those closets :-D They were often very stylish - wood carvings, paintings etc. And they most likely had more than one. I can remember the smell of those closets at my grandmas. They had very thick coat of paint on them and smelled of combination of that paint and naphthalene, which was there to combat the moths that eat fabric.
Jen, the surfboard was soooo funny! The same here, in the living room for maybe 3 years without using it until I finally sold it - and I actually could use it here in DR 😀
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hi bb
@@iPE_ZA Soviet microdistrict vs USA Suburban
7:53 where is the rice cooker
@@carkawalakhatulistiwa What, soviet??? 🤦
@@carkawalakhatulistiwa The rice cooker is typical more for asian houses. Most European or American households do not use this appliance.
I was born and raised about 5 blocks from where you live and I am just surprised that there are no second levels in any of your rooms. Pretty much everyone I knew had a second level with a bed, storage spaces, or a "false attic" constructed under the ceiling.
Exactly, pretty much a "must have", if you have kids. They sleep above their desks (I did). Especially if you want to cram more than one into a room...
Why would you put second level in a flat 3+kk/3+1 that is occupied by 2 people? Just nonsense. I saw a few flats with second levels and it's pretty awful. Makes sense in small flats (under 80m) with 2+ kids.
@@aleshak because that’s how flats are in Prague. Very expensive so young families have to come up with other solutions
@@anniefrankeFlats in Prague are expensive last 6, maybe 8 years, not last 30-40 years. These modifications (second levels) were always popular, no matter what the rent was.
Here in Austria bathrooms were often shared, so there was one bathroom for the whole floor. With higher living standards this obviously wasn't so popular anymore and a lot of bathrooms were built where there was already water supply: the kitchen.
And in previous times they probably did have less clothes and those were also stored in wardrobes and chests. The wood from those wardrobes would also help to keep bugs away.
It was the same even here in late 19th century or even first half of 20th century. You mostly had shared toilet and in some cases, there was only running water down behind main door, so people had to go there and fill some buckets and take it to their apartments, you can still see these sinks in some buildings. People don't realize how modern communist apartments were after war compared to these old buildings from Austria-Hungary time. Ofcourse, all apartments already have bathrooms and toilets now, I remember one person who still had shared toilet like 20 years ago, but that building was demolished many years ago and new buildings stand there now.
May be but also in the early communists era they were dividing the big old flats into smaller ones, so someone ended up with the original toilet, someone with the bathroom, someone with the kitchen and the rest had different solutions, when my parents bought the flat I saw a lot of things, a bathtub in the kitchen and a toilet that you went to from the living room
@@Pidalin Modern apartments with a bathroom are definitely not a communist, post-war thing. En-suite apartments became a common standard in the 1920's.. and in the 1930's, apartment buildings with district heating, elevators and all amenities were quite common in Prague. The Communists didn't surpass this standard during the entire 40 years of government.
@@marcokoehler8832 Ofcourse buildings built in 30s already had bathroom, but many people in that time still didn't have even running water. My grandma has nice big apartment from 30s, but back in the day, it was apartment for rich people, there is even room for maid, normal people didn't live like that in 30s, such level of comfort became standard in like 60s, minus maid ofcourse. 😀
@@Pidalin Sure, but that were all apartments from the end of the 19th century. New buildings from the 1930s had all own bathrooms, also the apartments for poorer people.
Thank you for posting these videos! My husband, myself, our newborn and two pets will be moving to Prague in February. Your videos have been super helpful for painting a realistic picture of what to expect. We're coming from living in Beirut for the last two years so we're looking forward to more green-space, good food/drink, trains, travel opportunities and more!
So i think thats exactly what you are gonna get :)
WHY would anyone do that ;-) ??!
@@rev.buttons2482 Waiting for a train? Because České dráhy (our main railway company) always comes late with their trains.. Several hour delays are quite common unfortunately XD
@Easy Business Jee, tak to nemůžu posoudit.. (naštěstí :DD)
@@marieblahoutova2544 several hours are only common on international connections, or when there is a really large storm, on normal links which don’t go into other countries (or only one other like between germany and czech republic, you usually don’t get over 45 minutes
Dear Jen, thank you for letting us in on an excursion! :-) I think having a "mess room" is another very Czech characteristics! :-) About the vent in your koupelna - mabye there is some device above your heater? Sometimes the turbine gets broken, but can easily be replaced. Also, if you feel like having too much things you don't need, you can try to sell them on some online "bazar" on in an auction. :-)
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us! It's both fun and educative! :-)
Towel tip: adding dissolved citric acid (1:10) instead of fabric softener will make the towels a lot softer. You can buy citric acid in the Bez Obalu shops or they sell 1kg packages in some of the "green" shops but they call it "odstraňovač vodního kamene" from Tierra Verde.
The towel problem: I add plain fermented vinegar from the grocery store to the soak instead of fabric softener. It doesn't have to be wine vinegar. (It will have a similar effect to citric acid). Don't worry about the smell - it will disappear. The way it is hung also has an effect - better if the towel is hung loosely and allowed to dry more slowly. So no radiator, no direct sun.
May it succeed... It's always a bit of an experiment ;)
Room and apartment size depends on who built it and lived in the house. If it was built as a rental house then rooms will be more modest, these apartments originally didn't even have a bathroom. Old luxurious city apartments have really large rooms, double doors.
As a Slovak (born in former Czechoslovakia) now living in USA, your Czech is very good. I miss my country (Slovakia) and Czech people are my people. Ironing towels...ha, ha, ha...I remember that. I really appreciate the drier. Love your channel, I am now a Subscriber.
Víte, co vám chybí k dokonalosti typického Čecha? Zahrádka v zahrádkářské kolonii. Moc vám fandím. Děkuji za každé video.
And a swimming pool in the garden.😅
@@davidhenshaw3265 A trampolina! :D
A na vše si stěžovat 😀😀😂
@@jirikosek6383 hello?
I also live in an old apartment with no washer, dryer or other modern conveniences. But what I miss most is a pretty basic pantry. Just some storage space for food, but also other non-daily necessities. A friend of mine has now moved into a big old apartment. When he showed me around, he showed me the first pantry - it has a 3D printer in it... the second pantry, where he keeps the components to print, and finally the third, where, to my surprise, he's currently putting together a second liquid 3D printer. O tempora, o mores
With those nice tall ceilings, you could install a pulley-operated ceiling dryer/airer. We're lucky enough to have a tiny utility room where ours hides, but you could put one in your záchod. Wet washing is out of the way, and dries in no time because, well, hot air rises! They come in different types. (Ours has one string per rod.) I thought my Czech partner was mad when he suggested we install one in our renovated flat, but it's brilliant.
I love it, you guys are complete opposite of me. I need as less stuff as possible. I like empty shelfs just in case i will need to buy something so I have a room where to place it. Also i am telling my wife as soon as she buys something new, she needs to get rid of something old. Less stuff we have, I am happier. Great video. Out of curiosity, would you be able to buy your own place or is something blocking you legally?
Thanks Jen for the tour of your apartment.
I'd just like to point out that all those curtains are actually extremely Czech in style. When I was growing up in Czechoslovakia in the 70's and 80's, everyone had curtains like that. On their doors and everywhere else.
Actually, your problem with the shelves in the kitchen could be solved by installing curtains on them :)
Zajímavé video :) a taky zajímavé vidět jak žijete :D u nás se tomu říká kramáři :D vzniklo od slova krámy (zbytečnosti nebověci nepoužívané léta) :D Já myslel, že Honza je Čech narozený v LA :)
To prkno na Vinohradech za skříní je super 🤣🤣👍
tak maj tam Vltavu ne, tak se to využije 😀
@@Pidalin Jen musej dokoupit plachtu, vlny jsou na Vltavě moc malý.
@@breznik1197 tak to je jasný, plachta je potřeba 🙂
Oh, you have just taken me back to my first years in Prague (1986 :o)) I moved to Vinohrady from a district town in Moravia growing up in quite a modern flat with central heating and was really shocked by the flat my husband inherited from his grandma - no hot water, only one sink in the whole apartment (so no bathroom at all; we later built one in the kitchen - sounds familiar ? 😆), wc used to be on the common balcony ("pavlač"), so no heating there - we used to heat it with a kerosene lamp to prevent it from freezing over, only one coal stove in the whole apartment etc. etc.
And boy were we happy to have a place to stay at all!
O byty byla v Praze vždycky nouze (a za totáče ještě mnohem větší než dnes, protože se žádný byt nedal legálně pronajmout, natož koupit) a tak byli lidi vděční i za tu IV.kategorii, co popisujete.
Hi jen. The vent in your bathroom is really important. Because when you have water heater in your bathroom it can brake and cause carbon monoxide poisoning. And the vent is there to prevent it. So if it’s happens the carbon monoxide is not trapped in the room and it can slowly escape 😅😅
Not the case if they have an electric boiler :-)
They would better drive it slowly so it doesn't have to brake too much 😅
@@JanaVanana Hodinky, holinky. No bóže 🙂
Narodil jsem se na Vinohradech.Vaše videa mají pro mě velkou informační hodnotu tak jsem vám chtěl ťimto způsobem poděkovat a také moc oceňuji vás téměř vegetariánský jídelníček a také recyklaci.Jen tak dál.
Předsíň used to be quite handy when everyone wore coats. Winter and late autumn would make a place to hang wet and heavy coats long with the shoes handy. Also tall ceilings could make a good place for hanging things if there is enough draft in the room. to answer the question where do you put all your things then the flats usually have an associated space in the basement or under the attic and it's part if the reason why having a weekend house is this popular. Having all manner of stuff on chata is perfectly acceptable for thigs that you hardly ever use.
Your towels will be soft and smell great if you use fabric softener like Lenor or similar. You can get those in any drugstore, I get mine from dm usually. Where I live the water is very hard so I also buy an anti calc for washing machine which you use every time you do the laundry.
Hello Jen, interesting video - again.
about your problem with towels, have you ever tryed to used fabric softener (in cz.l.: aviváž)? I´m sure it will help you.
@@peterl0815 really??? the same way as washing powder isn´t good for environment.
I use vinegar for washing collor-unstable-fabric only. I never realised it´s softer, but I always realised it smell vinegar.
Jen, I´m sure as vegan/bio/animal friendly... washing powder exists, than vegan/bio/animal friendly... fabric softenerv exists too.
@@peterl0815 thanks for your offer, but I already believed in one God. ;-)
= I´m not going to join your environmental sect.
btw, I don´t care about the smell of the fabric, Jen has problem for 10 years with hard towels. Listen more carefully.
@@peterl0815 Agreed. Still free to hang and definitely not in direct sun or radiator.
As it turns out, my grandmother lived not far from you in one of the side streets, the noise was not as bad, but it for sure was something to get used to. But aside from the noise, the location of your flat is just perfect - metro, tramvaj, obchody , kousek od centra ... zvolili jste perfektně.
Sklep. 1,2x1,2 m can pack so much of your hoard. On the plus side it can get broken into so you have more storoge if they steal or break your stuff in there.
I bought an apartment with a large hall for one reason - I use it as a workshop and the like. This makes the space, which is easy to maintain, priceless.
When I came to Prague from my much smaller czech town, I started by living on Narodni. And I was fascinated by these flats! Later I was told that originally, when these houses were build, there usually were no kitchens and toilets were common for two/three/four families. I once have visited a flat on Narodni which was not after any kind of reconstruction. Actually the whole level was before reconstruction. And really there was only one toliet for two flats and there was a bath in the kitchen. Unseparated. You entered kitchen and there was a kitchen with a bath. :) Owner put only a curtain there so you didn't shower the floor. And you had to go through the kitchen both to the living room and to the bedroom. Fascinating. :D I've been wondering how it looks today, as it surely is already reconstructed and very expensive. :D
@Easy Business obyvatele toho bytu take nadseni asi nebyli. Ale co meli delat, kdyz byli radi, ze vubec bydli? Ale co se tyka hygieny, tak si nemyslim, ze je az tak nehygienicke myt se ve stejnem prostoru, kde se vari. Jen je to slozitejsi, neprakticke a nevypada to pekne, ... ja jsem jen chtela rict, ze dispozicne ty stare byty byly puvodne vybavene opravdu vselijak, jen ne podle dnesnich zvyklosti. Mnoho bytu v centru napr. puvodne nemelo ani kuchyni, protoze do nich jidlo donasela pani, ktera se o obyvatele a jeho bydleni starala.
Bathroom in a kitchen? Oh that is nothing. I remember kitchen in a bathroom.
Thank you for letting us peek into your home, Jen! So what that Honza has a surfboard in a land-locked country? I have winter jackets from Sweden in my closet in SoCal. I bet it's more likely for Honza to surf in Europe than for me to travel anywhere that cold in the winter!
When I was buying my house here, the realtor pointed out that I may need a larger house to have a guest bedroom. With prices north of a million, I'd rather pay for a hotel for everyone who ever comes to visit and I'll still come out on top!
you can see plenty of surfers on our ponds and water dams, especially on the biggest water dam Lipno in south bohemia, it's not Atlantic ofcourse, but I guess it's good for start
@@Pidalin windsurfing maybe, but surfing? Honza's board is quite sizeable, so it looks more like a paddle board than a pro surfing equipment (no offense to Honza! 🙂)
Honza can surf on the Isar river in Munich, just 400km away :)
@@paulselinger6658 I am Czech, I don't know what's the difference between windsufwing and "normal" sufting. I don't want to know that. 😀
Někdy je fajn mít velkou předsíň, třeba když v domě není kočárkárna a je třeba někam postavit kočárek 🙂
Hello, I live near Prague and instead of a guest room, I have a couch in the living room that can be folded into a bed.
My flat looks a lot like this too. We have just huge kitchen, bedroom and living room.... it's tough now with a new baby because those are the only three options for baby to sleep in... but I do love the character of these old flats!
Here's a recycling hack we learned the hard way over many years (and we noticed Czechs doing this too!): Keep all the recycling in a shopping bag (don't sort anything), and once the bag is full, take it down to the recycling bins on the street. This way it takes up much less space and by doing it more often it seems less stressful!
Thanks for the tour, nice flat. So glad though I didn't get one of those when I moved. I also had this idea of how nice it would be to live in an "old Europe flat with tall callings". Wasn't able to find anything to fit my budget and requirements in Vinohrady. Ended up in a modern building in Karlín and absolutely love it. It is quiet here, but not boring. Lots of places to go.
Im glad you mentioned the no ventilation in the bathroom in a lot of Czech apartments, its not even thing here. Im in one now and have been to many and I think its gross. Everytime somebody shit, shower and pee, the smell could linger on for hours. I have to put a fan in it and open the windows in the next room to cycle the air out all day.
The industrial kitchen is kina cool. If ya love cooking and picky at eating, better to make yourself than getting hosed with high prices at a restaurant. We shipped a big 20 ft container from Canada, and its mostly unique kitchen tools and devices that were very unique and unreplaceable. We were willing to give up living in the city life of convenience , full amenities ,locations , just so we can have more space, cook better meals , store more foods.
These are old apartments which originaly didn't even have bathroom and toilet, by modern rules and laws, there must be ventilation, but people added bathrooms and toilets to that apartments decades ago. It's much better in first republic apartment building which was already constructed with toilets and bathrooms, you always have ventilation there, but older buildings from 19th century, that's problem.
Vestavěný nábytek nebyl v Čechách nikdy běžným standardem. Takže vaši předchůdci v roce 1850 měli stejně velké skříně jako vy. 😉 A koupelna v kuchyni také není nic neobvyklého. Možná byla právě vytvořena na místě bývalé spižírny, protože tehdejší byty obvykle nemívaly koupelny. 😉 Kouzlo starých časů. 🤷 Jinak moc pěkné bydlení.
Taky možná ani neměli co dát do těch skříní. A je to tak, jsou i byty co neměli spižírnu a sprcha šla udělat jedině vedle kuchyně.
@@dmiora3385 tohle tozhodně nejsou byty kde bydlela “chudina” za kuchyní obvykle býval pokoj pro služku.
@@veronikanavratilova1930 Tady u toho bytu si netroufám určit, pro jakou společenskou třídu byl ten dům stavěn, protože podle těch komunistických dveří byl ten byt dost pravděpodobně razantně přestavěný- měnily se dispozice, z obrovského bytu se dost možná udělaly dva menší. Ve vnitřní Praze jsou ale časté i domy, kde bylo spousta malých bytů - 1+0 až 2kk, které původně neměly vůbec koupelny a toalety byly společné na patře pro několik bytů. Tyto malé byty se pak často spojovaly do větších a budovaly se koupelny a WC v bytě. Paradoxní je, že takové domy, které měly tyto malé bytečky bez příslušenství, mívají často bohatě zdobené fasády a tolik se zase neliší od činžáků, kde byly od začátku velké, komfortní byty s koupelnou.
A co koupelna v kuchyni? Moje prateta měla kuchyň v koupelně! To byl teprve bizár.
@@CZpersi Nic tak výjimečného dřív. Prostě ty hodně staré byty (stavěné v 19.století) byly často jen místnosti zcela bez příslušenství, i pro vodu se chodilo ke kohoutku na chodbu mimo byt, stejně tak na záchod společný s dalšími byty. Teprve postupem času si lidi na vlastní náklady dělali různé úpravy, aby ten nízký standard trochu vylepšili. Vždycky ale nebylo možný postavit plnohodnotnou koupelnu, z různých důvodů- málo místa, špatné stoupačky atd.
Very nice, the Union Jack dresser is great. We have a Union Jack carpet in the living room. I also needed it that day and now it reminds me how fashion changes :)
regarding cardboard towels: if you flick them (hold one short end and shake a couple of times like you would a picknick blanket to get rid of crumbs or grass, repeat on both ends ideally) before you hang them, they will feel softer :) not so soft as if they are from a dryer, but not like cement infused either.
Did you ever think about a tabletop dishwasher(Stolní myčka nádobí)? They are great for Prague apartments if you have a washing machine in the kitchen. By doing this you can have both a dishwasher and a washing machine.
My grandma solved the open shelves in kitchen (weekend cottage) by some nice fabric curtains hanging from a string. It worked, it was washable and cheap.
I am originally from Pilsen and I have lived there in some pretty interesting flats. Some very old, so in one of those we had a (luckily frosted) windod in our toilet that led to the communal hallway of the building.
I have read somewhere that these really old flats were back in the day (18th century and prior) rented per room to familier and when times were very bad there were sometimes more familier sharinf the bigger rooms, which might be why some building have interesting layouts.
Jen, Jugoslavska 27 :) it's sometimes busy, but if you're lucky enough to have an apartment off the tram route, it's quieter, or if it's directed into the inner block.
In 1850 they had the exact sized closet (I would say wardrobe for some reason) as you have. Wooden and massive. My grandma used to have it too
Taky. Babička navíc používala i ve videu zmíněné přehozy. Jenže taky často dávala deky (v zimě duchny) na parapet, aby se provětraly.
Your bathroom is probably in the place of the original pantry, because when these houses were built, it was not common for each apartment to have its own toilet and bathroom. the toilet and bathroom were therefore probably built later during the reconstruction. before, it was common to have a common toilet in the corridor and people washed in the lavatory (into which water was collected and brought from the sink in the corridor).
You should check the term "Správná výrobní praxe (SVP)", Jen. You just do not use the same cutting board for meat and vegetables... along with other things. And is there a possibility to convert your surf board to windsurfing one? You could use it on Lipno or other big water mass.
I bet that the cabinet's decoration at 11:22 has raised a couple of your guests' eyebrows...
I am sure it did. :D tho, I believe it is called "Manji" as it is a symbol commonly used in Buddhism as well afaik,... with totally different meaning than we are used to here in Europe or western world. (-:
I think most of poople realize that symbol is much older than nazism and it's used in almost all cultures over world.
I wouldn't be surprised if the cabinet was made before a muggle equivalent of You Know Who ruined it
We lived in Italy from 1963 to 1968. I’m sure before you were born. A lot of what you said brings back many memories.
I don't know. I may be spoiled. but I didn't like living in the old Prague house. I am just too used to central heating and elevators that actually stops on your floor and not in between (a real pain if you have a kid in a stroller).
However a lot of people don't like living in a typical Sídliště, and I absolutely love it. 😀
If you want to use your sewing machine or another 110V equipment just buy stepdown transformer. Its in small metal box with american sockets check BLOW PRT-500 500w is enough or something similar but not sure what motor your sewing machine use if no problem with diferent frequency 50hz instead 60hz.
I live in a similar flat and we have washer, dryer, dishwasher :D I can't imagine living without any one of those miracles :D
For the hard towels, try washing them with a bit of apple cider vinegar, it should keep them nice and soft.
I had to laugh about the baseball cards. My mom got rid of my brothers' cards and my eldest brother who is 63 years old still hasn't forgiven her. The one time he dared to complain, she growled at him, "Get over it." (She's 50% Czech.)
Hi Jen,
you can use the surf board even in landlocked Czech Republic on an artificial wave in Brandýs nad Labem. Maybe one will be built even in Prague - Štvanice. Search for: umělá vlna
I would love to to hear more about the 3 years you spent in Japan!!!!
The ornamented cabinet at 11:21 really brings up chuckles and I can imagine all kinds of stupid questions from "so-intelligent-friends" based on it. And I am pretty happy I do not see those in your comment section (and neither this video blocked/banned for it).
Cool stuff with interesting historic symbol that was misused a lot. And definitely an icebreaker for conversations! :)
"Vinohrady" was built approx 1890 - 1910. It wasn't common to have bathrooms in this times. (In small towns there was built new detached houses without bathrooms even in 1930's.) Most houses in Vinohrady was planned for middle (or upper middle) class tenants, and every flat had toilet and running water at least. In the "Žižkov", which is part for working class near Vinohrady, a flat typically consists from kitchen and one room only, no "předsíň", no pantry, no toilet, ... There was shared toilet and sink with faucet for several flats.
Yout shower room was probably a pantry, originally.
The bedrooms was big, because you typically have a set of bedroom furniture in it: two big beds (one for husband, one for wife), two nightstands, huge wardrobe (sometimes even two wardrobes - two-doors wardrobe for husband, three-doors wardrobe for wife), chest of drawers (for underwear), and vanity with a chair. In addition, usually a crib and beds for childern were in the parents bedroom as well.
In "předsíň" shoes, boots, coats etc. and often other things (cleaning supplies, seasonal items, ...) was stored in wardrobes and commodes.
I love your sunny californian attitude and positive vibes 🌞💕
Ok I'm an American living in Czech and firstly, I wish I could ship furniture here! I can't find the styles I want.... But also, I will share my two cents about duvet covers and flat sheets - I hate flat sheets! And I'm so glad they don't use them here! It's slightly more work to take the duvet out each time but it's so much easier to make the bed!
When are you going to broadcast from our bar, Tynska Bar and Books?
Well... finding your exact place using maps took me like a 2 minutes :D... Not so many blocks like this one. I thought you were closer to the Náměstí Jiřího z Poděbrad. You got one of best places!
Hi Jen I hate and so I do not iron at all …. A basic drying machine used for 40 min. on cold air cycle This softens and remove any loose lint from already dry washing That is only If you would have a room for it.
I have been living in the UK with my husband and daughter for the past 4 years. I really wish I had a toilet separate from the bath. I have considered acquiring an emergency chamber pot a few times 😳
The kitchen and the shower room share the water supply so they were often built together (sometimes even with the toilet, but there is a rule now that new apartments need to keep certain distance between kitchen or toilet and separate them with at least two doors, or something like that I do not remember it exactly).
Přijde mi hrozné, že jsou v bytě použity ty nejlevnější dveře - původní dveře v takových bytech jsou krásné, často s leptanými skly. Zřejmě majitel upravoval byt tak, aby to pro něj bylo co nejlevnější, a hodně tím pokazil celkový dojem.
Hi! Jen. Thanks for your videos. I’m married to a Czech man and this inspired me a lot to see myself in Prague in the near future.
Je vždycky zajímavé sledovat, jak lidé různě žijí. Já bych se asi brzy zbláznila v takovém bytě. Jsem už moc rozmazlená velkým domem. 😀 Ovšem teď kvůli cenám energií budu brzy závidět kamarádce, která má byt o velikosti mojí kuchyně. 😀
Tak tento byt určitě není malý a pochybuju, že máte v tom domě tak vysoké stropy. Jinak je to o preferencích a tom, na co je člověk zvyklý. Vy se cítíte rozmazlená v rodinném domě, ale je velká spousta lidí, kteří jsou velmi rozmazlení na to, aby bydleli "kdovíkde" a metry čtvereční podlahové plochy bytu navíc by jim ničím nevynahradily ten diskomfort neustálého dojíždění do města... nemluvě o úplně jiném životním stylu na vesnici či maloměstě, kde si všichni čumí do talíře.
@@marcokoehler8832 Souhlasím, že je to o zvyku. Já jsem bydlela ve dvou bytech, než jsem si koupila dům. V životě by mě do bytu už nikdo nedostal ani párem volů. 😁 Už jsem si tak zvykla na to naprostý ticho tady, sousedy neznám a to tu bydlím 5 let. Tenhle božský klid bych nikdy už nevyměnila za ruch velkoměsta. Ale každý má jiný preference. Já zase holt musím do kina dojet 40 km, na nákup 10 km a tak.
cardboard towels: Since I changed to hanging clothes to dry (after my dryer ceased working), I switched to micro fiber towels. Much cheaper than a new dryer and still very fluffy after air drying.
Yes! I'm confused about people not using flat sheets. Washing a top sheet is so much easier!
You have to still wash everything you sleep in, right? So how is it supposed to save time?
@@veronikanavratilova1930 I don't wash my doona (quilt) for months at a time. Because I don't directly touch it. I find it quite annoying to remove the filling, wash the cover, then put the cover back on. Definitely an activity I'm happy to delay.
We moved to Prague in July 2021 for 6 months (we planned to be there permanently but it didn’t work out right now 😢) and we left everything in the US except clothes and some of our kids toys. My favorite thing was getting to start over with all our “stuff” and a empty flat!
I'm planning to move Prague from Dhaka (Capital of Bangladesh). Your video helping me a lot, keep it up.
Love from BD, hope to meet you someday.
using a (bigger) floor fan for drying your wet clothes saves tremendous amount of time (more than a half, could be almost a quater of time)
You could consider getting a table dishwasher, it’s kind of perfect size for two people
Moved to Prague 5 years ago, for a job from the other side of the country. Lived in Vrsovice/Vinohrady border, but honestly, I moved from there, not to deal with all the quirks these old buildings have. It felt like a huge downgrade in every aspect, except service availability :D And I come from a border town of 1500.
P.S. - We have two windsurf boards in our barn. Yea... it's ...a landlocked country.
nicely explained ..I lived in Vinohardy tooo ...however my flat has more bedroom space than living room. However there are closets in kitchen and no closet in bedroom ...
Hello Jen,
I have a tip for you about that peeling ceiling in the "shower room". You have to peel it of and paint it with a paint that contains latex (for example Prolux Latex UNI bílá). We used that in our bath room when dealing with the same issue and it worked perfectly. :)
Dík, zrovna s tím mám doma problém 😁
Hi Jen, good video as always! Just a little tip-for the humidity in your bathroom try to search for Ceresit humidity capsules, it works pretty well:)
4:13 - if you don't want to waste your space, just but bed there 🙂 In some old apartments, there was little kitchen behind door
10:55 - people didn't have bathrooms and toilets at all in 19th century, you have "hajzl na chodbě" and umyvadlo pod schodama. 😀
To ovšem není nic speciálního, tak to bylo v 19.století úplně všude...🤔
Actually, that sink in the hallway wasn't part of some flat. That used to be the *ONLY* source of running water for everyone on the floor for decades. Water pipes going to individual flats probably got first installed sometime between 1930s and 1960s.
I love that jet plane on your cabinet. Where did you got it?
Kitchen appliances - oh, one can enjoy fun with them ... sometimes they can really spare some workload - when we have twelve guests etc :-) Rest of the year - it´s for fun, of course. But the key is (IMHO) have them on hand, not somewhere deep in the cabinetry - pick them, use them, move them to the sink ( :-( )
The old photo of Masaryk? Made me so proud 🥰 Thank you!
Finaly, I couldnt wait to see a new video!!!
Jen please, you have to explain the "recycling" more to me.
We "třídíme" which means to "sort out" the garbage into the recycable sorts (plastic, glass, paper, metals, bio material, waste electrical appliances) and ordinary (common - komunál) trash.
But you (like you said) put it in garbage ... so it means, that the garbage company sorts the garbage itself ?
Or how does it work ? I am a bit confused.
Plenty of places in the US have "single stream recycling", meaning that many recyclable items are placed in the same bin, the recycling company picks it up and (presumably) sorts it out in their own facility. Which, in principle, is better for them, because to sell that stuff it has to be sorted out really well, and they want to keep tight control over it. But in practice I think most of it ends up in landfills anyway now that the usual Asian customers are not buying it anymore.
Garden trash and old appliances, car batteries, used oil and such all go through different channels in the US and are not part of the household recycling stream.
When I moved away from my family with my boyfriend and we hardly had money to afford the price of safety deposit and first three rents, we bought every piece of furniture (except of bed and mattresses) on Facebook Marketplace. I vividly remember, when we moved 80kg, 2 metres high fridge up to spiral staircase. One corner of the fridge ended up going through a window with my own hand. Luckily I have only one small scratch, but I swore I would never move anything this heavy again.
I moved 11 times before buying an old house. Your comment brought many old scars to life.
As the saying goes. It might be better to have your place burn down than to move. 😆
Předsíň serves as an “airlock” between the dirty outside and clean inside. It is also used to store bikes, strollers etc., because they are bulky and also came in contact with the dirty outside and frankly, who wants to hang a dirty bike in a bedroom?
14:05 They usually used chests for that, or some cupboards with drawers, which looked like chests, there was no way to make large closets like the modern ones, the technology for that was not yet invented.
The no screens in the window thing really is strange. I like the idea of a shower/bathroom being separate. But compared to America the apartment looks small.. so that little extra space could have been a nice storage unit or something.
Do you have any videos or recommend any sites that might help you find a roommate in Prague? Might make transferring from America to Prague easier. So something I want to look into
Did you buy the white cheddar popcorn seasoning in Prague?
14:10 wardrobes were/are the standard furniture in Europe,
Surfboard... can it be modified for wind surfing? People do that here.
I remember when you were trying to rent a flat on Václavák and Honza was like no way. And now, with exact knowlidge of your street I think you didn't get much better with one of the most crowded tram-metro crossings in the city just one crossroad away from you.
Czech here. Those old houses have some genius loci in them, but they are not very practical for modern way of living. They have awkward bathrooms with bad ventilation, super high ceilings which costs you a lot of money for winter heating (all warm air will accumulate very high under the ceilings, so you have to heat much more to have acceptable temperature 2,5-3 meters lower at you body height, it can be difficult to hang heavier stuff on the walls because of very old, crumbly bricks, if you want to ventilate your flat you have to open 2 sets of windows EVERY TIME etc. Idk... some people have nostalgia for living in this kind of old houses, but I'll prefer living in modern houses/flats any day... it's just way more practical.
Jen, that shot of passing trams :-) not a difficult task for the locals to figure out your address anyway ;-)
I used to live in Prague but never in those old flats (pff, Vinohrady). Do you not have sklep in those flats?
Also, yeah that shower room 100% used to be spizirna.
ja chodim doma taky v botech ,,, nj asi se budu muset odsunout do USA lakaji me hlavne tornada.. ale radej bych zil v Japonsku nebo Svycarsko kde je krasna priroda a klid
Holy smokes!!! An At the drive in sticker !!! I applaud your taste!!
V Čechách môžete surfovať na Slapech s plachtou, windsurfing. 👍😉
I just love this channel 🥰 I am Slovak with a Czech husband and some Czech ancestry.. and I just LOVE watching your videos
Tortilla press?! 🤔
I'm really impressed. 👍😂
Nice svastika cupboard, also lived in Germany for some time?
We also have an apartment in Czech, but not Prague. I don’t know if I can get used to the limited kitchen strip it offers. I have so much kitchen things that I would seriously have to go through and really eliminate so many things!!! I still complain here how small my kitchen is, 🤣! I don’t know if I can manage!
Can you use the surfboard as a paddle board in the river? 🤔😁
People in 1850 sure had enough clothing. And they had enormous heavy wooden closets for their pants, coats and stuff. You said that your bedroom is big enough? Sure not big enough for those closets :-D They were often very stylish - wood carvings, paintings etc. And they most likely had more than one. I can remember the smell of those closets at my grandmas. They had very thick coat of paint on them and smelled of combination of that paint and naphthalene, which was there to combat the moths that eat fabric.
Jen, the surfboard was soooo funny! The same here, in the living room for maybe 3 years without using it until I finally sold it - and I actually could use it here in DR 😀
Tomu říkám jít s kůží na trh :) Like it! WC 3x taller than wide :)