Marijuana is not legal in the Czech Republic and those cannabis shops in tourist places are just tourist traps. But in cosmetics, industrial hemp is often used.
it is not fake, its is CBD which is used to cure parkinsons for example, but classic weed i would say is generaly pretty accepted in Czech society and you can get it very easly. Also you can buy everything to grow it including seeds and if you grow less than 5 plants per person you will only get fined if they catch you you will not go to jail.
4:25 just to clarify, the original Budweiser Budvar is actually from the Czech Republic. The American Budweiser is a later copy version, and due to trademark issues, Budweiser Budvar is sold as Czechvar in the US. 🍺🇨🇿
love the idea of the shop tour. I usually don’t comment much, but as a Czech, I would like to add the local point of view. Please forgive my English, as I’m not a native speaker. Czechs often say that the price of food is high. If you compare wages and food prices with Germany, you will find that they are right. However, in comparison with other countries, such as Poland, Slovakia, or Hungary, we are probably at the same level. The turnip is actually kohlrabi, which I would say is a common and cheap vegetable in the Czech Republic. The "turnip XXL" is celery, which, along with carrot and parsley, is used for Svíčková (sirloin), as you tried in the second video. The "dough" is dumpling, the same as you had with goulash. You can cut it and put it in a microwave, or eat it cold. Yes, we like fresh bread, but we usually buy a whole loaf and cut it at home. The Czech Republic is actually the biggest producer of poppy seeds in the world. We put them in pies, koláče (kolacky), or even on pasta. We usually don’t mix it with milk and drink it, though. You don’t have to worry because the amount of morphine in Czech poppy seeds is low. The vinegar we use especially for pickling, or for homemade gherkins. Budweiser is indeed owned by the Czech government, mainly because of the arguments with the American Budweiser. It’s not the same company. There’s a pretty interesting story behind that, and if you’d like, you can look it up. The 13 CZK per beer is for the worst beer you can buy, I don’t recommend that. Marijuana in the Czech Republic isn’t legal, it can be used only in cosmetics and similar products, I think. Never buy anything in the shops you see in the center, it’s pricey and fake. I would say that Czech people certainly don’t eat healthily. Czech cuisine contains a lot of fat, etc. Chips, such as Bohemia, are common junk food. We usually watch soccer or ice hockey, eat chips, and drink beer :D. I hope these comments answered all of your questions. Please don’t take this as hate, I just wanted to make some things clear :).
ye, Czech people are always crying but the standard of living is VERY high and I would never change it. Prostě takový jsou češi, furt je něco špatně a nejlíp za to může vláda a ne moje neschopnost :D
@@dvgolf9915 To be fair a wage gap can be really large in czech population. Depends on a job you land. In prague, in some office job, you can lend extremely well paid jobs, but if you are IDK a waitress in some restaurant in some random village or something, yeah the food is getting expensive right now. But if you cook at home and don't buy junk food, it's doable.
Yup, original Czech version of budweiser is second to none. And as americans are used to mild beer - water, this is a winner for them even over Pilsner which really has its own signature
They didn't exactly steal the name of the beer, as a beer the US budweiser is older than the czech one. An american simply liked beer he tasted in Budějovice and named his beer after that inspiration. Just a few years later Budějovický Budvar came to exist as a beer brand. Trademark disputes have been raging on ever since.. Also Bud Light tastes like p
Hi, I think Czech groceries are reasonable priced even for Czech wages. Although we had a big inflation after covid (up to 18%) so everything got a lot more expensive in last few years. By the way if you compare Prague to Vancouver, the average salary in Prague is about 55% of the Vancouver salary. But the most expensive thing about living in Prague is the real-estate. Rent is high, if you wanna buy a flat, then Prague is third most expensive metropolis in Europe when adjusted to local wages. And the mortgages are around 5% ~ 6% right now. Yeah and you need 20% deposit, or the bank wont give you mortgage.
The average monthly salary in CZ is an equvalent of approx 2500 CAD/month (gross) You may see these prices as affordable, but the locals may not see it thru the same lens... Also, the gas/diesel is ~2.3 CAD / liter ... something that adds up to the monthly bill too. Plus the already mentioned rent/mortgage...
@@Mirrah001 you need to separate Prague and the rest of the country for a legit comparison. Also, if you live in Prague you don't need a car so high gas prices might not matter so much.
@ubaft3135 Sure, Prague has a higher average salaries, sure, but also cost of living. The rent is the most expensive too from the entire country. I think generally, PRG or CZ in general is a great place to live, somewhat affordable too. I just dont think its too fair to say: "oh its so cheap here" without considering the purchasing power of the locals. And as for the car, well yeah, I guess a personal preference, you can totally live without it, but if you have a family and want to move around its certainly a welcomed advantage that does add a significant cost.
To give you a reference point, average wage in the Czech Republic is about 40k CZK, in Prague its higher but so are the rents, which are btw sky high in cities. The prices in supermarkets have lately been considered too high. After the lockdown and war kicking off, the energy prices went up and so did the production prices, supermarket chains used that as an excuse to higher the prices too and now with the inflation rates keep going down, they refuse to lower them back haha. Enough ranting, I enjoyed this video, I like your enthusiasm to get to know more. A piece of advice if you really want to get to know Czech culture: Don't trust everything you see in Prague! It's mostly tourist traps that have nothing to do with actual Czech culture. You can use the railway system (which is arguably not that bad lol) to see some historical city close to Prague such as Brandýs nad Labem/Stará Boleslav or Kutná Hora.
I remember the time 3y ago when I was happy that I earn above avg salary, now my salary is almost the same. Damn, I am sad now. That mean its time to change company.
And to make it clear, if you make 40k CZK, you can live without any problems alone, even in Prague. And your quality of life will be definitely relatively high.
3:10 big jug of vinegar: many Czech people make pickles from all kind of vegetables and cucumbers. In the past (before 1989) it was not always easy to get vegetables, so people grow their own vegetables and to preserve them they use vinegar to pickle.
I love videos like this, because it makes me realize that we are doing great here in Czech Republic. And it’s great to see different perspective! Also it’s funny because you went to Billa, which is honestly one of the, if not the most expensive supermarket here in Czechia. If you went to something like Kaufland, you would be absolutely shocked how cheap groceries are here. At least for western tourists!
Czech person here. I used to really dislike my country. But after coming back from Sweden and started working, it is not that bad. I am 26, I work in my city, I earn 35K CZK/2.6K CAD after paying tax, health care and social care. I am still living with my parents, which helps a lot 😂 so in the end, I do not have to spend a lot of money 😅. I do not own a car, nor have a driver licence. I just do not need it. I only travel by trains and sometimes by busses and I ride to bike to work. I live near Prague so I travel there a lot. For me, Prague is one of a few beautiful cities in Europe, but people are sometimes not that friendly and bit stressed and on the other hand, Brno is not that beautiful, but still big enough and more relaxed. Probably because of their wine culture in Moravia 😂.
We have a cost of living crisis in Czechia as well, in fact, probably worse than you have. The cumulative inflation in Czechia between December 2021 and January 2023 was around unprecendented 30%. Czechia is the only country in the EU whose GDP is still bellow pre-Covid levels, mainly due to the massive drop of personal consumption expenditures. BTW, that turnip is kohlrabi or "german turnip", the "massive turnip" is celeriac. Marijuana is only decriminalized (sort of), only medical marijuana is legal.
I think it's even more than 30% in reality, a lot of products cost twice or even more than few years ago. My sister just moved to different apartment in Prague and they pay 31 000 CZK monthly there!!!! A lot of people don't even earn these money, it's completely crazy, this country is lost, we will all move to Poland soon. 😀
@@Pidalin They also have their problems. Also they have lower prices, but also lower salaries. Poland still didnt reach Czechia economically and neither will in less than 3 years. Even after, wealth is acumulated in generations, so even if they reach Czechia or overtake, it will take generations to accumulate the wealth, because Czechia has been practically richer through all 20th century up above potentially 2025s. If you look at purchasing power/salaries/gdp per capita in 90s and 00s, Poland was on like 50% of Czechia. And during communism it was arguably even worse (and during WWII and after even much much worse).
@@Aggoenix I don't need to accumulate wealth, I need trains that actually work and finished highway network. When your people can efficiently move, you can't increase your GPD per capita, Poland already has advantage, they will overtake is faster than you think.
@@Pidalin Czechia has the densest railroad network in Europe, arguably the best from all ex eastern/socialist countries. Poland is famous for having a very little train infrastructure, here Czechia is decades ahead even with the train problems we have. When it comes to highways, per capita and per size of the country, both countries right now have similar lenghts of highways, if Czechia had the population of Poland it would have around 4,9k highways, while Poland has 5,05k. Yea the development there long term is faster. Although the tempo in Czechia in upcoming 3 years is the most rapid in last 20 years. I know right now its trendy to bash ourselves (typical world famous czech pesimism/self criticism), but since i know relatively a lot of people from Poland who in recent years migrated here (dated a girl who migrated here for a job and knows a large circle of Polish expats in CZ), they keep telling me that even though Polish development in recent years has been really good, we have still many advantages where we keep the upper hand arguably for long future and for young people Czechia is often more trendy than home. Even if you look at the numbers of people migrating from Poland to CZ for work and studies, its per capita much larger than Czechs migrating to Poland. If you look at almost all the indexes, from innovations, wealth per capita, human capital, economical complexity, i would in a second if completely neutral and unbiased choose CZ. But yea hats down for what Poles acomplished since around 2010. Before it was chaos, i remember when i was in highschool around 2010s, Poland had one of highest unemployments, lowest salaries and pretty high debt in the EU, so its a different picture today. So to your arguments with infrastructure, if per capita highways are comparable, and railroad is much more advanced and dense in CZ, where has Poland the so called upper hand in infrastructure?
@@Pidalin People in Prague definitely do earn more than 30k. I make 170K per month, my husband makes 150k/month. Most people around me - work colleagues and friends never go under 80k. Most people I know here in Prague make in a range of 80-150k. 30k is a very low salary, obviously if one is not skilled or young they make such a small amount. But very difficult to live off of it in Prague. Prague is a rich city.
Poppy seeds are used to make traditional filling for sweet pastries like buchty or koláče (that strudel you had with poppy filling was a little unusual). You just boil it with milk, sugar and a bit of rum for taste and that's it! I love it personally
Happy to see you in my home country. I watched your discovery journey of Finland where I have been living for the past 30 years so it is fun to compare between the two and how you react to them. Veggie section was a little shocker to be fair / the stuff you didn´t recognize was kohlrabi ( kedlubny) and celeriac ( korenovy celer). "Dough" lump in pastry and bread section was steamed dumpling ( kynuty knedlik) that is eaten with meat dishes :-) Poppy seeds are very popular indeed but in their raw state you use them only as garnish on pastries and bread rolls. In pastries, as a sweet filling, you have to grind them first and slowly cook with milk, sugar and spices. Pilsner Urquel is decent but not the best at all. There are ton of local smaller breweries that are way better. Your interpretation of prices in meat section was quite fun too because that meat loaf you were showing was NOT 43 crowns for sure ( 43 CZK is per 100gr of product ). Enjoy your stay in Czech Republic.
I definitely recommend tasting Czech mustard, it is unique and as Czechs we often take it with us abroad, where unfortunately it cannot be bought. Garlic is for 15,90 Kč per 100g, not for kg. Kedlubna (Kohlrabi) is excellent when it is freshly peeled and sliced for bread, like a slightly different radish. The other vegetable was Petržel (parsley).
Where are my comments? Fellow CZ "sunny snowflakes" reported me, nvmd. The beer is not the only thing, Americans stolen from us. There are, companies ruined, factories...
1) 0:25 the price is not for 1kg of garlic but for 100g. So it's 159 CZK / 7 USD per kg. 2) 0:36 the price is per bunch of scallion not per kg. 3) 0:51 is not turnip, it's Kohlrabi (german turnip). The price is again per piece not per kg. Also it tastes like raddish but sweeter. 4) 1:09 is Celeriac (celer root) and it's used in soups, meat sauces etc. Also, cannabis is not legal here. Those shops you mentioned are tourist traps and no THC is sold there, only CBD (so like medical or cosmetic use with no drug effects on you)
Those are not XXL turnips, they are celery roots.😁 Beautiful blogs. I followed your whole adventure, from the beginning.I'm from Romania, and I like the lI'm from Romania, and I like, sarmale si mici.😋
The small turnip is a kohlrabi and the xxl turnip is in fact a celeriac ☺ When it comes to the wages...well it differs a lot across the country..I live in Silesia in the north-east and I earn as a small company worker around 18 500 Czk and my rent is 11K.Great video,glad you loved Prague 😍
Just for clarification in the beginning: Broccoli is not the price per kg, it's the price for 1 piece. Garlic is price per 100g, not kg, so it would be like 7USD/kg. Fancy onion is priced per bundle, not kg. The "turnip" is not a normal turnip, it's called either Kohlrabi or turnip cabbage, and the price is per piece, not kg. The last vegetable ("XXL turnip") is celery root and is often used in soups.
That green sphere is kohlrabi, It's chech traditional vegetable, you can eat it raw or steamed like cabbage. And that giant white sphere is celery, next traditional vegetable. We often cook it in sauces or you can eat it finely cut raw.
The first ones were no turnips, but kohlrabi. It is nothing like potato, more like raddish, but sweet. You can eat it raw, just peel it. I always eat it raw as healthy snack. Great source of fiber.
Also, the bread in supermarket is almost always (if not always) made from frozen prepared dough. If you want really fresh baked bread, always go to bakery.
so the food is really cheap in czechia, but real estate and apartment prices are very high. if you decided to move there, you will be spending most of your salary on the rent
That "raw bread" you were holding is actually dumplings before it's cut. It's pre-made, ready for microwave. Sometimes we use that to heat our leftovers. Also, that "Turnip XXL" is actually celery. It's widely used in various soups in the Czech cousine, me personally I never really grew to like it. About the cannabis - It's not legal per say, you can't be selling the THC one, and possession of the THC cannabis is limited to a certain amount. You can smoke it, nobody's gonna punish you for that (unless you decide to drive after you get high). But there is a variant of marijuana that is legal, and it's dubbed the "technical cannabis". The difference is that this variant doesn't have THC in it, but it has CBD. This is the cannabis you will find in some creams, shampoos, and the marijuana they sell in those cannabis shops around Prague (which majority of them are scams aimed towards tourists). If you visit any of the cannabis shops in the Old Town, you may notice a small sticker on the door, that has a fine print in Czech language that says "These products are not designed to be smoked or ingested, they are only intended for display/decoration purposes." You won't find this sentence in English, and the shop keepers literally just openly lie to you when you ask if you can smoke it. They say yes. That's a blatant lie, if you do that, you'll most likely throw up. These items are also morbidly overpriced, so it's mostly just money grab.
The first one is kohlrabi, a cabbage-like taste when eating peeled and raw, the large one is celeriac, eaten peeled raw or cooked in soup, strong taste, used in salads or with mushed potatoes.
In Nova Scotia, Canada we eat tons of turnips but what we call turnips is actually rutabaga or Swede. Hard believe other Canadians don’t eat turnip. Can’t eat a stew here without it or cabbage as Newfoundlanders call it Jiggs dinner also popular here in rural NS..I believe that there is celery root
0:46 😂 im so sorry, but its so funny for me to see it. the first unknown vegetable is kohlrabi and the second is celery. the first is eaten raw (it is very juicy and tasty, something between a carrot and an apple) or used in soups and sauces just like carrots. Celery is not eaten raw, but is used like kohlrabi in soups and sauces. if you boil celery and carrots until soft, drain and mix with cream, it becomes our classic sirloin sauce ❤
Poppy seeds are often combined with icing sugar to serve as a sprinkle for somethin called "šulánky s mákem". It's pieces of dough boiled in water with poppy seeds and little bit of sugar and often drizzled with butter. Delicious. 1:04 This is celery root and it's used mostly for soups. Prices are pretty good BTW, In smaller towns even better. Pragues can be expensive for most of the people. Avarage salary is like 30000 CZK ( little bit bigger in prague )
What you called turnip was actually a kohlrabi and they are from cabbage and cauliflower family. The second "turnip" was actually celery root on top of which the celery stalks grow and you use in the Caesar cocktail.
I'll tell you a small secret: If you're looking for beer in Bohemia. Look for glass bottles instead. It's usually better. ;-)
4 месяца назад+6
Beer: Hard to compare Branik (garbage) with Pilsener (classic, although recently quality and taste went down as well). As for Budweiser, check the law sue. In CZ, "we" own the brand. In other countries as well but not all of them - US Bud owns it there (and in the US as well). And yes, the Budweiser (Budvar) brewery is state-owned. Other stuff: We are used to comparing what the product is made of. Sometime you can see the ketchup will have hard time seeing the tomatoes ;-). So you cannot really compare Heinz with Clever (which is actually the Billa shops brand; other shops will have their own "value" brands as well).
I as a Czech can tell you, that if you go out of Prague the cost of living gets much better (food is the same housing gets much better you can get 2kk around 600 USD / month (13000 CZK) if you know where to look ) if you are ok with living with others you can get to 300 (7500) living conditions are good you can make it with low income if you try, if you have normal job and not American female standards you are ok and quite comfy, everything above that is nice.
There is a cost of life crisis in CZ. Prague is especially expensive and on top of that you went to Billa which tends to be very expensive. Sure, it's Prague 3 but still. First mystery item is Kohlrabi, you grt rid of the skin and the stalk, slice it and eat it raw. Second was celery root, best used in broths. The "raw bread" was a sidedish called bread dumpling. You slice it, steam it quickly and eat it with sauce-based foods, like goulashm
0:53 Kedlubna - oblíbená zelenina většinou pro přímý konzum, ale i vaření, 1:08 celer bulvový. Nepostradatelná zelenina na vaření omáček, polévek a mě chutná i syrová. 1:58 hotový houskový knedlík. Používá se jako tradiční oblíbená česká příloha v české kuchyni. K omáčkám, knedlo vepřo zelo atd. 🙂
Compared to the average wage, the cost of living especially in Prague is quite expensive. E.g. in Germany, lot of grocery is much cheaper, with triple wages.
I was in Prague last september, and it's sooooo much more affordable than anything else I've seen in Europe, it's kinda crazy. Pretty much everything in Prague costs very much alike what they do here in Brazil..... Everywhere else in Europe is crazy more expensive than around here.
Few points from Czech. Prices here are very high in comparison to our wages - germany has same prices on everything including housing and their wages are 2-3 times higher. Second thing, that "raw bread" was actually dumpling that goes with sauces. And yes we love poppy, it is washed so no opioids are left in it. Pretty easy food that can be done out of it is just pasta sprinkled with milled poppy and caster sugar, top it off with melted butter.
i must say, in Prague, it's even more expensive in some other cities. If you want really cheap beer, you can buy a 1.5 liter plastic bottle for about a dollar lol
Glad you corrected yourself at the end with "Czech-ia", because "Czech" is an adjective, it's like if you said that you are in Spanish, instead of Spain :D Also Czechia didn't "use to be called Bohemia", Bohemia is one of the regions of the Czech Republic ;) Well, correcting aside, it's interesting to see our supermarket from an outside view, and that you're impressed by our prices. I'd say they're mostly good, but watching the prices creep up over the years, I can't help but grumble sometimes about how much less it used to cost :D
Prices in Prague and in Billa are more expensive than many of alt. shops in CZ, bcs it is the capital of course :). Although the prices can appear cheap for tourists they can be expensive for sometimes even a czech person with an average salary. Taky se mi líbí, jak se na tyhle videa koukají jenom Češi, aby zjistili, jak obstojí u nic netušících amerických návštěvníků (kdo je čech, nechť lajkuje)
next time try penny or lidl, tesco aswell and it varies but you can live of minimal wage when you know how to save and prague is one of biggest tourist traps next time try diffrent city like Plzeň for example
vegetables - first one is not a turnip it is kohlrabi and it is common here, it is not similar to potato or onion, it is unique, sweet, hard to describe, the second big one is celery root, used for cooking of soups and in your svičková lunch with the dumplings that taste like turkey staffing
I am an American with a Czech husband. The first "what is it" is Kedlubna - which is called kohlrabi in American English. The 2nd one is celery root - or celeriac in American English and it is delicious - love it roasted or boiled with potatoes to make mashed potatoes. the "raw bread" is knedliky - which are a type of dumpling served with different Czech sauces. The French have NOTHING on Czechs for their sauces. The cost of living in Czechia is lower than North American, for sure, for most things anyway. Their salaries are much lower and their cost of housing is higher percentage-wise to their wages. We have a housing crisis and GREEDflation in the US as well, of course. But at least in Czech Republic they have affordable healthcare and medications. Plus, just generally they have a better quality of life IMO. All of my husband's family lives there and we talk about these things with them - vs. the US - and, at least they're not scared to go outside into crowded areas for fear of getting shot.
you may think that the price is very small, but the reality is that in Prague the average salary is around 32 thousand (approximately 1300 euros) and in Prague the salary is higher than in most of the country
@@veronikaholubova1072 Nice, and how many people who have this salary do you know ? I know almost no one. Most people i know makes around 25-40k. 56k is nonsense. :D
1:05 it is not turnip but celeriac/celery root 1:55 is dumpling you had with gulash the minced meat was cheap coz it says "akce" = sale .. it goes off soon you went to BILLA - they sell really overpriced food, some juices can climb up to 200 czk per bottle which is x times more expensive then it should be. Other stores are cheaper. We went through inflation with rapid increase of prices, some prices went almost back to the previous price, some stayed on double or triple price like you see in chips or juice sections which are usually overpriced. If you like Pilsner you should try brands like Radegast or Kozel (they are all from the same brewery like Plzeň/Pilsner)
0:53 thats not turnip, thats kohlrabi 1:13 thats celeriac 2:00 dude, thats steam dumpling, side for many czech and german dishes such as svíčková, german Knödel with sauerkraut for example
If you want to have a feeling how it is for locals, have in mind that the average salary per month is 40 000 CZK brutto, which gives you around 32 000 CZK netto. From that you need to pay living - which in Prague is about starting on 16 000 CZK for decently large (2 bedrooms) flat in decent location. 0:55 Turnip is of course usual vegetable in here - normally eatable in raw state, just remove the skin with knife, it reminds a radish but not that hot. 1:04 The second thing is Celeriac - used mainly for cooking broth or some sauces. 1:43 Sliced bread is a thing in here as well, but better ones are those "fresh" ones - also in most of the supermarkets there is slicer which you can use to slice the bread (some have also option to select slice width). 1:50 - that is a dumpling you had recently in the restaurant with gulash or svickova ;) 2:50 - for sure there are seeds, to use them as filling you need to grind them then add sugar, milk etc.
1:56 That's not bread dough, that's already cooked dumpling. Dumpling dough is not sold either, only ready-made dumplings are sold. Perhaps it would be good to also say that those prices are in proportion to the average salary of 1928 dollars, which is about 3 times less than in Canada. the vinegar we have is different than in Canada, not white but brown. It is widely used in our country, because we do a lot of canning, and then we love cucumber and tomato salads, as well as cabbage salads, and these are vinegar-based. The average Czech consumes perhaps a surprising amount of vinegar in a year. In addition, this vinegar can also be used as a poultice when there is swelling, fever or when you are stung by a bee. It is a so-called acetate covering. Attention, marijuana is not legal here. Hemp is a plant from which rope and cloth are also made. This plant contains medicinal substances, only what is addictive does not contain them. It is confused. Although they are siblings in the botanical series, they are not one and the same.
In Hungary we also have everything with poppy seeds and strudel and other cakes with poppy filling.The honey wheat cereal is also very popular in Romania only is very colorful is called pufarin,my childhood favorite
jsem rad,že vidim od lidi z usa a canady prvni normalni video o ceske republice,to znamena ze tam neni jen praha a pamatky.v naší republice je hodne k videni i na vychode pri hranicich ze slovenskem a polskem tak zvane trojmezi I'm glad to see the first normal video about the Czech Republic from people from the USA and Canada, it means that there is not only Prague and monuments. In our republic, it is also worth seeing at the border with Slovakia and Poland, the so-called triple border
It used to be even cheaper, this is after a huge inflation. Some things are expensive for us compared to how it used to be, but I see where you're coming from thinking it's cheap.
The first mystery veg is Kedluben which should be Kohlrabi in english (i actually never heard this english term before :D ) and its used/eaten both fresh and in warm recipes in different ways. When its fresh and the right size, it is amazing to eat it just like that fresh and raw (after getting rid of the outer "shell") And the second mystery veg is Celery. Its not used very often. Mainly as one of many ingredients for our national christmas dish potato salad. As for prices, it depends where, but in general our salaries are not very high so for people from abroad the prices may sometimes seem nice, but for most Czechs the prices we have here in general are considered expensive. But it also depends on many things. Oh and btw, we are abosolutely not healthy eaters :D (most of us :D )
For foreigners with "stronger" currencies like dollars, euros (USA, Canada, Germany, Scandinavia and so on) Czech in general is really cheap and affordable. You even have people from Denmak and those places going to Prague to party for a few days because for their hourly wage, they can buy like 8 beers in a pub and they can barely afford to go partying in Denmark because the services are so expensive. But for the locals its a different story id say. Prague is the most expensive European city when it comes to rent/flat prices (was published just 2 weeks ago). So the cost of living in terms of house/flat/rent is extremely bad and only the top earners buy flats in Prague right now (with a huge mortage ofc). When it comes to groceries and services its not that bad. Although we have like 20 % inflation and huge scandal with the supermarket chains hiking up the prices (Czech people from the borders were going shopping to Poland fo example). The prices rose up in pubs aswell (the inflation) but still the pub culture is big in Czech and its affordable for most Czechs not just foreigners. So id say when it comes to groceries and stuff, its still quite good and the prices are just going down right now to a really decent standard and we cant complain much, the infaltion hit every EU country in a way. One thing to note salaries in Prague are much bigger than in rest of the country, so for people outside of Prague, Prague is quite expensive (you need a Prague salary to live there). But our buying power when it comes to buying a flat/house/rent is actually the worst in whole EU (Czechs need like 14 years of average salary to afford a flat compared to some other EU countries where its half of that). Enjoy your holiday!
Czech republic never had inflation above 17% so that's just wrong. Now it's around 3%. Definitely not most expensive european city for rent prices, it's not even in the top 20(Amsterdam is the most expensive). Also it doesn't work like that with currencies. For example: If someone from Slovakia visits Prague even tho he has euro ("stronger" currency) it is still (usually) higher price than in Slovakia.
Yeah, groceries are not cheap for us actually. Cause canadian salaries are like 3x higher than czech ones. I love in prague and the cost of living (especially rent) is a STRUGGLE. Definitely not affordable for someone living and working here
When you don't know what kind of vegetable is that, you can just translate it from czech to english, there are labels next to every item... you carry your phone everywhere with you, just put it to good use
The Czech rep. was not called Bohemia. Bohemia is, even now, one of the historical lands - the Czech lands consist of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. Bohemia became a part of Great Moravia in 867 and then, way later, Moravia along with Silesia was ruled by Kingdom of Bohemia, forming a Bohemian Crown (Lands). Well, it is longer than that: just google "Lands of the Bohemian Crown". And something about Holy Roman Empire, too (Prague became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire when the Czech king Charles IV was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire). Cheers.
1:58 That is no dough :) these are dumplings, they are made of flour too, but they are used as a side dish (with sauce). Those are in fact already made (so not really fresh), you are supposed to cut them and reheat them (either in the microwave or in a steamer). 2:50 those are ground poppy seeds. Nobody eats them as porridge, you use them to make cakes or pastries, similarly to what you ate as a strudel. 2:10 we use vinegar to pickle vegetables :) people pickle cucumbers, cabbage, sausages and other vegetables!
0:46 That's not a turnip, it's kohlrabi (kedlubna in Czech), I'd say it's a pretty common vegetable especially in rural Czechia usually used in different stews or peeled and eaten raw. It's similar to raw potato just less watery and slightly more sweet. 1:04 Again, not a "large turnip". It's celery root. Mostly used in soups. I'm pretty sure nobody eats this raw. 4:45 Cannabis is not legal in Czechia but is decriminalized (with THC still illegal though). Notheless, Cannabis is still used in shampoos, lotions and I even saw chocolate with Cannabis seeds. All these products don't contain any THC which means you cannot get "high" from them or they won't have any undesired effects on you. The Cannabis plant actually contains many medical properties. 5:27 I'm not from Prague so I can't speak for them but since the pandemic ended living standars have become slightly worse and the prices of groceries are significantly bigger than before the pandemic (depends on the product 10-50% more expensive) but I believe Czechia has not been hit as hard in terms of cost of living compared to Canada. (You have a terrible prime minister)
Yes indeed, I was looking for this comment. Also, one should be careful about the interpretation of some prices as for example the onions in 0:18. This is a discounted price, not a regular one. The item will be sold for 31.90 CZK the next week. Weekly discounts for certain items are very popular in Czechia, as the price level of food here is very similar, sometimes maybe even higher than in e.g. Germany or Britain, which is disproportionate to Czech wages that are 5-10x smaller than the German or British ones (again, it strongly depends on the industry).
In my opinion, kohlrabi tastes like a broccoli stalk bought from the farmer's market. Daikon radish is spicy (fresh one, not pickled one). Kohlrabi is not spicy at all.
There is Prague and other Czechia. Prices and cost of living dropping much if you are out of Prague (Also people earnings). For Example Moravia area. I recommend to see city of Olomouc. Only approx. 100k population but locals say It has 2nd biggest old town in Czech! It's really beautiful!! And Pivo there 🎉
Cost of housing yes, but everything else is actually cheaper in Prague, especially shopping. Village supermarket can heve even double prices compared to Prague and quality in Prague is much better, I don't even buy rohlík and houska anymore since I moved from Prague, these things are trash in village shops.
Really cheap because living is really cheap, surprising 😂 I think i went to that same market some 7 years ago, can remember the stairs and entrance, construction yard still not finished next to it 😁
Marijuana is not legal in the Czech Republic and those cannabis shops in tourist places are just tourist traps. But in cosmetics, industrial hemp is often used.
yeah its CBD not THC, its not psychoactive at all so it is basically just hemp
@@Kerttis But it works XD
it is not fake, its is CBD which is used to cure parkinsons for example, but classic weed i would say is generaly pretty accepted in Czech society and you can get it very easly. Also you can buy everything to grow it including seeds and if you grow less than 5 plants per person you will only get fined if they catch you you will not go to jail.
It is not legal or illegal. It is decriminalized. What you see in tourist shops is all .3% or less, which is legal to be openly sold.
Yes but so many shops are going around the law and so many tourists think it's legal , it would make sense to fully legalize.
1:55 This is not raw bread but a Czech dumpling. It's just cut up and it's a side dish to, for example, goulash or Svíčková
Yeah, specifically the one made with bread, like the one they had in the restaurant, that resembled turkey stuffing.
Yess, good old Czech "knedlík" [dumpling]
U tohoto momentu jsem se hodně nahlas zasmál :)) ale chápu, že nevěděl, co to je
Vepřoknedlozelo is the greatest
Jj
4:25 just to clarify, the original Budweiser Budvar is actually from the Czech Republic. The American Budweiser is a later copy version, and due to trademark issues, Budweiser Budvar is sold as Czechvar in the US. 🍺🇨🇿
It's not a copy, it's anything completely different. Czech Budweiser is beer, US Budweiser is colored water.
@@TheKubyk Can't believe they stole the name just to name a water brand with it.
love the idea of the shop tour. I usually don’t comment much, but as a Czech, I would like to add the local point of view. Please forgive my English, as I’m not a native speaker. Czechs often say that the price of food is high. If you compare wages and food prices with Germany, you will find that they are right. However, in comparison with other countries, such as Poland, Slovakia, or Hungary, we are probably at the same level.
The turnip is actually kohlrabi, which I would say is a common and cheap vegetable in the Czech Republic. The "turnip XXL" is celery, which, along with carrot and parsley, is used for Svíčková (sirloin), as you tried in the second video.
The "dough" is dumpling, the same as you had with goulash. You can cut it and put it in a microwave, or eat it cold. Yes, we like fresh bread, but we usually buy a whole loaf and cut it at home.
The Czech Republic is actually the biggest producer of poppy seeds in the world. We put them in pies, koláče (kolacky), or even on pasta. We usually don’t mix it with milk and drink it, though. You don’t have to worry because the amount of morphine in Czech poppy seeds is low. The vinegar we use especially for pickling, or for homemade gherkins.
Budweiser is indeed owned by the Czech government, mainly because of the arguments with the American Budweiser. It’s not the same company. There’s a pretty interesting story behind that, and if you’d like, you can look it up. The 13 CZK per beer is for the worst beer you can buy, I don’t recommend that.
Marijuana in the Czech Republic isn’t legal, it can be used only in cosmetics and similar products, I think. Never buy anything in the shops you see in the center, it’s pricey and fake.
I would say that Czech people certainly don’t eat healthily. Czech cuisine contains a lot of fat, etc. Chips, such as Bohemia, are common junk food. We usually watch soccer or ice hockey, eat chips, and drink beer :D.
I hope these comments answered all of your questions. Please don’t take this as hate, I just wanted to make some things clear :).
ye, Czech people are always crying but the standard of living is VERY high and I would never change it.
Prostě takový jsou češi, furt je něco špatně a nejlíp za to může vláda a ne moje neschopnost :D
@@dvgolf9915 To be fair a wage gap can be really large in czech population. Depends on a job you land. In prague, in some office job, you can lend extremely well paid jobs, but if you are IDK a waitress in some restaurant in some random village or something, yeah the food is getting expensive right now. But if you cook at home and don't buy junk food, it's doable.
You need to try Czech Budweiser. Nothing to do with American one. American company just stole the name.
Put Pilsner Urquell is much better.
Yup, original Czech version of budweiser is second to none. And as americans are used to mild beer - water, this is a winner for them even over Pilsner which really has its own signature
They didn't exactly steal the name of the beer, as a beer the US budweiser is older than the czech one. An american simply liked beer he tasted in Budějovice and named his beer after that inspiration. Just a few years later Budějovický Budvar came to exist as a beer brand. Trademark disputes have been raging on ever since..
Also Bud Light tastes like p
@@ablazedguy speaking as on american market, not european, to whats older.
@@HollowHumanBeing it's 1876 for american budweiser and 1895 for the czech one.
The first “what is it?” was kohlrabi and the second was celery root. Try them they’re delicious!
They dont care... If they do they could open google translator
@@erikn.8626 okay, negative nancy, calm down lol.
@@raw_bin At least, they could still correct themselves in the subtitles but didn't.
Kohlrabi and Sellerie are the German words for this veggies
Agreed, its sweet and juicy, I love it. Peel it and eat raw.
Hi, I think Czech groceries are reasonable priced even for Czech wages. Although we had a big inflation after covid (up to 18%) so everything got a lot more expensive in last few years. By the way if you compare Prague to Vancouver, the average salary in Prague is about 55% of the Vancouver salary. But the most expensive thing about living in Prague is the real-estate. Rent is high, if you wanna buy a flat, then Prague is third most expensive metropolis in Europe when adjusted to local wages. And the mortgages are around 5% ~ 6% right now. Yeah and you need 20% deposit, or the bank wont give you mortgage.
The average monthly salary in CZ is an equvalent of approx 2500 CAD/month (gross)
You may see these prices as affordable, but the locals may not see it thru the same lens... Also, the gas/diesel is ~2.3 CAD / liter ... something that adds up to the monthly bill too. Plus the already mentioned rent/mortgage...
@@Mirrah001 you need to separate Prague and the rest of the country for a legit comparison. Also, if you live in Prague you don't need a car so high gas prices might not matter so much.
@ubaft3135 Sure, Prague has a higher average salaries, sure, but also cost of living. The rent is the most expensive too from the entire country. I think generally, PRG or CZ in general is a great place to live, somewhat affordable too. I just dont think its too fair to say: "oh its so cheap here" without considering the purchasing power of the locals. And as for the car, well yeah, I guess a personal preference, you can totally live without it, but if you have a family and want to move around its certainly a welcomed advantage that does add a significant cost.
@@Mirrah001 median net salary is about 1.800 CAD (30.000,- Kč)
To give you a reference point, average wage in the Czech Republic is about 40k CZK, in Prague its higher but so are the rents, which are btw sky high in cities. The prices in supermarkets have lately been considered too high. After the lockdown and war kicking off, the energy prices went up and so did the production prices, supermarket chains used that as an excuse to higher the prices too and now with the inflation rates keep going down, they refuse to lower them back haha.
Enough ranting, I enjoyed this video, I like your enthusiasm to get to know more. A piece of advice if you really want to get to know Czech culture: Don't trust everything you see in Prague! It's mostly tourist traps that have nothing to do with actual Czech culture. You can use the railway system (which is arguably not that bad lol) to see some historical city close to Prague such as Brandýs nad Labem/Stará Boleslav or Kutná Hora.
statistical magic, im yet to see non-Prague person making 40k
I remember the time 3y ago when I was happy that I earn above avg salary, now my salary is almost the same. Damn, I am sad now. That mean its time to change company.
@@janovmi2 I know plenty of them
And to make it clear, if you make 40k CZK, you can live without any problems alone, even in Prague. And your quality of life will be definitely relatively high.
@@janovmi2 I make 60k, I am from Ostrava, living in Brno. I could be doing the same job for the same money in Rožnov.
3:53 - you put the mustard in the wrong shelf! Blasphemy!
Hey!! So funny you noticed this BUT! We put it back afterwards!! We realized our mistake lol
3:10 big jug of vinegar: many Czech people make pickles from all kind of vegetables and cucumbers. In the past (before 1989) it was not always easy to get vegetables, so people grow their own vegetables and to preserve them they use vinegar to pickle.
I love videos like this, because it makes me realize that we are doing great here in Czech Republic. And it’s great to see different perspective! Also it’s funny because you went to Billa, which is honestly one of the, if not the most expensive supermarket here in Czechia. If you went to something like Kaufland, you would be absolutely shocked how cheap groceries are here. At least for western tourists!
the dough might be Czech dumplings.
Indeed, used only as side dish
And arguably pretty terrible ones
@@litaveccz no way dumpings are great
@@ondramrazek5547 yea but not usualy the ones from big supermarkets
Czech person here. I used to really dislike my country. But after coming back from Sweden and started working, it is not that bad. I am 26, I work in my city, I earn 35K CZK/2.6K CAD after paying tax, health care and social care. I am still living with my parents, which helps a lot 😂 so in the end, I do not have to spend a lot of money 😅. I do not own a car, nor have a driver licence. I just do not need it. I only travel by trains and sometimes by busses and I ride to bike to work. I live near Prague so I travel there a lot. For me, Prague is one of a few beautiful cities in Europe, but people are sometimes not that friendly and bit stressed and on the other hand, Brno is not that beautiful, but still big enough and more relaxed. Probably because of their wine culture in Moravia 😂.
Ty jsi marný...
We have a cost of living crisis in Czechia as well, in fact, probably worse than you have. The cumulative inflation in Czechia between December 2021 and January 2023 was around unprecendented 30%. Czechia is the only country in the EU whose GDP is still bellow pre-Covid levels, mainly due to the massive drop of personal consumption expenditures. BTW, that turnip is kohlrabi or "german turnip", the "massive turnip" is celeriac. Marijuana is only decriminalized (sort of), only medical marijuana is legal.
I think it's even more than 30% in reality, a lot of products cost twice or even more than few years ago. My sister just moved to different apartment in Prague and they pay 31 000 CZK monthly there!!!! A lot of people don't even earn these money, it's completely crazy, this country is lost, we will all move to Poland soon. 😀
@@Pidalin They also have their problems. Also they have lower prices, but also lower salaries. Poland still didnt reach Czechia economically and neither will in less than 3 years. Even after, wealth is acumulated in generations, so even if they reach Czechia or overtake, it will take generations to accumulate the wealth, because Czechia has been practically richer through all 20th century up above potentially 2025s. If you look at purchasing power/salaries/gdp per capita in 90s and 00s, Poland was on like 50% of Czechia. And during communism it was arguably even worse (and during WWII and after even much much worse).
@@Aggoenix I don't need to accumulate wealth, I need trains that actually work and finished highway network. When your people can efficiently move, you can't increase your GPD per capita, Poland already has advantage, they will overtake is faster than you think.
@@Pidalin Czechia has the densest railroad network in Europe, arguably the best from all ex eastern/socialist countries. Poland is famous for having a very little train infrastructure, here Czechia is decades ahead even with the train problems we have. When it comes to highways, per capita and per size of the country, both countries right now have similar lenghts of highways, if Czechia had the population of Poland it would have around 4,9k highways, while Poland has 5,05k. Yea the development there long term is faster. Although the tempo in Czechia in upcoming 3 years is the most rapid in last 20 years. I know right now its trendy to bash ourselves (typical world famous czech pesimism/self criticism), but since i know relatively a lot of people from Poland who in recent years migrated here (dated a girl who migrated here for a job and knows a large circle of Polish expats in CZ), they keep telling me that even though Polish development in recent years has been really good, we have still many advantages where we keep the upper hand arguably for long future and for young people Czechia is often more trendy than home. Even if you look at the numbers of people migrating from Poland to CZ for work and studies, its per capita much larger than Czechs migrating to Poland. If you look at almost all the indexes, from innovations, wealth per capita, human capital, economical complexity, i would in a second if completely neutral and unbiased choose CZ. But yea hats down for what Poles acomplished since around 2010. Before it was chaos, i remember when i was in highschool around 2010s, Poland had one of highest unemployments, lowest salaries and pretty high debt in the EU, so its a different picture today. So to your arguments with infrastructure, if per capita highways are comparable, and railroad is much more advanced and dense in CZ, where has Poland the so called upper hand in infrastructure?
@@Pidalin People in Prague definitely do earn more than 30k. I make 170K per month, my husband makes 150k/month. Most people around me - work colleagues and friends never go under 80k. Most people I know here in Prague make in a range of 80-150k. 30k is a very low salary, obviously if one is not skilled or young they make such a small amount. But very difficult to live off of it in Prague. Prague is a rich city.
Poppy seeds are used to make traditional filling for sweet pastries like buchty or koláče (that strudel you had with poppy filling was a little unusual). You just boil it with milk, sugar and a bit of rum for taste and that's it! I love it personally
Happy to see you in my home country. I watched your discovery journey of Finland where I have been living for the past 30 years so it is fun to compare between the two and how you react to them.
Veggie section was a little shocker to be fair / the stuff you didn´t recognize was kohlrabi ( kedlubny) and celeriac ( korenovy celer).
"Dough" lump in pastry and bread section was steamed dumpling ( kynuty knedlik) that is eaten with meat dishes :-)
Poppy seeds are very popular indeed but in their raw state you use them only as garnish on pastries and bread rolls.
In pastries, as a sweet filling, you have to grind them first and slowly cook with milk, sugar and spices.
Pilsner Urquel is decent but not the best at all. There are ton of local smaller breweries that are way better.
Your interpretation of prices in meat section was quite fun too because that meat loaf you were showing was NOT 43 crowns for sure ( 43 CZK is per 100gr of product ).
Enjoy your stay in Czech Republic.
I definitely recommend tasting Czech mustard, it is unique and as Czechs we often take it with us abroad, where unfortunately it cannot be bought. Garlic is for 15,90 Kč per 100g, not for kg. Kedlubna (Kohlrabi) is excellent when it is freshly peeled and sliced for bread, like a slightly different radish. The other vegetable was Petržel (parsley).
Where are my comments? Fellow CZ "sunny snowflakes" reported me, nvmd. The beer is not the only thing, Americans stolen from us. There are, companies ruined, factories...
The other vegetable was in fact celery root.
1) 0:25 the price is not for 1kg of garlic but for 100g. So it's 159 CZK / 7 USD per kg.
2) 0:36 the price is per bunch of scallion not per kg.
3) 0:51 is not turnip, it's Kohlrabi (german turnip). The price is again per piece not per kg. Also it tastes like raddish but sweeter.
4) 1:09 is Celeriac (celer root) and it's used in soups, meat sauces etc.
Also, cannabis is not legal here. Those shops you mentioned are tourist traps and no THC is sold there, only CBD (so like medical or cosmetic use with no drug effects on you)
Vinegar is also used as a cleaning product. That's why it's sold in large bottles.
Those are not XXL turnips, they are celery roots.😁 Beautiful blogs. I followed your whole adventure, from the beginning.I'm from Romania, and I like the lI'm from Romania, and I like, sarmale si mici.😋
It's Celeriac, also known as celery root.
A. K. A. turnip xxl
The small turnip is a kohlrabi and the xxl turnip is in fact a celeriac ☺ When it comes to the wages...well it differs a lot across the country..I live in Silesia in the north-east and I earn as a small company worker around 18 500 Czk and my rent is 11K.Great video,glad you loved Prague 😍
1:59 this is knedlík( dumpling) not raw bread. It is famous side dish. It is used in most famous food there vepřoknedlozelo.
4:45 it is not legal. It is cbd hemp. And in all shops it is just cbd marijuana without thc.
Just for clarification in the beginning: Broccoli is not the price per kg, it's the price for 1 piece. Garlic is price per 100g, not kg, so it would be like 7USD/kg. Fancy onion is priced per bundle, not kg. The "turnip" is not a normal turnip, it's called either Kohlrabi or turnip cabbage, and the price is per piece, not kg. The last vegetable ("XXL turnip") is celery root and is often used in soups.
That green sphere is kohlrabi, It's chech traditional vegetable, you can eat it raw or steamed like cabbage. And that giant white sphere is celery, next traditional vegetable. We often cook it in sauces or you can eat it finely cut raw.
The first ones were no turnips, but kohlrabi. It is nothing like potato, more like raddish, but sweet. You can eat it raw, just peel it. I always eat it raw as healthy snack. Great source of fiber.
Also, the bread in supermarket is almost always (if not always) made from frozen prepared dough. If you want really fresh baked bread, always go to bakery.
so the food is really cheap in czechia, but real estate and apartment prices are very high. if you decided to move there, you will be spending most of your salary on the rent
That "raw bread" you were holding is actually dumplings before it's cut. It's pre-made, ready for microwave. Sometimes we use that to heat our leftovers. Also, that "Turnip XXL" is actually celery. It's widely used in various soups in the Czech cousine, me personally I never really grew to like it. About the cannabis - It's not legal per say, you can't be selling the THC one, and possession of the THC cannabis is limited to a certain amount. You can smoke it, nobody's gonna punish you for that (unless you decide to drive after you get high). But there is a variant of marijuana that is legal, and it's dubbed the "technical cannabis". The difference is that this variant doesn't have THC in it, but it has CBD. This is the cannabis you will find in some creams, shampoos, and the marijuana they sell in those cannabis shops around Prague (which majority of them are scams aimed towards tourists). If you visit any of the cannabis shops in the Old Town, you may notice a small sticker on the door, that has a fine print in Czech language that says "These products are not designed to be smoked or ingested, they are only intended for display/decoration purposes." You won't find this sentence in English, and the shop keepers literally just openly lie to you when you ask if you can smoke it. They say yes. That's a blatant lie, if you do that, you'll most likely throw up. These items are also morbidly overpriced, so it's mostly just money grab.
JetLag Warriors, Subscribed because your videos always make me smile!
Them guessing what the stuff was got me rolling 🤣
The first one is kohlrabi, a cabbage-like taste when eating peeled and raw, the large one is celeriac, eaten peeled raw or cooked in soup, strong taste, used in salads or with mushed potatoes.
In Nova Scotia, Canada we eat tons of turnips but what we call turnips is actually rutabaga or Swede. Hard believe other Canadians don’t eat turnip. Can’t eat a stew here without it or cabbage as Newfoundlanders call it Jiggs dinner also popular here in rural NS..I believe that there is celery root
0:46 😂 im so sorry, but its so funny for me to see it. the first unknown vegetable is kohlrabi and the second is celery. the first is eaten raw (it is very juicy and tasty, something between a carrot and an apple) or used in soups and sauces just like carrots. Celery is not eaten raw, but is used like kohlrabi in soups and sauces. if you boil celery and carrots until soft, drain and mix with cream, it becomes our classic sirloin sauce ❤
Poppy seeds are often combined with icing sugar to serve as a sprinkle for somethin called "šulánky s mákem". It's pieces of dough boiled in water with poppy seeds and little bit of sugar and often drizzled with butter. Delicious. 1:04 This is celery root and it's used mostly for soups. Prices are pretty good BTW, In smaller towns even better. Pragues can be expensive for most of the people. Avarage salary is like 30000 CZK ( little bit bigger in prague )
1:18 celery root...and before that it was kohlrabi (odd taste) but bread, butter, salt and kohlrabi slices are fine
What you called turnip was actually a kohlrabi and they are from cabbage and cauliflower family. The second "turnip" was actually celery root on top of which the celery stalks grow and you use in the Caesar cocktail.
I'll tell you a small secret: If you're looking for beer in Bohemia. Look for glass bottles instead. It's usually better. ;-)
Beer:
Hard to compare Branik (garbage) with Pilsener (classic, although recently quality and taste went down as well). As for Budweiser, check the law sue. In CZ, "we" own the brand. In other countries as well but not all of them - US Bud owns it there (and in the US as well). And yes, the Budweiser (Budvar) brewery is state-owned.
Other stuff:
We are used to comparing what the product is made of. Sometime you can see the ketchup will have hard time seeing the tomatoes ;-). So you cannot really compare Heinz with Clever (which is actually the Billa shops brand; other shops will have their own "value" brands as well).
I as a Czech can tell you, that if you go out of Prague the cost of living gets much better (food is the same housing gets much better you can get 2kk around 600 USD / month (13000 CZK) if you know where to look ) if you are ok with living with others you can get to 300 (7500) living conditions are good
you can make it with low income if you try, if you have normal job and not American female standards you are ok and quite comfy, everything above that is nice.
You must be very very lucky to get 2kk for 13k these days.
There is a cost of life crisis in CZ. Prague is especially expensive and on top of that you went to Billa which tends to be very expensive. Sure, it's Prague 3 but still.
First mystery item is Kohlrabi, you grt rid of the skin and the stalk, slice it and eat it raw. Second was celery root, best used in broths.
The "raw bread" was a sidedish called bread dumpling. You slice it, steam it quickly and eat it with sauce-based foods, like goulashm
0:55 Kohlrabi - peel and eat, or boil an then eat
1:04 celery root, peel, boil or bake to eat
Yes, grocery prices are actually quite cheap even for locals however the prices of apartments and houses are at all time high.
0:53 Kedlubna - oblíbená zelenina většinou pro přímý konzum, ale i vaření, 1:08 celer bulvový. Nepostradatelná zelenina na vaření omáček, polévek a mě chutná i syrová. 1:58 hotový houskový knedlík. Používá se jako tradiční oblíbená česká příloha v české kuchyni. K omáčkám, knedlo vepřo zelo atd. 🙂
Compared to the average wage, the cost of living especially in Prague is quite expensive. E.g. in Germany, lot of grocery is much cheaper, with triple wages.
I was in Prague last september, and it's sooooo much more affordable than anything else I've seen in Europe, it's kinda crazy.
Pretty much everything in Prague costs very much alike what they do here in Brazil..... Everywhere else in Europe is crazy more expensive than around here.
And Prague is arguably the most expensive city in Czech republic..
@@tomaskner9537 I have spent a couple days in Pilsen as well, and you’re probably right…. Stuff in Pilsen was either the same or cheaper I guess
@@seilaoquemvc2 Wages in Pilsen are at least 20 % lower then in Prague.
@@tomaskner9537Arguably? It definitely is, nothing to argue here.
The big "turnip" :D Was a celery :D Not a turnip :D We use it in our popular soup "Vývar"
Few points from Czech. Prices here are very high in comparison to our wages - germany has same prices on everything including housing and their wages are 2-3 times higher. Second thing, that "raw bread" was actually dumpling that goes with sauces. And yes we love poppy, it is washed so no opioids are left in it. Pretty easy food that can be done out of it is just pasta sprinkled with milled poppy and caster sugar, top it off with melted butter.
i must say, in Prague, it's even more expensive in some other cities. If you want really cheap beer, you can buy a 1.5 liter plastic bottle for about a dollar lol
That is not XXL Turnip. It is celery root. We use if for everything here (soups, sauces, etc.) And raw bread isn't bred, it is dumpling...
Glad you corrected yourself at the end with "Czech-ia", because "Czech" is an adjective, it's like if you said that you are in Spanish, instead of Spain :D Also Czechia didn't "use to be called Bohemia", Bohemia is one of the regions of the Czech Republic ;)
Well, correcting aside, it's interesting to see our supermarket from an outside view, and that you're impressed by our prices. I'd say they're mostly good, but watching the prices creep up over the years, I can't help but grumble sometimes about how much less it used to cost :D
@0:55 that's not turnip, that's kohlrabi. It's delicious with bread/butter and a bit of salt :) You need to peel it first.
Prices in Prague and in Billa are more expensive than many of alt. shops in CZ, bcs it is the capital of course :). Although the prices can appear cheap for tourists they can be expensive for sometimes even a czech person with an average salary. Taky se mi líbí, jak se na tyhle videa koukají jenom Češi, aby zjistili, jak obstojí u nic netušících amerických návštěvníků (kdo je čech, nechť lajkuje)
Taky nemůžu z toho, že komentují jenom Češi 😅
@@petraz.3812 aspoň to pomůže algoritmu, aby to vidělo víc Čechů :D
next time try penny or lidl, tesco aswell and it varies but you can live of minimal wage when you know how to save and prague is one of biggest tourist traps next time try diffrent city like Plzeň for example
vegetables - first one is not a turnip it is kohlrabi and it is common here, it is not similar to potato or onion, it is unique, sweet, hard to describe, the second big one is celery root, used for cooking of soups and in your svičková lunch with the dumplings that taste like turkey staffing
I am an American with a Czech husband. The first "what is it" is Kedlubna - which is called kohlrabi in American English. The 2nd one is celery root - or celeriac in American English and it is delicious - love it roasted or boiled with potatoes to make mashed potatoes. the "raw bread" is knedliky - which are a type of dumpling served with different Czech sauces. The French have NOTHING on Czechs for their sauces.
The cost of living in Czechia is lower than North American, for sure, for most things anyway. Their salaries are much lower and their cost of housing is higher percentage-wise to their wages. We have a housing crisis and GREEDflation in the US as well, of course. But at least in Czech Republic they have affordable healthcare and medications. Plus, just generally they have a better quality of life IMO. All of my husband's family lives there and we talk about these things with them - vs. the US - and, at least they're not scared to go outside into crowded areas for fear of getting shot.
you may think that the price is very small, but the reality is that in Prague the average salary is around 32 thousand (approximately 1300 euros) and in Prague the salary is higher than in most of the country
Statistically speaking the average salary in Prague is 2 280 euro.
@@veronikaholubova1072 Nice, and how many people who have this salary do you know ? I know almost no one. Most people i know makes around 25-40k. 56k is nonsense. :D
And you actually went to (probably) the most expensive supermarket. :D
When you go Just one kilometer out of prague the prices are even more good plus they are making it more fandy and super Just for you to pak more
1:56
Raw Bread ..... That exists? XD
Thats a dumpling used in many dishes
1:05 it is not turnip but celeriac/celery root
1:55 is dumpling you had with gulash
the minced meat was cheap coz it says "akce" = sale .. it goes off soon
you went to BILLA - they sell really overpriced food, some juices can climb up to 200 czk per bottle which is x times more expensive then it should be. Other stores are cheaper.
We went through inflation with rapid increase of prices, some prices went almost back to the previous price, some stayed on double or triple price like you see in chips or juice sections which are usually overpriced.
If you like Pilsner you should try brands like Radegast or Kozel (they are all from the same brewery like Plzeň/Pilsner)
I suppose it's kind or a turnip but it is called Kohlrabi We add them to soup or eat them raw. They're a sweet root vegetable.
0:53 thats not turnip, thats kohlrabi 1:13 thats celeriac 2:00 dude, thats steam dumpling, side for many czech and german dishes such as svíčková, german Knödel with sauerkraut for example
If you want to have a feeling how it is for locals, have in mind that the average salary per month is 40 000 CZK brutto, which gives you around 32 000 CZK netto.
From that you need to pay living - which in Prague is about starting on 16 000 CZK for decently large (2 bedrooms) flat in decent location.
0:55 Turnip is of course usual vegetable in here - normally eatable in raw state, just remove the skin with knife, it reminds a radish but not that hot.
1:04 The second thing is Celeriac - used mainly for cooking broth or some sauces.
1:43 Sliced bread is a thing in here as well, but better ones are those "fresh" ones - also in most of the supermarkets there is slicer which you can use to slice the bread (some have also option to select slice width).
1:50 - that is a dumpling you had recently in the restaurant with gulash or svickova ;)
2:50 - for sure there are seeds, to use them as filling you need to grind them then add sugar, milk etc.
1:56 That's not bread dough, that's already cooked dumpling. Dumpling dough is not sold either, only ready-made dumplings are sold. Perhaps it would be good to also say that those prices are in proportion to the average salary of 1928 dollars, which is about 3 times less than in Canada. the vinegar we have is different than in Canada, not white but brown. It is widely used in our country, because we do a lot of canning, and then we love cucumber and tomato salads, as well as cabbage salads, and these are vinegar-based. The average Czech consumes perhaps a surprising amount of vinegar in a year. In addition, this vinegar can also be used as a poultice when there is swelling, fever or when you are stung by a bee. It is a so-called acetate covering. Attention, marijuana is not legal here. Hemp is a plant from which rope and cloth are also made. This plant contains medicinal substances, only what is addictive does not contain them. It is confused. Although they are siblings in the botanical series, they are not one and the same.
The food is cheap only for you. We got really low income so it is expensive for us. Also a lot of things in Prague are overpriced.
In Hungary we also have everything with poppy seeds and strudel and other cakes with poppy filling.The honey wheat cereal is also very popular in Romania only is very colorful is called pufarin,my childhood favorite
jsem rad,že vidim od lidi z usa a canady prvni normalni video o ceske republice,to znamena ze tam neni jen praha a pamatky.v naší republice je hodne k videni i na vychode pri hranicich ze slovenskem a polskem tak zvane trojmezi I'm glad to see the first normal video about the Czech Republic from people from the USA and Canada, it means that there is not only Prague and monuments. In our republic, it is also worth seeing at the border with Slovakia and Poland, the so-called triple border
To já jsem také rád. Hezký den přeje Petr Havlíček.
It used to be even cheaper, this is after a huge inflation. Some things are expensive for us compared to how it used to be, but I see where you're coming from thinking it's cheap.
The first mystery veg is Kedluben which should be Kohlrabi in english (i actually never heard this english term before :D ) and its used/eaten both fresh and in warm recipes in different ways. When its fresh and the right size, it is amazing to eat it just like that fresh and raw (after getting rid of the outer "shell") And the second mystery veg is Celery. Its not used very often. Mainly as one of many ingredients for our national christmas dish potato salad. As for prices, it depends where, but in general our salaries are not very high so for people from abroad the prices may sometimes seem nice, but for most Czechs the prices we have here in general are considered expensive. But it also depends on many things. Oh and btw, we are abosolutely not healthy eaters :D (most of us :D )
The turnip xxl is celer, very common in czech soups.
Czech people are very innovating, they have lot of good ideas.👍
For foreigners with "stronger" currencies like dollars, euros (USA, Canada, Germany, Scandinavia and so on) Czech in general is really cheap and affordable. You even have people from Denmak and those places going to Prague to party for a few days because for their hourly wage, they can buy like 8 beers in a pub and they can barely afford to go partying in Denmark because the services are so expensive. But for the locals its a different story id say. Prague is the most expensive European city when it comes to rent/flat prices (was published just 2 weeks ago). So the cost of living in terms of house/flat/rent is extremely bad and only the top earners buy flats in Prague right now (with a huge mortage ofc).
When it comes to groceries and services its not that bad. Although we have like 20 % inflation and huge scandal with the supermarket chains hiking up the prices (Czech people from the borders were going shopping to Poland fo example). The prices rose up in pubs aswell (the inflation) but still the pub culture is big in Czech and its affordable for most Czechs not just foreigners. So id say when it comes to groceries and stuff, its still quite good and the prices are just going down right now to a really decent standard and we cant complain much, the infaltion hit every EU country in a way. One thing to note salaries in Prague are much bigger than in rest of the country, so for people outside of Prague, Prague is quite expensive (you need a Prague salary to live there). But our buying power when it comes to buying a flat/house/rent is actually the worst in whole EU (Czechs need like 14 years of average salary to afford a flat compared to some other EU countries where its half of that).
Enjoy your holiday!
Czech republic never had inflation above 17% so that's just wrong. Now it's around 3%. Definitely not most expensive european city for rent prices, it's not even in the top 20(Amsterdam is the most expensive). Also it doesn't work like that with currencies. For example: If someone from Slovakia visits Prague even tho he has euro ("stronger" currency) it is still (usually) higher price than in Slovakia.
Yeah, groceries are not cheap for us actually. Cause canadian salaries are like 3x higher than czech ones. I love in prague and the cost of living (especially rent) is a STRUGGLE. Definitely not affordable for someone living and working here
It's cheap for you but not for us. Median salary after most taxes is about 30.000,- Kč / month. (1300$)
@1:25 In Europe white asparagus is the default.
Everything has been sad but next time visit Brno. We call it here the largest village in Czechia. And the only joke you can live in. :)
Billa is pretty expensive, you can definitely find cheaper supermarkets in CZ, but not with so many products.
First you have Is kedlubna,i like it
"Clever" is not a local brand but that store's brand
When you don't know what kind of vegetable is that, you can just translate it from czech to english, there are labels next to every item... you carry your phone everywhere with you, just put it to good use
Jankovi s Honzíkem se musí z toho videa ježit vlasy... 😀
The Czech rep. was not called Bohemia. Bohemia is, even now, one of the historical lands - the Czech lands consist of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. Bohemia became a part of Great Moravia in 867 and then, way later, Moravia along with Silesia was ruled by Kingdom of Bohemia, forming a Bohemian Crown (Lands). Well, it is longer than that: just google "Lands of the Bohemian Crown". And something about Holy Roman Empire, too (Prague became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire when the Czech king Charles IV was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire). Cheers.
to jste někde u prahy že ty ceny jsou tak obří co :D
1:58 That is no dough :) these are dumplings, they are made of flour too, but they are used as a side dish (with sauce). Those are in fact already made (so not really fresh), you are supposed to cut them and reheat them (either in the microwave or in a steamer).
2:50 those are ground poppy seeds. Nobody eats them as porridge, you use them to make cakes or pastries, similarly to what you ate as a strudel.
2:10 we use vinegar to pickle vegetables :) people pickle cucumbers, cabbage, sausages and other vegetables!
0:46 That's not a turnip, it's kohlrabi (kedlubna in Czech), I'd say it's a pretty common vegetable especially in rural Czechia usually used in different stews or peeled and eaten raw. It's similar to raw potato just less watery and slightly more sweet.
1:04 Again, not a "large turnip". It's celery root. Mostly used in soups. I'm pretty sure nobody eats this raw.
4:45 Cannabis is not legal in Czechia but is decriminalized (with THC still illegal though). Notheless, Cannabis is still used in shampoos, lotions and I even saw chocolate with Cannabis seeds. All these products don't contain any THC which means you cannot get "high" from them or they won't have any undesired effects on you. The Cannabis plant actually contains many medical properties.
5:27 I'm not from Prague so I can't speak for them but since the pandemic ended living standars have become slightly worse and the prices of groceries are significantly bigger than before the pandemic (depends on the product 10-50% more expensive) but I believe Czechia has not been hit as hard in terms of cost of living compared to Canada. (You have a terrible prime minister)
U can celery raw. Here in Austria u get it sometimes sliced with carrots as a salad ....
0:26 that is not price for 1kg but for 100g :D
Yes indeed, I was looking for this comment. Also, one should be careful about the interpretation of some prices as for example the onions in 0:18. This is a discounted price, not a regular one. The item will be sold for 31.90 CZK the next week. Weekly discounts for certain items are very popular in Czechia, as the price level of food here is very similar, sometimes maybe even higher than in e.g. Germany or Britain, which is disproportionate to Czech wages that are 5-10x smaller than the German or British ones (again, it strongly depends on the industry).
first two vegetables are kohlrabi and celeriac
kohlrabi and celeriac root it is!
Those "XXL turnips" are actually Swedes.
Billa is quite expensive. Albert, Penny or Kaufland are cheaper.
typek si pochvaluje cenu Braniku💀😭🙏
That "turnip" is actually called kolhrabi (kedlubna); taste like mix of daikon (radish) & broccoli?
In my opinion, kohlrabi tastes like a broccoli stalk bought from the farmer's market. Daikon radish is spicy (fresh one, not pickled one). Kohlrabi is not spicy at all.
Well, in Prague it's always everything more expensive...
If you Have a normal job Its not that expensive but Prague Is the most expensive city in Czechia ( i am from czechia So i know )
The price of garlic is per 100g ;)
There is Prague and other Czechia. Prices and cost of living dropping much if you are out of Prague (Also people earnings). For Example Moravia area. I recommend to see city of Olomouc. Only approx. 100k population but locals say It has 2nd biggest old town in Czech! It's really beautiful!! And Pivo there 🎉
Cost of housing yes, but everything else is actually cheaper in Prague, especially shopping. Village supermarket can heve even double prices compared to Prague and quality in Prague is much better, I don't even buy rohlík and houska anymore since I moved from Prague, these things are trash in village shops.
Really cheap because living is really cheap, surprising 😂
I think i went to that same market some 7 years ago, can remember the stairs and entrance, construction yard still not finished next to it 😁
That “turnip” is a kohlrabi.
0:47 its kohlrabi, 1:03 its celery knob(celery root) both are popular in Romania, also i can find in every grocery store in USA.
Kedlubna