Czech Rep - Christmas Carp
Czech Republic | Tuesday, December 19, 2006 | 8 photos
Only days before the celebration of Christmas Eve the streets around the country are taken over by carp merchants selling live carp from large vats, ready for selection by the discerning customer. After the fateful selection is made, the customer can either have it sliced and diced in front of their eyes or, somehow, take the live carp home and let it swim around the bathtub for a couple of days while the children give it a name and the household contributes to the population of smelly commuters (see related story). The latter option is one frought with danger for any responsible parent: we've heard stories of children so distraught upon the imminent beheading of "Bobik" that parents give in to pleas to let it live, or at least to release it into the Vlatava river that runs through Prague. Scientists have warned in newspapers that this option is a more gruesome death than the swift one that would come at the end of a knife, as the pollutants in the river combine with the cold water to an already distressed fish to condemn it to a slow end. Either way, the streets and streetcorners of Prague took on a very colourful hue as fish were lifted from their pools by men wearing quaint fishing hats that were apparently not put on just for show.
