čarodějnice

I think that’s the correct spelling, I didn’t capitalize it in the title because I haven’t figured out the trick of printing a capital letter with a haček over it.  čarodějnice.  Witches Night.

It´s an annual event our whole family enjoys.  Everybody dresses up like witches.  There is a big bonfire.  A bit of an entertainment program.  There are fires where you can cook your own hot dogs, if you have them, and there are plenty of shops there selling all variety of junk food.  The kids run around and go crazy.

It's a kind of magic

Well, not everybody dresses up like witches.  In fact, as we got closer and closer to the start of the parade route, I was thinking, where are all the witches.  We were the only ones en costume on our tram.  Anyway, we thought we were early but we weren´t.  As our tram pulled up, the parade was starting to move.  There were basically 3 groups of people.  The central group, where people had really put a great deal of work and artistry into their costumes.  The lady with the rat in her hair.  I´ve seen her there before.  Also, they had drums, a big scarecrow on a pole, a lady in chains on a cart flanked by a big, fat man with a rubber ax.  They are awesome.  They make the scene.  Then, there are the people and the families like ours: a couple of scars drawn on with mascara, some lipstick streaks for blood, give the kids some funny hats and you’re set.   Then, there is a 3rd group, which is by far the largest group of the 3, of people who don’t bother with any costumes at all, but they are the official photographers, I guess.  They were waving their phones and clickety-clicking like crazy.

It started with a procession across Charles Bridge, which was on of the best parts for me.  The mob, the heavy beat, and it frequently stalled as the crowd, surrounded by a crowd in an already crowded area, was too wide to fit on the bridge all at once and narrowed down, like a river going through a canyon.  Then we got to the park, found a spot to lay out our blanket, checked out some of the entertainment (I don’t see why kids enjoy really obviously fake sword fight so much, but they sure do.)  Soon, we met a lot of friends.  Some planned, some not.  It was great.  Then walking back to the Metro across the bridge, but by that time it is dark.  There are lights on behind the castle, there are lights shimmering on the river, there are fireworks in the sky and there are lights on the National Theater, it’s gold crown looking golder than anything under the sun.

Yeah, I always enjoy čarodějnice.