If you are following this blog, you know that we have already written about the Kooh-i-Noor mechanical pencils here, so you can read all about the history of this famous Czech brand and the awesome wonder of the mechanical pencils in that post. Unfortunately, the Botas 66 concept store closed down about a month ago (we think the high rent must have played a role in that) so we have lost our most favorite place to get these awesome mechanical pencils and one of the best places, in our opinion, to do some great shopping in Prague.

With this year's Oscar ceremony behind us, the time is ripe to do two things: first, to congratulate the winners (we loved Argo, and we thoroughly enjoyed Ms Lawrence's Mr Waltz's performances in Silver Linings Playbook and Django Unchained (we have not seen Lincoln and Les Miserables), and, second, to recollect the Czech and Czechoslovak movies who that won the Best Foreign Language Film category in the past. The Czech cinematography has a very long tradition, booming especially in the 1960s with the filmmakers of the "New Wave" (when the Poles want to say that something is confusing, they say "it's like a Czech movie"). All in all, despite the Iron Curtain and all, three Czech(oslovak) movies managed to win the Oscar Best Foreign Language Film award. All these films can be bought on DVDs here in Prague, with English subtitles.

Today, we have a tip for lovers of all things vintage. When we travel we always search for unique local things to bring home. Although we can spend hours antique hunting when we travel, back home we used to prefer young designers. But that’s changing. For a long time the design quality of Communist-era Czechoslovak design objects was ignored by almost everyone. These pieces were basically seen as nothing to write home about. However, the popular haunts for vintage object lovers like Noveretro, Nanovo, Moare/Retroobjects and Tuzeks - all started out of a love for vintage things - have slowly made pointed our attention to design gems that are also becoming very popular on the world market.

Plan to do some shopping in Prague? Don't skip the Novesta footwear!

Christmas is well and truly upon us, so we are here to spread some Holiday cheer. We have put together our tips for things to do and see, buy, eat and drink to celebrate the Christmas season in Prague. Today, we will focus on Christmas gifts.

Designblok is the most popular design and fashion show on the calendar in Prague. Here are some tips for what to see and, possibly, buy...

In another installment of our series about cool, unique Prague souvenirs, we will go back to school and have a look at the famous Kooh-i-Noor mechanical pencils!