We will be leaving for Europe in mid September and was wondering if anyone knew of good locations in Prague for purchasing lead crystal. (Any restaurants too!) Thanks for your help. <BR>

Mary Ann, <BR>my wife and I found the best places for Bohemian crystal are not in Prague, but smaller towns outside of the city. For instance, the prices in Cesky Krumlov were at least 40% lower than in Prague. Plan a day trip out of the city and take advantage of the prices. Otherwise, you can't miss the crystal shops around the Old Town Square. BTW, the prices in Prague are still much better than North America. <BR> <BR>re: Prague restaurants, Always check the menu outside and the bill afterwards . . . two out of three dinners we were almost ripped off.

I will be going to Prague for the first time in a few weeks and after reading the above post about checking the bill at a reataurant for accuracy, and hearing about the taxi driver ripp-offs, Should I be concerned about everything that I buy and check to see if they are trying to cheat me? Is this just a common practise in Prague?

Valerie, I can't really judge the intentions of most of the people involved, but I would check the bill. We had a restaurant try to double charge us on a credit card, and it took some minutes to get it right. The cabs, I believe, are an intentional rip off. Take the streetcar if you can.

Moser (pronounced Mo-Sure). Take packing materials(bubble wrap & box) as they don't have the same values as Americans expec when purchasing expensive crystal, etc. They pop it into a bag and its your problem to transport!

The main square there in Praha has plenty of fine crystal shops, all were fine. I found the prices to be very inexpensive, if you opt to bring them home yourself. The shipping costs were OUTRAGEOUS! I carried home quite a bit at 5 mo pregnant! Good luck. The one I liked best and made all my purchases was to the left (I beleive) from that clock thing with the deadly sins, I don't recall the name however, sorry.

The idea of taking bubble wrap was great. Thanks for the idea. I followed that advice and took a big roll in an empty suitcase.I came back with suitcase full of glass and ceramics. The items which broke, and there was only a few, were the ones that were store wrapped in boxes that I did not re-wrap. The more delicate items I carried on the plane in a napsak. I wrapped the items I carried on just to give me a better piece of mind. <BR> <BR>Bring the packing tape too! <BR> <BR>The merchants do a fair job of wrapping, but not good enough for a long journey home.

Hi! We bought crystal and handblown glass in Czech Rep. We found very good buys in glass while in Kutna Hora and bought crystal in Csesky Krumlov. Very reasonably priced. We travel with carryons so it was difficult to buy too much. We carried it with us as I have heard shipping horror stories. <BR> alan

This is not an answer but a suggestion. When we were there a couple of years ago, along with the usual crystal we bought some cut crystal Christmas balls with silver hangers, they were only about $3 each (then). They turned out to be our favorite souvenirs and the biggest hit with our family/friends. We only saw them once, so keep an eye out for them and get more than you think you'll want! The store wrapped them well and we had none break. Have a great trip, the Czech Republic was one of our best trips!