Snowy Prague, Wenceslas Square and street corner carp vendors. We might enjoy turkey on Christmas Day but Bohemians take carp on Christmas Eve. From early December onwards big tanks of carp take position on busy street corners. Fish scales glistening in the snow are evidence of the festive fishmongers prepping some of the fish. But traditionalists like it fresh. Travelling on the tube, bunched up with fellow commuters, suddenly the carrier bag next to you wriggles with a live carp. I asked Jiří how he kept it fresh – ‘in the bath of course, and when that’s in use, transferred to the basin’.

Any busy street corner in Prague during December.

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Prague's only real fleamarket 'Bleší trh' happens every Saturday morning in Kolbenova (beside Kolbenova metro).

A huge sprawling outdoor market, you'll find broken electronics, piles of clothes, paintings, communist items, furniture, jugs, quirky souvenirs, jewellery, and the odd amazing antique find for a Czech price.

It's 20 czk you pay in at the turnstile (under a euro) and well worth the finds.

Get there early (7am-2pm) and bring a phrase book so you can haggle with Czech prices. Don't expect English.

There's also plenty of sausage stalls and trailer-bars when you want to stop for a beer (pivo).

Bleší trh fleamarket in Prague
Kolbenova, Praha 9
Kolbenova (on metro line B)

Google map: tinyurl.com/yb8gl25

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Very good flea markets, but hard to find, unreliable in their timings, and rarely in the centre. Ask around, depending on the time of year. The Globe English language bookstore, coffee house and internet cafe, just outside the city centre, is the ideal place to ask about what���s on.

Pstrossova 6; Tel: +420224 934 203; www.globebookstore.cz/

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