Czeching out Prescott, AZ

So far it's been a couple of relaxing days in Arizona with my parents.  It's been a pretty low-key visit so far which has been really nice.  My folks had doctor's appointments this morning in Prescott so while they did that, Kája and walked around Whiskey Row and the courthouse.

The Palace, a saloon that opened in 1877, is the oldest business in Arizona.

Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday were frequent visitors here back in the day.  I think that Kája got a kick out of the western cowboy vibe in the city.  I don't know if he was expecting Lemonade Joe to show up or what.  

The Yavapai County Courthouse was built in 1916 and in 1977 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.  Arizona is a "new" state having become one only in 1912 so it's interesting that an early 20th century building is historic.  In Czechland, historic places tend to be several hundred years old.

It was a beautiful day to just walk around and we made a Costco run after the doctor's appointments were done.  

Costco was a wee bit overwhelming for Kája.  So big, so many different things, everything jumbo sized, cheap prices but without sales tax included.  I expect that we'll go back again before we leave.

Family friends, Keith and Janet, came over for dinner tonight and it was a lovely time.  Tomorrow's adventure will be the Grand Canyon.

Tchibo

Tchibo, pronounced CHEE BO, is one of Germany's largest retail chains.  The stores are interesting.  It's a café where you can get a good cup of coffee and something sweet.  Of course, you can also purchase coffee beans and accessories.  

Then there is everything else that you can buy there such as clothing, household items, electronics, appliances, and sometimes even furniture.  You never know just quite what they will have when you go there because the non-coffee products change weekly.  In Germany, the company's slogan is Jede Woche eine neue Welt, "Every week a new world".  In Czecland, it's každý týden nový svět. 

Today is the 70th anniversary of the Tchibo Coffee Company.  It was founded in 19149 in Hamburg where it still maintains its headquarters.  The company founders were Max Herz and Carl Tchilinghiryan and the name Tchibo came from the abbreviation of Tchilinghiryan and Bohnen (coffee beans),  The company started off as a mail-order service for roasted coffee beans.

In the early 1990's the company started to expand outside of Germany.  There are about 550 stores in Germany and over 300 stores in Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Türkiye.  

The company also operates "depots" in various supermarkets have a Tchibo section of shelves selling its coffee alongside non-food items such as clothing, sporting and household goods.

Tchibo Praha, spol. s.r.o., was established in 1991 and today there are 38 stores in Czechland.  In 2021, the company expanded its distribution facility in Cheb, near the German border.  The new facility is over 102.000 sq.m. (+1 million square feet) and services seven European countries.  

Here are a couple of Czech television commercials from about five years ago that I found out on YouTube.

©Tchibo Česká republika

©Tchibo Česká republika

Here's also a short, three-minute video I found that talks about the history of the company.  It's only in German but it's still pretty easy to follow the story.

©Irgendwas mit ARTE und Kultur

Consumer Protection Changes

Within the EU, there has been a greater push for consumer protection, especially between member countries whose own consumer protection laws may differ.  

Here's a short, English-language video from the European Commission that talks about five important consumer rights.  However, the video is at least nine years old.

©European Commission

On 6 January 2023, a new amendment to the Consumer Protection Act and the Civil Code came into effect.  The Czech law was updated to be in synch with EU laws.

• Exercising the right to withdraw from a contract will be more precise.
• Unless the consumer and the business mutually agree to different terms, the goods must be delivered to the consumer no later than 30 days after concluding the contract.
• Information that a business must provide to the consumer before concluding the contract is now specified.
• Consumers are not protected from fake reviews and less-than transparent online transactions.
• Consumers have the right to withdraw from a contract made online within 30 days.
• Consumers will be protected from prices being artificially raised prior to discount events as the seller must inform the consumer about the lowest prices the goods were sold for during the last 30 days.  So a company can't raise the price of something 20% only to then immediately offer it on sale at a 20% discount.
• Sellers online are not allowed to use "pre-ticked" boxes which would require a consumer to make additional or future payments.
• If a consumer has been the victim of unfair business practices then they have the right to withdraw from the contract within 90 days.
• Consumers have the right to claim for defective products within two years.
• Dual quality goods are now forbidden.  If a retailer sells goods in Czechland, as identical to goods in other countries, but with ingredients, parts or features which are significantly different then the seller can be fined.

The amendment to the Czech consumer protection act falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and is policed by the Czech Trade Inspection Authority.  I believe that the failing to comply with the law will result in fines up to 5 million Kč (€200.000; ~$231,000).

A few weeks ago I ordered a new router online from Datart but when it arrived I realised that I ordered the wrong thing.  I immediately ordered the correct item but needed to take the wrong item back to the store.  I thought that I needed to do this within 14 days but now that the law has changed I could have waited an extra two weeks before returning it.  This was my first product return I've had since living in Czechland.  It was simple enough.  I took the router and the receipt to the store.  They inspected the product and issued me a refund.  I assumed that they would have just credited the credit card I used to make the purchase online but they gave me cash.

Datart

Datart is a consumer electronics store with shops across Czechia and Slovakia.  

The company was founded in Prague in 1990 and they opened their first stone in 1992.  In 2019 they opened the 100th store in Czechland.  

This is the place to go for home appliances, computers, cameras, kitchenware, music systems, mobile phones, and accessories.  If there's something that I need though I tend to order online. 

I always had a problem with how to pronounce it.  I first thought it was "Data-Art" but is it actually "Data-rt" or "Dat-art?"

Back in 2017, they were acquired by HP Tronic Group for an undisclosed amount.

Here's a commercial for Datart that I found out on YouTube.  It's at least a couple of years old.

©Datart.cz

Veggie Vending Machine

So this is new.  Brno is now home to Europe's first vegetable vending machine.  Yes, a vegetable vending machine.  Brambor is the Czech world for potato and an automat is a vending machine.  So the new vending machine is called a Bramat.

The first one was set up in Řečkovice and a second will be put in Kohoutovice.

I don't know how much it costs but you can apparently purchase 3- and 5-kilo (6,5 and 11 pound) bags of potatoes, onions, garlic, and mixed vegetable packets used for soups.  The machines are restocked with fresh vegetables everyday.

I've seen mlékomats which sell fresh milk.  During the height of Covid-19, Brno had vending machines selling face masks and hand sanitiser.  In Olomouc, I even saw a tvarůžky vending machine.

  

©SONET společnost s.r.o.

Meeting the Lads

Kája and I are still at the stage of introducing each other to our friends.  Last night was a night out with the lads and so I brought Kája to meet Martin, Martin, and Vilém.  The lads had been asking when they were going to meet him so I figured it was needed to happen sooner or later.  This way they don't all meet for the first time at Thanksgiving.  All went well so that's good. 

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I'm already gathering supplies for the fiesta.  The Candy Store made a delivery last week and an Amazon order I had delivered to Claudia in Berlin was dropped off yesterday.

I don't know why but there are many sellers on Amazon that will not deliver to Czech Republic.  I think some people still have a perception that Czechland is further east than it really is.  While some shops won't deliver to Brno they will deliver to Berlin.  So sometimes I have things delivered to Claudia's place.  Then I either pick them up there or she brings them when she comes to visit.  Fortunately, Ale visited her last week so she brought me my last order.

I don't know what's going on right now but I can't find Bisquick anywhere.  I've checked Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, and Amazon U.S.  It's no where to be found.  Hopefully I can find it soon or I'm going to have to wing it somehow.

Ordered a New Couch

I recently ordered a new mattress and now I ordered a new couch.  My previous sofa was partially leather but after years of sunlight, and it probably doesn't help that it is next to the radiator, the leather is quickly breaking apart.  So I've been on the hunt for a new couch.

I wanted something big that is U-shaped.  Definitely not leather.  No objections if if pulls out to a bed but it would be great if it had some storage.  It took a while but I finally found something that ticked all of the boxes.  The hunt was was harder than I expected it to be.

I found it at a furniture shop called XXXLutz.  Someone is going to have to explain the name of the shop to me because in the USA anything with "XXX" usually refers to some kind of porn.  

Anyway, my couch is ordered and it needs to come from Prague so I should get contacted in around 3 weeks for delivery.  

It ended up costing me about 40.000 Kč ($1700).  Not quite as wide as my old couch, about 10 cm (4 inches) smaller but it pulls out to a bed and both sides have storage.  

Now the problem is dealing with my old couch.  The delivery company will take away my old sofa as long as it is on the street.  Maybe if I slip the delivery guys some cash and some beer then they'll take the old sofa from my flat.  

There will definitely not be any kids jumping on the new couch this year at Czechsgiving.  

New Mattress

The old mattress

Back in 2011, I bought a mattress from Ikea.  It was 160 cm (63 inches) wide.  Well after 11 years the mattress was getting a bit lumpy and it was well past time for a new one.

This time I actually went to a mattress store for something a bit better.  The first thing is that I wanted the maximum size mattress which is 180 cm (71 inches) wide.  My first adventure at the shop was explaining to the shop assistant that I didn't want to go with two individual (90 cm) mattresses.  

The shop assistant asked me which side of the bed I slept on and I said "the middle" which is why I don't want to sleep on the crack between two smaller mattresses.  He then tried to explain to me why it is so much better to go with two smaller mattresses.  He asked if I was married and tried to suggest that perhaps my future wife would prefer two mattresses.  I was starting to get annoyed.  Not just because he assumed that I was straight and would have a wife but because I came in to spend money and he was making me not want to give him my money.

I finally just put my foot down and said that this is what I wanted and that was it.  Because the mattress is not a standard size it would take longer to make and to ship it to me from Slovakia where it would be manufactured.  I was told it would take about five weeks and it arrived today.

I'm so looking forward to a good night's sleep.  Now I just have to get rid of my old mattress.  The company didn't offer a service to remove the old one.  It looks like I'll put a message up on the Brno Facebook page to see if anyone wants a free mattress.

No Christmas Markets in 2021

Christmas markets around the country should have opened up this past weekend.  However, that didn't happen.  Due to the increase in the number of Covid cases the government announced restrictions on Friday.  

Christmas markets are closed.  Restaurants close at 10 pm, and events are limited to a maximum of 100 people.  There's also a ban on consuming alcohol in public spaces.  So just like last year, I'm going to miss out on my favourite vánoční punč.

The only exception is that vendors can sell saplings and carp.

The Brno markets looks like Christmas market ghost towns.

It doesn't exactly make a lot of sense that the outdoor markets are cancelled but department stores and shopping centres can remain open.

The Czech online grocery delivery service Rohlik has offered to help small and medium-sized vendors to sell their goods online.  

It's not just Czechland that is shutting things down.  In Germany, the sate of Saxony, which borders Czech Republic has closed clubs, bars, cultural and sports facilities, in addition to Christmas markets.

Christmas markets are cancelled in Bratislava too.

A couple of weeks ago Austria went into a national lockdown.  The country is completely closed to tourists.

VAT on all Packages Now

Within the EU, the price of all goods that are shipped between EU-member states includes VAT.  VAT is value-added tax.  For Americans this is the sales tax.  By including the VAT, countries know that the correct amount of tax has been collected which allows goods to ship without having to go through customs.

This isn't the case for goods shipped in from outside the EU.  Things have to go through customs in order to calculate the VAT and usually some processing fees.  Prior to this month goods valued below 560 Kč (€22) were exempt from VAT.  Well as of 1 October 2021, that exemption is now gone.

This is a good news / bad news sort of thing.  The good news is that the Czech government has somewhat simplified the customs procedure.  The bad news is that now you have to pay the VAT on everything coming in from outside the EU and currently the VAT in Czechland is 21%.  Remember that due to Brexit, the UK is now out of the EU so this applies here too.

This was supposed to rollout across the EU on 1 January 2021 but it was pushed to 1 July to give EU countries time to get ready for it.  The Czechs needed a little longer so it didn't take effect until this month.

If you haven't paid VAT at the point-of-sale then you will need to deal with customs but you can always authorise the delivery provider to handle this for you for a fee.

So now all items under 3800 Kč (€150) are subject to VAT.  Items above 3800 Kč have to go through a separate customs procedure because you have to pay the VAT and you have to pay a separate duty tax which is dependent on the type of product.

This will also impact care packages.  I believe that many people would receive things from outside the EU and no matter what was sent would just declare the value as less than €22 so that they would not have to pay any VAT.  This takes care of that and ensures that the government will get its share of tax revenue.  Česká pošta processed 28 million VAT-exempt packages from outside the EU in 2019 and the Czech government expects this change to generate an additional 182 billion Kč (€7 billion) of revenue each year.

It's been a while since I've even received a care package from back home.  Mainly because the cost of shipping increased so much in the USA.  In 2013, the cost jumped up from $55 to $77.  Who knows what it costs now in 2021?  Plus, I'd much rather receive hand-delivered care packages.

Update:  In November 2022, the postage cost of a 20 lb (9 kg) care package from the USA to Czechland is $115.70, from the USA.

EC Cards

EC Cards are a German thing and they absolutely drive me crazy.  An EC (electronic cash) card is basically a debit card that is linked up to a German bank account.  An EC card gets swiped, just like a debit or credit card would, and the money is deducted from your current account.  A "current account" is the same thing as an American checking account but just like Czechs, Germans don't write checks.

Most EC cards are also Maestro cards which means that they are accepted as debit cards in most places abroad.  

What drives me mental is that when you go someplace and try to pay with a foreign debit or credit card and your card doesn't work.  That's because the the business only accepts either cash or EC cards.  This has happened to me so many times over the years.  Your card doesn't work so you have to either have cash or go to the ATM and pull out cash.  This is because businesses don't want to pay the higher fees that are associated with Visa, MasterCard or American Express.  

What annoys me is that I'm not trying to pay by credit card.  I want to use my Czech debit card but it doesn't work in a shop that only takes EC cards because EC cards only work if you have have German bank account.  

Germans, in general, are frugal and usually prefer to pay with cash or debit card.  Buying things on credit is uncomfortable for most people in Germany.  

I don't know what the going rate is today but about 15 years ago, Visa and Mastercard used to charge businesses about 1,5% for transactions while Amex charged around 3%.  This is often why more shops in the the USA accept Visa and Mastercard than they accept American Express.  In the USA, this is just viewed as the cost of doing business.  

When I'm in Germany I just make sure to carry extra Euros on me.  When I go to the register and ask if I can pay by card, I always ask if they take all cards or only EC cards.

One thing I did notice this past week is that some shops which I know only used to accept EC cards are now accepting credit cards.  I asked Claudia about this and our theory is that Covid really changed things.  Many people had to put things on credit during the toughest times and so more places started accepting credit cards.  

Here's a short video I found out on YouTube that takes about Germans and their reluctance to use cards.

©Deutsche Welle

Volkskammer and DDR Products

After visiting the German Spy Museum and a bit of shopping, Claudia and I had lunch at the Volkskammer restaurant.  This is the DDR (German Democratic Republic) themed restaurant that we didn't have the chance to visit last time.  The post about East Germany and the video about the restaurant is here. 

The restaurant is named after the Volkskammer, the People's Chamber, which was the country's single legislative body.  Think of it as both Parliament and Senate (or Congress and Senate) in one.  The restaurant is a kitschy place for Ostalgie, which is nostalgia for eastern times, and good, filling Eastern German dishes.

Würtzfleisch, "seasoned meat", is a fine ragout of meat, mushrooms, in a roux of butter and flour that is seasoned with Worcestershire sauce and lemon with cheese melted on top and served with toast.  Claudia remembered the aluminium cutlery from her youth and was surprised to see it still in use.

Jägerschnitzel, "hunter's schnitzel" in Western Germany is a veal or pork cutlet, coated in breadcrumbs, fried and served with a mushroom sauce and usually potatoes.  

The closest thing we have this in the USA would be "country fried steak", which is also called "chicken fried steak" which is pork (not chicken) coated in breadcrumbs and fried.  It is usually served with a white country gravy.  It is very popular in the south and it's believed to have been brought to America by German immigrants.

Due to the often limited availability of goods, people had to get creative in the east.  Instead of using pork or veal, Jagdwurst sausage (think of baloney or Mortadella) was used.  It's a cooked sausage made of pork that is seasoned with salt, green peppercorns, ginger and coriander.  It can be eaten cold or hot and is often used in soups.  Instead of the mushroom sauce and potatoes as in the west, Jägerschnitzel in the east was served with tomato sauce and spiral noodles.  Below is a recipe for Jägerschnitzel that I found online from the DDR Museum.

Dessert was a Schwedeneisbecher which is a cup of vanilla ice cream with apple mouse, Eierlikör (strong eggnog style liquor) with whipped cream.  Very tasty but afterwards I felt like I was going to explode from so much food.  When we left they gave us mini packs of Knusperflocken.  Yum!!

Ostalgie is a real thing.  When the Berlin Wall came down people wanted western products.  Also most of the eastern products were produced in outdated factories and the communist ideal that everyone had a job wasn't exactly compatible with capitalism so many factories in the east simply shut down especially as well-trained people quickly moved west in search of better opportunities and higher salaries.

There are a few Ossi brands that did survive the fall of communism including, thank goodness, my favourite Spreewäldergurken, the world's absolute best pickles. 

Knusperflocken, "crunchy flakes", used to be called "Schoko-Ossis" and they've been back on the market since 1995.  They are  ground crisp bread and milk chocolate.  They are highly addictive.  Give me a cold glass of milk and I can finish off a whole bag on my own.  I like the original milk chocolate kind, but now they also have dark chocolate and white chocolate versions too.

Bautz'ner Senf is made in Bautzen, Saxony, and it was the most popular mustard in East Germany.  It's still available and I often receive it my care packages from Claudia's mom.  I actually use it as the base, along with honey, brown sugar and a bit of orange juice as the marinade for the ham I make every year for Thanksgiving.

Rotkäppchen is probably the most well-known brand to survive East German communism.

In 1856 some friends set up a wine store and the following year it became a sparkling wine factory.  In 1894 they needed a new name so taking inspiration from the red crown cap, and from Little Red Riding Hood, Rotkäppchen sparkling wine came about.

In 1945, following the war, the company was nationalised and it was the market leader in the DDR days.  Following German reunification, sales collapsed and the brand almost disappeared.  In 1990 it became a limited liability company and the firm made the important decision to invest in new equipment.  The company was privatised in 1993 and by 1995 it was the best selling sparkling wine in eastern Germany.  By 2001 it was the best selling sparkling wine in all of Germany.  I can even buy it in my little local Brněnka.

Here's a short, interesting video I found out on YouTube.  I need to go check out this shop next time. 

©DW News

Here's the recipe for Hunter's Schnitzel with Tomato Sauce from the DDR Museum in Berlin.

Ingredients for the schnitzel:

• 8 slices of Jagdwurst (about finger-thick)
• 2 eggs
• some four
• some breadcrumbs
• oil, margarine or clarified butter for frying

Instructions:

1. Flour both sides of each slice of Jagdwurst.
2. Mix the eggs with the breadcrumbs and coat the slices of Jagdwurst with the mixture.
3. Fry the slices in a pan with either oil, margarine, or clarified butter until they are golden brown.

Ingredients for the tomato sauce

• about 100g of tomato paste
• 200g of ketchup
• 1 onion
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• butter
• water
• salt and pepper
• Optional - sugar or vinegar

Instructions:

1. Cut the onion into cubes and sauté in a pot with butter.
2. Add tomato paste and flour and sauté while stirring continuously.
3. Add water until a creamy consistency is obtained.
4. Add ketchup and bring to a boil while continuously stirring.
5. Simmer for about 10 minutes and season with salt and pepper.

The preparation time is about 30 minutes.  Spirelli pasta is the recommended side dish.  For a slightly sweet and/or sour sauce, add a little and/or vinegar to taste.  Guten Appetit!