How did you become a tour guide?
Since my time here as a student from outside of Prague, I’ve always liked to wander and explore the lesser known parts of Prague, discover connections and stories of places and people, and look for traces of historic events that I knew from old legends and history class. I also liked to share my discoveries with other – at first, with my family and friends. Several years ago, me and my wife discovered Pod střechou, an association that manages the Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary in Skoky u Žlutic. We took part as volunteers who took care of it and worked as tour guides. Also, as part of couch surfing, we hosted people from around the world in our home, and I liked to show them Prague differently than how tour guides do it. Thanks to all of this, I realized that I find tour guiding to be very enjoyable and fulfilling – and this led me to working as a tour guide for OHP.
How long have you been working with Open House Prague and what do you like about it?
I’ve worked with OHP since the 2021 festival. I like both the people and the places. It’s great to have the opportunity to meet like-minded people and actually get to know the buildings that I used to walk by for years, perhaps without even noticing them. So far, I’ve always volunteered on both days of the festival weekend; the combination of the adrenaline rush during the day and the exhaustion on Sunday evening is addictive. 😊
Which building/part of Prague or architectural style is your favorite?
No style in particular – I’m interested in everything from prehistory to the early 1920s. I do have a soft spot for Vyšehrad, though – I lived there as a student at the now defunct Albertov dorm, which was very close to Vyšehrad. We used to go to the city walls on dates and runs and to the boathouse under the Vyšehrad rock for PE class. But I realize there is one part of Prague that interests me the most after all – the vanished Prague. I like to explore how the city has changed over time, look for traces of the forgotten past, and inspect old maps and historic drawings and photos.
What are your hobbies?
I’m a searcher. Of places, information, stories, connections. I used to be a very active – perhaps even fanatic – geocacher; however, in the last several years, I’ve traded caches for small monuments. I like to go around with a camera and document crosses, tiny chapels, column shrines, and other monuments. I work with two websites that aim to create an amateur database of monuments – hrady.cz and drobnepamatky.cz. I’m thrilled that, with the contribution from my part, both databases get to grow every day. Aside from that, I like wandering in the countryside, visiting cemeteries, urbex, folk and rock music, non-commercial films, cutting and splitting wood, and craft beer.