Grocery stores do not sell what Americans consider over-the-counter drugs, such as aspirin. You will need to go to a pharmacy lékárna, which is usually open between 8AM and 7PM, Mondays to Fridays. There are 24-hour pharmacies in the bigger cities, and you should find an address for the closest one to you listed in the window of the nearest pharmacy to you. If you are in Prague, the most central 24-hour one is in Prague 2 - on the corner of Belgická and Rumunská streets - they dispense both prescription and non-prescription drugs from a small window on Rumunská out of hours - ring the bell if there is no-one there.
Tap water is good, especially in Prague although in small towns, the chlorine can be quite strong.
A reputable hospital in Prague is Nemocnice na Homolce, Address: Roentgenova 37/2, Prague 5 tel 257 272 350. There is a foreigners' clinic Cizinecké oddÄlenà there with English-speaking receptionists who can make appointments for you. Most doctors speak some English, and the level of care is of a very high standard.
Central Europe and parts of the Czech Republic have ticks Ixodes ricinus which can carry Encephalitis or Lyme Borreliosis. Ticks hide in grass and bushes, so try to stay on trails and inspect exposed areas of skin after a hike. Vaccination against Encephalitis is available and recommended. If you want to bushwhack, make sure you have the vaccination and wear long trousers. A good insect repellent which contains DEET, might be helpful, too.Ticks like to cling to any soft, warm, well-perfused areas of your body undersides of knees and elbows, skin around ankles, groins, neck area, behind your ears etc. and if not removed, they'll suck your blood until they grow about 1 cm big. Never try to scratch a tick off or pull it out, because damaging it can cause you a serious infection. The sooner the tick is removed, the smaller the chance of infection. Either ask a physician to remove a tick for you, or try to remove it by yourself: lubricate your finger with any greasy lotion and gently wag a tick from side to side until it wobbles free. Then flush it down the drain - never crush or burn it to avoid infection. Watch the affected spot: if you see a growing red spot developing there anytime during next several months, immediately visit your physician and tell him about that - you might have contracted Borreliosis. It is dangerous, but it can be easily treated with antibiotics during early stage. Be wary that American vaccination against Borreliosis most probably won't work against European strains B. afzelii and B. garini. Note that ticks are sometimes present even in city parks, including Prague.
Taxi drivers
warning - negotiate the price before you use taxi or use a reputable company e.g. in Prague AAA taxi, Profi Taxi, City Taxi. Prague taxi drivers are known for taking you the longest possible way to earn more money. Prague City Council has introduced new regulations which will see all legitimate taxis painted yellow. Public transportation is also very cheap, fast and reliable. In Prague, the metro runs up to midnight, and night trams run throughout the night, all of them converging at a central tram stop, Lazarská.Pickpockets
Watch your pockets, especially if there is a crowd sights, subway, trams, in particular numbers 9, 10 and 22 Watch out for large groups of people jostling you. Beware of a particular pickpocket gangs operating in Prague: they are mainly male, although sometimes there are women too; all are extremely overweight and rely on their sheer size and number to disorientate tourists. They tend to operate on the 9, 10 and 22 trams, as well as the central metro stations, usually just as people are getting on and off, or on the escalators. Don't pull out your tickets unless you are specifically asked to do so. And keep your wallet and money securely locked and separate from each other at all timee. Don't challenge them as they can become aggressive, but keep your eyes open. Prosecutions for pickpocketing are rare as legally the police have to catch the pickpocket in the middle of a crime.Prostitution
Prostitution is not illegal in the Czech Republic. However, officially prostitution does not exist as a legal business. Prostitutes do not pay taxes and prostitution is not regulated by the state. The health risk may be very high, especially in cheap brothels or on the street. There also have been cases of prostitutes offering a drink with sleeping pills to their customers and stealing everything from them. Pay attention to the age of the prostitute, paying a person under 18 years for sex is a criminal offense otherwise the age of consent is 15.Marijuana
Marijuana is basically illegal in the Czech Republic, but it is quite popular especially among young people. In case the police catch you smoking or possessing marijuana, you want to be very polite with them. The reason is that by the current law, possessing only a "larger than small" amount of marijuana is punishable. A "larger than small" amount of marijuana is defined as more than 15 g..Other than that, the Czech Republic is a very safe country.
moravia
The vast majority of Moravians will take no offence to being called Czechs, and consider themselves to be both. If you are attempting to speak Czech, beware of the complexities and slight differences between the terms Äechy Bohemia and Äesko Czechia. Much like a Welshman would raise an eyebrow over his country being called England, using the term Äechy Bohemia to refer to the entire Czech Republic may not be appreciated by a Moravian. Since there are no mainstream separatist movements in Moravia, and there is definitely no ethnic conflict, it is infinitely more likely you'll be showered with kisses and plied with alcohol for simply making an attempt to speak Czech.
talk
The main language spoken is, not surprisingly, Czech. The Slovak language can also be often heard, as there is a sizable Slovak minority and both languages are mutually intelligible. Czech people are very proud of their language, and thus, even in Prague you will not find many signs written in English outside of the main tourist areas. Many older people, especially outside the large cities, are also unable to converse in English, so it's good to learn some Czech or Slovak before your arrival. However, most young people speak at least some English, as it has been taught in most schools since 1990.
Most Czechs speak a second and often a third language. English is the most widely known, especially among younger people. German is probably the most widely spoken second language among older people. Russian was taught very extensively under communist rule, so most people born before c. 1975 speak at least some Russian and often pretty well. However the connection with the communist era and the Soviet led invasion in 1968 as well as today's Russian-speaking criminal gangs has given this language some negative connotations. It is also not very useful with younger people, as it is not, despite the common misconception, mutually intelligible with Czech beyond some similar words and simple sentences. Other languages, like French or Spanish, are also taught in some schools, but you should not count on it. People may also understand some basic words or simple sentences in other Slavic languages Polish, Serbo-Croatian, etc.
The Czech and Slovak languages are very difficult for English-speakers to grasp, as they, like their sisters, can be tongue-twisting languages to learn especially Czech and take time and practice to master, especially if you're not really familiar with the other Slavic languages, including Russian. However, if you can learn the alphabet and the corresponding letters with accents, then pronunciation is easy as it is always the same - Czechs and Slovaks pronounce every letter of a word, with the stress falling on the first syllable. The combination of consonants in some words may seem mind-bogglingly hard, but it is worth the effort!
The Czech language has many local dialects, especially in Moravia. Some dialects are so different that they can be sometimes misunderstood even by a native Czech speaker from a different region. However all Czech people understand the standard Czech as spoken in TV, written in newspapers and taught in schools and should be able to speak it but some are too proud to stop using their local dialect. Some of them are even unable to speak standard Czech but write it correctly.
Czechs have different writing style, and the Slovak language is softer. The vocabulary is similar, with occasional words not understood. The younger generation born after the dissolvent of Czechoslovakia are growing apart and have problems to understand each other.
See also: Czech phrasebook, Slovak phrasebook
contact
There are three main mobile phone operators using the GSM standard, their coverage is very good except in some remote, mostly uninhabited areas. If you find using roaming with your own operator too expensive or you want to have a Czech phone number, you can buy an anonymous prepaid card from any of the three main operators. However, the pricing schemes are usually quite complicated and some investigation may be necessary to find the ideal solution even with the prepaid cards, operators offer various schemes including various additional 'packages'. GPRS and EDGE is widely supported, 3G networks support is in its beginnings O2, Vodafone and T-mobile, mostly in Prague. The fourth operator U:fon uses some custom standards and you have to buy special hardware from them.
There are still some telephone boxes available, but they are gradually vanishing since the advent of mobile phones. Some still accept coins, but most of them require special prepaid telephone card.
You can call emergency numbers from any phone for free even without any card. The universal emergency number 112 is functional and you can use it, however you will reach only a telephone operator who will need to contact the real emergency service for you. To save precious time, it is best to call directly the service you need: 150 for firefighters, 155 for medical emergency, and 158 for state police.
Wifi is available in many restaurants and most cafés, especially in larger cities. In particular, all branches of Starbucks, KFC, Gloria Jeans Coffee and Costa Coffee offer free access. You may need to ask a waiter for the passphrase. There are also some hotspots available on the streets and some city quarters for example in Prague offer free wifi coverage for everyone. However such coverage is usually very slow and unreliable and you may need to create an account using a web browser and the page it is automatically redirected to to be able to use it. In most larger cities, there are also several internet cafés available.