Prague - Old Town Square - Christmas - Carps (photo: CzechTourism)

The festive menu is the subject of much debate and differs slightly from family to family. Traditionally, the first course is fish soup (or potato soup) with a main course of fried carp and potato salad. Many Czechs eat carp just once a year at Christmas.

This is why at this time of year you will see huge tubs full of fish brought from the famous fish farms of South Bohemia. However, the carp does not necessarily have to end up on your plate. It can be released back into a river on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve is an important Christian festival, but it is also a day when people say magic can be done. There are various simple ways to find out if this is true. A fish scale placed under your plate during the Christmas Eve dinner is said to bring wealth and happiness in the coming year. If you fast all day until the evening, you should also see another symbol of happiness, a golden pig.

After a belt-busting meal it’s good time to try to foretell the future. Cut open an apple, and if the pips are in the shape of a perfect star, you will enjoy wealth and good health in the coming year. Finding four healthy walnuts in their shells is also said to bring sound health.