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dgpretzel wrote:I will be vacationing for a week in Prague in April.

I visited Prague for the first time back in January. Great place! They're not on the euro, and the local Czech krona was pretty weak compared to the euro, so everything was surprisingly cheap- cheap food, cheap beer, cheap hotels. How about a pint of Pilser Urquell for a buck and a half? Or any of the other 5 wonderful Czech beers that I tried for about the same price. Quite a contrast to the $5 pints we bought in London last year.

There are three (3) symphony orchestras and three (3) state theaters. We bought great seats for the Prague Symphony for $20 each.

I don't know about tuba manufacturers, but I doubt that I'd be sober enough if I go again to travel very far. If you do buy anything significant to bring back, be sure to get the paperwork to get your VAT refunded. That will save you 15 to 20%.

Bill Anderson

Cerveny is within driving distance of Prague and they conduct tours of the factory, at least they did when I was last there the summer before last. Find their website and email them; I received a quick and personal reply.

I was curious how much these tubas would be straight from the factory, and was surprised to see prices listed on their Web site. I think something is a little off though...the Kaiser BBb is listed as 3.908 Euro (about $4,900) and the BBb Piggy was listed as waaaay more than this. The CC prices seem about right though.

Beyond that, I second Bloke's comments.

While you are there, be sure to go across the pedestrian bridges and look for the street jazz bands that often play there. When I was there 14 years ago I saw a group called "Jazz No Problem" with this very unusual tuba: From what I was told (by the one guy who spoke English) the horn was assembled the best way possible from several damaged horns and that is how it turned out.