That's not something you often hear from native Praguers, who seem to think it's a good indicator of mental instability for you to remain in town when every right-thinking person is headed out to the cottage to pick mushrooms. This, combined with what's known as the 10 p.m. rule (after which neighbors chuck water onto the heads of anyone sitting outside and making a peep of noise, forcing bars and concerts to close down even in Old Town), leads some people to believe that Prague is actually somewhat ambivalent about its status as a major European capital city.

Those who prefer farmers' sleeping hours and fresh air were properly shown up this weekend with the blues festival held on Saturday in Stromovka, the grand old park at the north end of the Holešovice district that was once the private hunting ground of buggy old Emperor Rudolph II. The park was filled with not only hordes of Czechs who had zero interest in picking and canning, but with resounding electric gospel, funk and blues chords, courtesy of a half-dozen bands, including the world-class Blind Boys of Alabama, Maceo Parker, and James Blood Ulmer & Vernon Reid.

Such powerhouse players will not be told to quiet down by anyone, thank you very much, and kept it blaring until late, which, thanks to the unique acoustics of Stromovka and an impressive sound system, provided the eastern half of the district with loud enough tunes that they hardly needed to trouble themselves to walk to the park at all.

The overall effect was probably greater than even the Eric Clapton show, which filled the seats of Sazka Arena July 20 in a way that happens all too rarely with fans of the legendary '60s and '70s Brit blues guitar god.

Those forced to miss those blowouts can, fortunately, still catch blues at a new-old venue in Old Town that's also safe from grumpy neighbors with watering cans, Blues Sklep at Liliová 10. This cellar venue, which was once the rage of a certain generation of expats, has been closed for years but has finally reopened with live music, courtesy of such acts at the Rene Trossman Band, which delivers vintage Chicago-style rockin' blues every Thursday.