It is easy to walk past the ubiquitous plaques in the Czech capital that mark the victims and heroes of World War II and not notice them. But each May, on the anniversary of the Prague Uprising and the end of the war, the city districts that have inherited them — the duty had been in the hands of the Czech Union of Freedom Fighters (ČSBS) — make an effort to bring their memories to life again.

With the year almost at a close, it's normal to wonder what the new one has in store. While some of us make resolutions, Czech folklore leaves the future to chance, seeing destiny in how a thrown shoe lands, the arrangement of seeds in a sliced apple or in the shapes formed by lead poured into water.

The Czechs boast the world’s largest mechanical nativity scene — Krýzovy Jeslíčky — which is among the most impressive examples of a vibrant subculture that still produces and exhibits ‘betlémy’ in a bewildering array of styles and materials (from carved fish to gingerbread). The passion for nativities dates back to their banning from churches by Emperor Joseph II.

Geocaching, an outdoor treasure hunting game in which participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find a hidden geocache, took off in 2000, shortly after Washington lifted restrictions on civilian access to satellite signals used by the US military. The Czech Republic is now fourth in number of caches in the EU and the third most-active globally.