An interesting encounter and conversation at the end of a Christmas party

Our Christmas Party invitation

On the evening of Wednesday 10th December, Sybille and I attended the British Ambassador’s Christmas Party held at the Embassy in Mala Strana, one the nice little perks of being the Anglican Chaplain in Prague. Just as we were leaving the main reception room to go downstairs to collect our coats and head home, Sybille stopped to say ‘Hello’ and stroke Maya, one of the Ambassador’s two adopted Czech cats. Maya was occupying a vintage chair by the door, which had a rope stretched across between the two arms, to prevent humans sitting in it. But clearly such regulations do not apply to cats!

Standing nearby were two couples, with one of the couples speaking to each other in German. The German-speaking lady turned to watch Sybille speaking with the cat so I asked her whether she was German, (rather . . . → Read More: An interesting encounter and conversation at the end of a Christmas party

Celebrating brave Czechoslovak Airmen and the Official Birthday of Her Majesty the Queen

The ‘Winged Lion’ monument © Ricky Yates

As I mentioned at the beginning of my previous post, I had a most interesting week in advance of my laptop computer lock-out problems. The highlight was attending two interrelated events on the afternoon and early evening of Tuesday 17th June.

The first event was the official unveiling of this monument, entitled ‘The Winged Lion’, by Sir Nicholas Soames MP, grandson of Sir Winston Churchill. It commemorates the nearly two and a half thousand Czechs and Slovaks who escaped from Czechoslovakia after the country was occupied by the Nazis in 1939, and served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

As this BBC news article explains, the idea for the memorial . . . → Read More: Celebrating brave Czechoslovak Airmen and the Official Birthday of Her Majesty the Queen

November – a time of change

Prague Castle & the Vltava River © Ricky Yates

As October has become November, so many aspects of my life and the situations around me with which I interact, have changed. I’ve therefore decided that this provides an overarching theme for a new blog post 🙂

As all across Europe, overnight between Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th October, our clocks changed, going back one hour. I write this, partly for the benefit of my British son-in-law who some months ago, famously remarked, ‘I don’t suppose the clocks change where you are?’ Well yes – they do! At the same time as the United Kingdom was moving from British Summer Time (BST), back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), here in the Czech Republic, we changed from Central European Summer Time (CEST), back to Central European Time (CET). This means that we remain one hour ahead of . . . → Read More: November – a time of change

Celebrating the Royal Wedding in the Czech Republic

Being interviewed on Czech TV ©

Being interviewed on Czech TV © – with my correct title on the screen in Czech

One of the things I have begun to learn as part of being the Anglican Chaplain in Prague is to expect the unexpected. So when on the afternoon of the Wednesday of Holy Week, whilst walking along Jugoslávských partyzánu, my mobile phone rang with a call from a number unknown to me, I answered it with my friendly “Ricky Yates speaking”, unsure what the response would be.

“This is Czech TV”, said a female voice in English. “We would like you to take part in our special programme next Friday covering the Royal Wedding”. Therefore, following an email exchange with Veronika Linková of channel ct24, yesterday morning at 08.30, a taxi arrived outside the Chaplaincy flat, to whisk me away . . . → Read More: Celebrating the Royal Wedding in the Czech Republic

The Royal Visit – as it happened – part two

The Order of Service for Passion Sunday

When the ‘Official group from the UK’ visited St. Clement’s Church on Saturday 16th January 2010 in order to begin planning the details of this Royal Visit, I was asked what form our normal 11am Sunday service took. I replied that, as it was the only service we had on a Sunday, it was a service of Holy Communion or ‘Sung Eucharist’ as we normally call it. I was then asked how long the service lasted and I replied that it was normally around an hour and a quarter.

The emphasis of all our discussions was the desire that the Royal Couple should be able to join with the regular congregation for their normal Sunday service. However, I was asked whether, because of certain timetabling constraints, I could keep the service to about an hour and I gave the assurance . . . → Read More: The Royal Visit – as it happened – part two