Ricky Yates

Kaufland arrives! © Ricky Yates

Today, 19^th September 2011, is the third anniversary of our arrival in Prague. Ever since then, Sybille and I have almost constantly lived next to, or very adjacent to, major building and construction work. In many respects, this should not be surprising as the Czech Republic bounces back from over forty years of Communist era stagnation, to now being the most economically prosperous of all the former Warsaw Pact countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

For nearly two years from our arrival, we had the fourth and final stage of ‘Residence Podbaba’ being constructed in front and to the side of our Chaplaincy Flat. As I mentioned in a July 2010 post, the dust and noise that building work constantly generated, was at times quite irritating and frustrating. More recently, at the beginning of 2011, the work on extending our tram line commenced and was only completed at the end of last month. And around the same time, work began on creating a large new supermarket on the site of a former bus depot that lies between the Residence Podbaba estate and the new Podbaba tram stop.

As you can see from the accompanying photograph, our new supermarket will be part of the German owned Kaufland retail group, who already have numerous supermarkets in Prague and elsewhere in the Czech Republic. The billboard proclaims that “Kaufland arrives” but does not yet tell us exactly when it will!

Demolition work around the former bus depot © Ricky Yates

The side of the former bus depot in February 2011 © Ricky Yates

These first two photographs were taken in mid-February this year and show the early stages of this new development. Whilst the main building with its curved roof is being retained, some rather ugly concrete flat-roofed extensions were demolished.

The cleared site around the former bus depot in May 2011 © Ricky Yates

The side of the former bus depot in May 2011 © Ricky Yates

These next two pictures were taken in May. They show how the site surrounding the main building was completely cleared. Also, if you look closely, you will see that all of the glass in the triangular shaped roof-lights has been completely removed.

Insulation, cement rendering & new construction in September 2011© Ricky Yates

Insulation & cement rendering on the side of the building in September 2011© Ricky Yates

These two pictures were taken earlier this month. As you can see, as well as the roof-lights having been re-glazed, the exterior walls have been insulated, then cement rendered and painted. Work on insulating the lower section of wall at the far end of the building was in progress at the time I took the first photograph, as it was on the higher part of the side of the building which can be seen in the second photograph. Beyond that, the framework of a new extension to the former bus depot was in the process of being erected.

The new extension under construction in September 2011© Ricky Yates

Here you can see that new extension under construction, this picture being obviously taken from a different vantage point to the previous six! Work continues and I promise to write an update with new photographs in due course.

To have this new supermarket right on our doorstep, will be a great boon. But we do wonder some times whether we will ever cease to have construction work going on around us or whether it will only all come to completion just as we are about leave and move on!

Tram 8 at the new Podbaba tram and bus stop © Ricky Yates

Yesterday, for the first time in more than three and a half months, Sybille and I were able to travel from the Chaplaincy Flat to St. Clement’s Church, in one uninterrupted tram journey lasting just 17 minutes. Further to my earlier post entitled ‘Extending and upgrading our tramline’, on Thursday 1^st September, the re-laid and extended section of track between Podbaba and Vítezné námestí re-opened.

Here is the new Podbaba tram and bus stop with Tram 8 about to set off for the centre of Prague and then on out to Starý Hloubetín on the eastern side of the city. The new stop is about 200 metres further on from the old one and thus slightly nearer to where we live. Travelling on the tram along the extended and re-laid section of track for the first time yesterday, I certainly noticed a much smoother ride than the one previously experienced.

Although the disruption and mess caused by all this work has been at times quite irritating and frustrating, especially for the poor souls who live nearer to works than we do, there has been a lot of attention to detail with many sections of pavement being re-laid and new pedestrian crossings created. And the area either side of the tramlines has been nicely landscaped with older trees protected and preserved and new ones planted as I hope these before and after photographs will illustrate.

The new tram turning circle under construction with archaeological work in progress © Ricky Yates

New tram turning circle © Ricky Yates

The new tracks of the tramline extension under construction © Ricky Yates

New tram tracks landscaped and in use © Ricky Yates

The existing tram route with old track lifted and new ballast laid © Ricky Yates

New tracks laid and surroundings landscaped © Ricky Yates

Regular and very observant readers of my blog may have noticed that each of the three photographs on the left above, all appeared in a larger format, in my earlier post entitled ‘Extending and upgrading our tramline’. In that post I also included two photographs of the previous Podbaba combined turning circle and tram stop, one taken on the last day it was in use and the second, a few days later. Below are both of those photographs, together with a third showing how the same spot looks now with new tracks going straight through and on to the new tram stop 200 metres further away.

Old Podbaba tram terminus on last working day 15th May 2011© Ricky Yates

And a few days later! © Ricky Yates

Same location on Thursday 1st September 2011 © Ricky Yates

The tramline from Podbaba to Vítezné námestí is closed for over three months © Ricky Yates

I have written previously about the wonderful integrated public transport system that we enjoy here in Prague. And it is also extremely pleasing to see money being put in to both upgrade and extend it. However, when this happens, the network inevitably gets disrupted whilst these engineering works take place.

In order to get into the centre of Prague, we normally make the ten minute walk from the Chaplaincy Flat, to our nearest tram stop at Podbaba. From there we catch Tram 8, which in less than twenty minutes takes us to Dlouhá trída, two minutes walk from St. Clement’s Church. We can also get off at the third stop from Podbaba at Vítezné námestí and either catch another tram or transfer to the Metro at the neighbouring Dejvicka station.

But as you can see from this photograph, since the early hours of Monday 16^th May until 31^st August, no trams are running between Podbaba and Vítezné námestí – instead we have to make that first part of our journey by bus.

The new tram turning circle under construction with archaeological work in progress © Ricky Yates

Earlier this year, work started on extending our tramline from its current terminus at Podbaba, to a new terminus adjacent to the Prague-Dresden railway line with plans for a new adjacent railway station to further integrate public transport. I took this photograph back in February when work on the new tram terminal turning circle was well underway.

However, if you look closely, you can see a series of pits where archaeological work was being undertaken. I have never fully discovered exactly what they were digging for except for one sentence on a local resident’s website which said that some early mediaeval items had been found. Apparently this archaeological work delayed the tramline extension project by three months.

The new tracks of the tramline extension © Ricky Yates

Work on the new tram tracks leading to this new terminus did proceed quite rapidly as can be seen in this photograph looking from Podbaba towards the railway line in the distance. You should be able to just make out the bridge where the railway crosses the road and the new tram turning circle will be off to the left of the bridge.

The existing tram route with old track lifted and new ballast laid © Ricky Yates

I did wonder how this new extension would be successfully joined to the existing tramline at Podbaba without disrupting the normal tram service. Back in early May, I found out the answer to my question – by closing down the whole line from Podbaba to Vítezné námestí for three & a half months!

To be fair to the Dopravní podnik hravního mesta Prahy or dpp for short, they have decided to use this opportunity to totally renew all the track from Vítezné námestí to Podbaba. Within a few days of the closure, most of the old track had been ripped up, the earth underneath excavated and fresh ballast had begun to be put in place.

Podbaba tram terminus on last working day © Ricky Yates

And a few days later! © Ricky Yates

These two photographs show the extent of the work at the old Podbaba terminus. The first photograph was taken on Sunday 15^th May, the last days that trams were turning around here. The second was taken only a few days later!

It is frustrating to be without our normal tram service for over three months. And I do feel sorry for all those who live nearer to all this construction work than we do as the dust and noise must be irritating to say the least. But the end result will be improved transport infrastructure providing an even better and more accessible service. And according to the plans I’ve seen, the new tram stop at Podbaba will be a little closer to where we live making it only an eight rather than a ten minute walk to get there!

Riverside Primary School in the snow © Ricky Yates

This winter will be the third one we have spent in Prague. In both 2008 and 2009, we had a dusting of snow before Christmas which soon rapidly melted. In both years, the really serious snow which settled and remained unmelted on the ground, didn’t arrive until January. However, this year, the snow has come early and hasn’t gone away since!

This winter, the first snow started falling during the night Sunday 28^th – Monday 29^th November. On the morning of Monday 29^th November, I was booked to conduct assembly for Riverside Primary School which fortunately is located not far from the Chaplaincy flat. Normally, I hop in the car and drive there. Seeing the snow, I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and took the bus instead. Unlike in Britain, public transport in Prague doesn’t grind to a halt as soon as snow falls!

As it was the day after Advent Sunday, I spoke to the children about the Advent season and how we can use it to prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ. I also explained why Advent had begun the previous day and not on Wednesday 1^st December when every commercial Advent calendar producer thinks it does! Here are the school children enjoying their break time out in the snowy playground immediately following my assembly. I’m sorry that the picture is a bit grey and grainy – it was still snowing when I took it!

My Renault Scenic in the snow © Ricky Yates

The snow continued to fall leaving large accumulations. The photo above shows the front of my car twenty-four hours later.

Overhanging snow & loose downpipe © Ricky Yates

Last week, we did have a couple of days when the temperature rose above 0 degrees and some of the snow began to melt. Besides causing some lying snow to turn to slush underfoot, a far more serious problem was accumulations of snow suddenly sliding off roofs and landing on unsuspecting individuals below.

I took this photo from our office in the Chaplaincy flat, looking across to the neighbouring block of flats which has recently been completed as part of the fourth and final stage of the Podbaba development. As you can see, a serious amount of snow is about to come off the roof! The sheer amount of snow also dislodged a piece of downpipe which has since crashed to the ground, along with the snow.

Then, just as I thought that all of the snow would melt, the temperature dropped below freezing again and earlier this week, yet more snow fell. The accumulation of snow hasn’t quite reached the proportions experienced in January this year, but it is rapidly heading in that direction.

In the midst of all this snow, life continues quite normally. Up the hill, behind the Podbaba flats complex, is a sports stadium. It is the home of Dukla Praha football team who currently are top of the Czech second division. Sensibly in view of the weather, they are currently on an extended mid-winter break and, having last played on Sunday 7^th November, they are not due to play again until early in March 2011.

The football pitch is surrounded by a running track together with a variety of all-weather pitches and facilities. The stadium is also used for other events. Quite what event was being staged there last Tuesday evening I do not know? But what ever it was, it ended with a spectacular firework display. The Czechs seem to need little excuse for having a firework display and clearly, a serious amount of lying snow wasn’t going to stop them!

Firework display at the Dukla Praha Stadium © Ricky Yates

'Residence Podbaba' with the Crown Plaza Hotel © Ricky Yates

The immediate area of Prague in which our home, the Chaplaincy Flat, is situated is known as Podbaba. The terminal station for the Number 8 Tram which we catch to travel into the City Centre to reach St. Clement’s Church, is also called ‘Podbaba’. ‘Pod’ in Czech means ‘under’ and behind our flats complex lies a steep wooded ridge between the Vltava and Šárka valleys which is called ‘Baba’. Hence we live in Podbaba – ‘under Baba’.

We regularly walk up the tarmac pathway through the woods, which leads from our flats complex up onto the Baba ridge. From the ridge, there are some wonderful views which I hope these three accompanying photographs help to illustrate.

In the foreground of the first photograph is our flats complex that the developers like to call ‘Residence Podbaba’. You can follow the link to the English version of the sales website. Our flat was built as part of the first phase of the development and my predecessor as Chaplain, John Philpott and his wife Margaret, moved into it just over four years ago in January 2006. It is located in the building immediately below the orangey-red square patch in the middle of the photograph.

The orangey-red square patch is on a building directly opposite our main balcony and is part of the fourth and final phase of the whole development. This has been under construction for the whole of the nearly 19 months we have lived here. Fortunately, the building work is now almost complete with the laying of paths and landscaping being undertaken in the last few weeks.

The tall building behind the ‘Residence Podbaba’ flats development is a wonderful example of the architectural style usually known as ‘Stalinist Baroque’.  It is based on the design of Moscow University and was originally built during the communist era, as a hotel for visiting senior military personnel from Warsaw Pact countries. These days it functions in a more capitalist manner as the Austrian owned ‘Crowne Plaza Hotel’. However, Sybille always refers to the star on the pinnacle of the tower as the ‘Star of Stalingrad’!

Podbaba Lock with the Hydrological Station and sewage works © Ricky Yates

The end of the Baba ridge directly overlooks the Vltava River which runs through the centre of Prague. As I have written previously, the River Vltava is navigable from where it leaves the Labe/Elbe at Melnik, all the way to Prague and onwards to the Slapy Dam. This picture shows Podbaba Lock with Hydrolologický Ústav (the Hydrological Station) in front of it and Prague’s main sewage works behind. Amazingly, we have never experienced any foul smells despite the sewage works being in such close proximity.

View across Prague from the Baba ridge © Ricky Yates

This next photograph shows the view looking towards the centre of Prague. In the foreground is ‘Residence Podbaba’ with part of the orangey-red patch just visible on the right. In the middle-distance left is the distinctive tower of the Crowne Plaza Hotel. In the far distance on the left is St. Vitus Cathedral which lies within the walls of Prague Castle. On the right in the far distance, is Petrin Hill, with a smaller version of the Eiffel Tower on top.

Not only does the Baba ridge provide wonderful views across Prague, it is also the location of a fascinating model housing exhibition dating from the early 1930s. The construction of the Baba Ideal Housing Estate, as with similar ones in Vienna and Budapest, was inspired by the success of the Weissenhofsiedlung, a housing exhibition that had been mounted by the Deutsche Werkbund (German Work Federation) in Stuttgart in 1927. The Werkbund was a group of enterprising architects and designers founded in Munich in 1907 by Hermann Muthesius. Somewhat similar to the Viennese Wiener Werkstätte and the English Arts and Crafts Movement in their production of quality products, they differed in being unopposed to reaping the financial rewards made possible through industrial mass production.

In September 1932 the Czech Werksbund mounted their own model housing exhibition under the guidance of the Modernist architect and town planner Pavel Janák. They selected the Baba ridge as the location for their exhibition and thirty three houses, by a variety of architects, were erected. Set side-by-side so their qualities could be judged comparatively, they are strung out along the sloping terrain so as to maximise the view from each building. The houses were individually and specifically designed to provide simple, and affordable yet innovative living spaces for ordinary families.

Bauhaus-style house © Ricky Yates

Bauhaus-style house © Ricky Yates

Bauhaus-style house © Ricky Yates

Bauhaus-style house © Ricky Yates

Meant to be only temporary, the geometric Bauhaus-style houses, which still appear modern today, were ultimately bought up by the Czech avant-garde, having proved too expensive for the original target market. In more recent times, many have been divided into two or three flats.

Bauhaus-style house © Ricky Yates

Bauhaus-style house © Ricky Yates

Bauhaus-style house © Ricky Yates

Bauhaus-style house © Ricky Yates

Bauhaus-style house in need of some renovation © Ricky Yates

Whilst most of these architectural gems are in good order, a small number are in need of rescue and renovation. This one is an example of one that could do with a little bit of tender, loving care.