Ricky Yates

Sunset over Podbaba © Ricky Yates

Where is winter? It is a question I’ve been asking for several weeks. This time last year, there had been snow lying on the ground for about seven weeks. Until yesterday, when we finally had a few heavy snow showers, there had been no snow at all in Prague this winter.

The temperature this evening has just dropped below freezing and the forecast is for temperatures of below 0 degrees Celsius for the next four nights at least. But there is still no sign of any serious snow.

There is a very good reason why I want some serious snow and for temperatures to remain below freezing for many days at a time. To ensure that the mosquitoes are kept at bay!

In the Autumn of 2008 when we first arrived in Prague and throughout the warmer months of 2009, we suffered from an abundance of mosquitoes here in the Chaplaincy Flat and elsewhere. Then two successive severe winters caused their numbers to drop to a handful. I fear that a mild winter might just allow the Prague mosquito population to recover!

In the meantime, a few evenings ago, we did experience this wonderful sunset, the picture being taken from one of the balconies of our flat. The floodlight pylon belongs to the stadium of FK Dukla Praha who, like the rest of the football clubs in the Czech Gambrinus liga, are on their mid-season break which started in early December and doesn’t conclude until late February. In view of the mild weather we have experienced so far this winter, they could still be playing!

As I mentioned in my recent sad post about Sam the dog, one of the many great things he did for Sybille and I was to get us out walking far more than before we adopted him. He became our ‘weight loss programme’ because he exercised us as we exercised him! We are both determined to continue walking just as much as we did when we had Sam so as to maintain our weight loss which between us now exceeds 30 kilos.

Most days, we would walk from the Chaplaincy Flat to the extensive and beautiful Stromovka Park, which lies about twenty-five minutes walk away from where we live. Through doing this, we got to know numerous other Czech and expat dog owners and improved our ‘dog Czech’ no end.

Talking on my mobile phone © Ricky Yates

However, one behavioural habit which I regularly observed and continue to observe, annoys me intensely – dog owners and parents of young children, who go to the park, but then spend the whole time they are there, talking to someone else on their mobile phones!

The most extreme example I remember was of a woman we met, just by the entrance to Stromovka. She was pushing a buggy with a baby in it; was also holding onto the hand of a toddler and had a dog on a lead. She also was responsible for a slightly older toddler walking in front of her and for a second dog who was off-lead. But at the same time as all of this, she had her head bent to one side to hold her mobile phone next to her shoulder, in order to have a long conversation with one of her friends. I know women are meant to be able to multi-task, but…….

What conscious or sub-conscious message does such behaviour send to either the children or to the dogs? Why do people need to have such phone conversations if they are going to the park in order to spend quality time with their children &/or their dog(s)? Mobile phones are incredibly useful but they can also be a curse.

My photo is of a young woman walking across Václavské námestí/Wenceslas Square, also talking on her mobile, though admittedly, without dog or child in tow. But I hope I make my point – it is perfectly easy to say in response to a call, “I’m in the park with my dog/my children. I’ll call you back when I get home”.

Historical 'Restaurat' in Malá Strana © Ricky Yates

As part of our ongoing walk programme, as well as walking to and around Stromovka Park, Sybille and I have also recently started walking around some of the more central areas of the city, particularly as they are currently relatively free of tourists! However, I’m afraid I cannot resist posting this further wonderful example of Czenglish we spotted one evening recently in Malá Strana. What might be on the menu at a ‘Restaurat’?

Finally for this post, below are two photographs, both of which brought a smile to my face as I hope they will for the many readers of my blog.

This year, New Year’s Day was a Sunday. Our Church Treasurer Gordon is a Scotsman and marked Hogmanay, by coming to Church in his kilt. I did jokingly suggest that he could put the collection in his sporran to take it home to bank the following day! I should add that it is post-Eucharistic coffee rather than a wee dram that he is drinking!

And alongside is an invitation to ‘Explore the meaning of life’ – in Czech!

Gordon in his kilt on New Year's Day © Ricky Yates

An invitation to 'Explore the meaning of life' - in Czech!

St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague photographed from Petrín Hill on New Year's Day 2011 © Ricky Yates

“Do you like living in Prague?” This is a question I’m frequently asked by Czech people once they discover that I’m not a tourist but that I’ve actually chosen to live and work here. Many Czechs cannot understand why someone from Western Europe might actually want to come and permanently reside in their country.

The same question is also frequently posed by English-speaking visitors who join us for worship at St. Clement’s Anglican Episcopal Church and by family and friends when they write or speak with me. So for my first post of 2011, I’m going to set out some of the reasons why I enjoy living particularly here in Prague and more widely in the Czech Republic. Some of these I’ve mentioned in previous posts so there are an inevitable number of links to things I’ve written previously in this blog.

Metro station at Jirího z Podebrad © Ricky Yates

Public Transport

Prague has the most wonderful public transport system consisting of buses, trams, the Metro and even a number of little ferries. Why is it wonderful? Because it is:

Incredibly cheap - Last week, Sybille and I went to renew our annual season tickets for the Prague public transport system. It cost each of us 4750 Kc – at current exchange rates, just over £160.00 / €193.00 / US$250.00. For this sum we can travel anywhere in Prague, at any time, for a whole year! The Church reimburses me for my season ticket – we just have to pay for Sybille’s.

Escalator on the Prague Metro © Ricky Yates

Integrated – Each part of the system links to the other. At Dejvicka, the current terminal of the A/Green line of the Metro and the nearest Metro station to our flat, you walk out of the station and immediately in front of you is place where buses depart to take you out further into the suburbs or to the airport. The Dopravní podnik hravního mesta Prahy or dpp for short, have a wonderful website that speaks Czech, English and German. Put in the starting point of your journey and your destination, the time you either want to start or arrive and then click. Out comes a journey plan with times, where to transfer from one form of transport to another, etc.

Frequent – If you know where you are going and you are travelling on a weekday between 07.00 and 19.00, there is no real need to visit the dpp website. Once you reach your point of departure you will only need to wait a few minutes at the most. Even on Sunday mornings, there is a tram every twenty minutes which will take us from the Podbaba tram terminus near our flat, all the way to Dlouhá Trída, just around the corner from St. Clement’s Church.

Reliable – there is a timetable and nearly always, it is adhered to. Sometimes buses and trams do get delayed by other vehicular traffic, but usually only at peak periods. And when it snows, everything keeps running – it doesn’t grind to a halt as in Britain.

It isn’t just within the city of Prague. The Czech Republic, along with Slovakia, has the densest rail network of any country in the whole of Europe. One member of my congregation lives in Milovice, about 50 km from the centre of Prague. But in 45 minutes, he can travel by train into the city centre and then have a 10 minute walk to Church. I don’t exactly know what his rail fare is for the return journey but he assures me it is extremely reasonable.

Bar-Restaurace U Topolu © Ricky Yates

Eating and Drinking

Prague has an abundance of bar-restaurants. And provided you avoid the expensive tourist traps in the city centre, ‘eating out’ can be remarkably inexpensive. As I’ve written previously, some single people tell me that it is often cheaper for them to ‘eat out’ rather than buy food from the supermarket and cook for themselves.

Half a litre of Kozel beer © Ricky Yates

The photo on the left is of U Topolu which, since it’s refurbishment in July 2010, has become our favourite local place to eat and drink. A main course here, even with a side dish, costs no more than 150 Kc / £5.00. The quality is excellent and portions are generous.

The further great attraction at U Topolu is the beer. As well as Pilsner Urquell and Gambrinus, they have Kozel beer, directly from the tank. It is light, fresh and costs 26 Kc for half a litre. In British terms that is under £1.00 a pint! What more do I need to say?

Architecture and Buildings

As I’ve previously written, Prague suffered remarkably little structural damage during the Second World War. And whilst many historical buildings suffered years of neglect during the Communist era, since 1989, great effort has been put into restoration. What is really pleasing is how well restoration work has been done.

Restored building in Vinohrady © Ricky Yates

This photograph is of a building just around the corner from where my dentist has her surgery in the suburb of Vinohrady. It consists of residential flats on four floors with retail outlets on the ground floor level. But as you can see, all the intricate detail above the windows on each level has been lovingly restored, together with the ironwork that forms the railings to each balcony. Likewise, the render on the outside of the building has been repaired before being attractively painted.

These buildings are typical of those which form much of the inner suburbs of Prague. Yes – there are still ones like these that are crumbling. But increasingly they are a minority. And rather than wholesale demolition, buildings like these are being preserved and their interiors sympathetically modernised.

I could write and illustrate several blog posts about the architecture of Prague which I promise I will do during the coming months. But for the time being, just let me say that walking the streets of the centre of Prague, together with the inner city suburbs, is always a delight to the eyes.

Not too big but not too small

Prague only has a population of about 1.3 million people. Therefore, as cities go, it is relatively small meaning that the nearby countryside can be easily reached. Yet because it is the capital of the Czech Republic, (10.3 million population), it has all the assets and facilities of a capital city.

There are many more things that I could list as to why I like living here in Prague, but this post is probably long enough already. And yes – there are also a small number of things that I don’t like. But they are minor irritants compared to the joy of living in this delightful city.

In the bleak mid-winter..... © Ricky Yates

Today is 31^st December – New Year’s Eve. In Czech it is known as Silvestr as we discovered last year when the car park attendant at our local Billa supermarket wished us ‘hezky Silvestr’ as we gave him our ticket at the barrier. Sybille immediately knew what he meant as today is Silvester in German. And the reason for the name? In the Roman Catholic Church, today is the feast day of St. Sylvester/Pope Sylvester I who died on 31^st December 335.

This post is really just a quick update on the things I’ve written about in my three previous December blog posts.

Weather

Not only did winter, with considerable snowfall, come early to Prague this year – it hasn’t gone away! We had a white Christmas with snow already on the ground and more fine powdery snow falling as we travelled to Church for our Midnight service on Christmas Eve.

Emu in the snow at Prague Zoo © Ricky Yates

Yesterday, rather than being cold and cloudy, it was fine; cold but sunny. So we went to visit one of Sybille’s favourite places – Prague zoo. The weather was perfect for the polar bears, North American bison and other animals used to snow and below freezing temperatures. However, I did feel somewhat sorry for this emu though I believe he was outside by choice.

Since well before Christmas, we’ve been planning to take the car to our good friend Adrian of Nepomuk in order to have four new ‘winter tyres’ fitted and a couple of other minor things fixed. But unfortunately, the weather has been so bad we just haven’t felt able to undertake the journey. Therefore, the poor ‘Carly’, as it has become affectionately known, continues to sit outside covered in snow.

The 'Carly' in the snow © Ricky Yates

‘On the Feast of Stephen’

Our broadcast service on BBC Radio 4 on 26^th December had been very well received. As well as complimentary emails from various persons, known and unknown, one other very interesting statistic has emerged. Our Church website normally gets 10 – 15 hits a day. On Sunday 26^th December it got 153 hits!!! If you haven’t yet heard the broadcast, you can still do so during the next two days by visiting the Radio 4 Sunday Worship website.

Christmas Carp induced flooding

We’ve dried out and all the electrics are working. However, we are still awaiting a visit from our neighbour’s insurance company’s appropriately named ‘liquidator’!

Happy New Year!

Frozen waterfall in the grounds of Prague Zoo © Ricky Yates

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

My Renault Scenic in the snow, Saturday 6th March 2010 © Ricky Yates

On Monday 1^st March I published a blog post entitled ‘Finally, the snow has melted’ describing how, after seven weeks, the snowfall that started in Prague on Friday 8^th January, had all but disappeared. I’m afraid I spoke to soon.

I took this picture yesterday morning, Saturday 6^th March, which shows my car parked outside the block of flats where we live. It had started snowing during the night and did not cease until early in the afternoon. Since then, the sky has cleared with a temperature of -10 Celsius being recorded at 6am this morning.  Winter isn’t over yet!