Kostel sv Kliment / St. Clement’s Church in the snow © Ricky Yates
Last weekend, we had the heaviest snowfall here in Prague, since early January 2010. It started snowing late on Friday 22nd February and rarely stopped until just before Sybille and I left the Chaplaincy Flat to go to Church on Sunday morning. To give you a visual impression, here is a picture showing what Kostel sv Kliment / St. Clement’s Church looked like last Sunday, covered and surrounded by freshly fallen snow.
But in contrast to the UK, where everything seems to grind to a halt as soon as any snow falls, here in the Czech Republic, that just does not happen. So it was that Tram 8 arrived on time at 10.07 at the Podbaba tram stop, and whisked us off on our sixteen minute journey to Dlouhá trída, two minutes walk from the Church.
Tram 8 arrives at the Podbaba Tram Stop © Ricky Yates
But although public transport almost always keeps going when it snows in Prague, I generally believe that ‘discretion is the better part of valour’, when it comes to trying to drive the ‘Carly’ when it is covered in this amount of snow. The irony of having finally obtained my new Czech driving licence just a few days earlier, was not lost upon me 🙂
The ‘Carly’, deep in last weekend’s snow © Ricky Yates
After Church, Sybille and I took Tram 26 to Letenské námestí and had a celebratory lunch for Sybille’s birthday, in Fraktal Bar-Restaurace. Then we walked home through Stromovka Park where some park visitors were not put off by the snow, but were sitting out on deckchairs, enjoying liquid and other refreshments from the Slechtovka Restaurace, located in the middle of the park.
Deckchairs in the snow at Slechtovka Restaurace in Stromovka Park © Ricky Yates
Cross-Country skiing in Stromovka Park © Ricky Yates
Others were taking full advantage of the late winter snow, to practice their cross-country skiing.
Here some more pics from snowy Prague.
http://www.prahankevaassa.blogspot.fi/2013/02/talvista-prahaa.html
Thank you Johanna for the link to your snowy Prague pics. I trust you realise that picture number two, actually includes our Chaplaincy Flat, immediately below the orange coloured square in the bottom left of your photo.
Oh really, what a coincidence. Turkka took the picture when we were meeting our Finnish friend Lieko. So we were not stalking you, do not worry. 🙂
I realised you weren’t stalking us. We live in Podbaba, (under Baba), as ‘pod’ means under. And your photo was taken from ‘Baba’ 🙂
Ricky, an enjoyable piece.
One thing: Once more you’ve used an American English variant. In British English the verb is practise, in American English practice.
I think you should leave it as it is at present.
Thank you David. I think I should introduce you to my nephew Tim, who has also previously picked me up on my incorrect spelling of practise/practice. As the Psalmist says, ‘I acknowledge my transgression & my sin is ever before me’.
Prague must look wonderful in the snow, Ricky, especially when the sun shines. Of course your position in the centre of Europe means that you can expect snow much more regularly than we can, hence the greater ability to cope when it arrives. Over here, we just don’t get enough practice. 🙂
Yes it does look wonderful Perpetua. And today, the sun was shining 🙂 But most of the snow in the city centre & around where we live, has now melted. However, when I went out today to make a hospital visit to a member of the St. Clement’s congregation, I couldn’t help but notice how much lying snow there was on open ground that is slightly higher. For example, the open land at Vypich, where we used to play cricket until the 2012 season, http://rickyyates.com/playing-cricket-in-the-czech-republic/ , was still under several centimetres of snow.
Sitting in the middle of a snow filled park drinking wine sounds great right about now!
Indeed Currybadger – especially if you’re still enjoying the Sydney summer sunshine 🙂
Great pics Ricky.
Brought back heaps of memories as I spent a great year in Prague back in the noughties. I love the place and your photos reminded me just how wonderful real winter weather is.
Well, as this amount of snow has nothing on the amount of snow you’d regularly get in Krkonoše or elsewhere, where many people go for winter holidays, I guess we cannot be surprised by snow so easily…though trains, unfortunately, often are.
Hana – I’m well aware of how much snow the more mountainous areas of the Czech Republic receive in winter. We are just back from a couple of very snowy days in the Orlické hory about which I shall be writing here very shortly.
We have relatives in that same area, so I’m quite familiar with it. 😀 Though we have not been there for some time now…