Ricky – Page 8

Happy Twelfth Birthday to my blog

I realised late yesterday, that 4^th February is the birthday of my blog. My first ever post was published here on 4^th February 2009 meaning that the blog is now twelve years old. Last night when I realised, I was immediately going to try to write and publish a birthday post as I have on several occasions in previous years. But I eventually decided that if I was going to write a coherent post, it might be better to wait until today 🙂

The blog has an amazing 435 posts. This will be post 436, the first in Year 13 of Ricky Yates – An Anglican in Bohemia & Saxony. Whilst I am very happy that the blog is now one year away from becoming a teenager, I’m also aware that more recently, there have been two big gaps between publishing posts. The first was between September 2018 and February 2019 meaning in the year 2018-19, there were only nine posts. The second was between May-November 2020, meaning that I have only published ten posts in the past year.

Over these past twelve years, the blog has undergone two major changes. The first of these was back in May 2012 when I changed the ‘WordPress theme’ I was using to improve its appearance. The second was five years later in May 2017, when my blog header was revamped as I went from being ‘An Anglican in Prague’, to being ‘An Anglican in Bohemia & Saxony‘ as I am now.

Some of my older posts are popular landing pages for new visitors. I am fairly sure that this is because these posts have a high ranking in Google and other search engines, presumably because very few other people have written about the topic. One favourite is my spur of the moment post I wrote back in October 2015, about ‘Contrasts between the Czech Republic and Poland‘. More recently, my rant about the letter I received from UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab and Secretary of State for Work & Pensions, Thérèse Coffey, has to date received over 1100 hits.

Another topic which I wrote about way back in 2009, was ‘Driving on the ‘right’ side of the road‘ and ‘Check this Czech car out!‘ In the nearly twelve years since I wrote about getting my right-hand drive (RHD) car successfully registered here in the Czech Republic, I have had a succession of enquiries about the topic by people who found these posts as a result of a Google search.

On each occasion, whilst offering what advice I can, I have always referred enquirers on to Adrian Blank in Nepomuk, who helped me through the whole process. In turn, Adrian has become a very good friend and he appreciates the business I have generated for him.

Although I now live further away since moving to Stará Oleška, I still go to see Adrian with Nový Carly. My summer tyres are currently stored with him, ready for the changeover in April. Interestingly, Adrian has recently discovered yet another negative consequence of Brexit. Since 1^st January 2021, a British RHD car can now only be registered here if it is less than eight years old 🙁

However, my most famous post that still remains a popular landing page and has had over 10,000 likes and shares on Facebook, is the one I wrote eight years ago in February 2013 – ‘How to be Czech in 10 easy steps‘. Put ‘How to be Czech’ into Google and that post is the first English result.

Last summer, between lockdown one and lockdown two, (since before Christmas, we’ve been in lockdown three 🙁 ), I visited my favourite Decín cafe, ‘Coffee & Books‘, to have brunch and use their wifi. This was because there was a scheduled power outage in Stará Oleška meaning I couldn’t cook or have access the internet. Having placed my order at the counter, I went to find a suitable place to sit.

I went to sit on a stool at one end of bench with a view out of the window. Further along the bench, sitting on two further stools, were two ladies, talking to each other in second-language English. As I was trying to arrange myself and get my laptop plugged in underneath the bench, one of the ladies, who I now know as Katka, spoke to me in Czech. I responded by saying in English, that it would be better if she continued speaking in English 🙂

I had presumed that the two ladies were using second language English, as neither spoke the other persons native tongue, something I have come across many times whilst living in Prague and elsewhere. But I was wrong. They were both Czech and Katka was teaching English and the other lady was her student.

I then inevitably, got asked as to what a native English speaker was doing in Decín and how was my Czech. I gave my usual explanation that my best Czech is bar-restaurant Czech but that I do feel I fully understood Czech culture. Oh Katka said, ‘You mean such as being out in ‘the nature’, being sportif and going to the chata or chalupa for the weekend. I found an article on the internet about that which I use to help teach English to my students.’

I realised that Katka was almost certainly talking about ‘How to be Czech in 10 easy steps’, so I found it on my laptop and she confirmed that it was. I then told her that she was speaking with the author and the poor lady nearly fell off her stool 🙂

Besides the shock on Katka’s face when I revealed my authorship, there was another thing that also made me smile. She told me that the blog post had also taught her two new English words. They were ‘hemline’ and ‘cleavage’ 🙂 from step three of the post.

Never when I started blogging twelve years ago, did I think that what I wrote would reach so far, would feature so high in Google, or be used as a tool for teaching English. Please raise your glass as Ricky Yates – An Anglican in Bohemia & Saxony celebrates its twelfth birthday.

More snow

Stará Oleška 44, Sunday 31st January 2021 © Ricky Yates

Further to my previous post, ‘Winter has arrived‘, winter has definitely decided to stay 😉 We have had further snowfall since I last posted and there has been lying snow now for over three weeks.

It finally stopped snowing around lunchtime yesterday (30^th). Overnight, the skies cleared and the temperature dropped to -10°C (14° Fahrenheit for my American visitors). But clear skies has meant bright sunshine all day today, creating the perfect opportunity for taking snowy photographs 🙂 Knowing from past comments, how much my previous snowy photographs have been appreciated, here are a few more.

Back garden, Friday 29th January 2021 © Ricky Yates

This was my back garden on the morning of Friday 29^th January, before I cleared the path to the woodshed to split more logs and bring them into the house. The hump in the middle of the garden…….

Logs delivered on Monday 25th January 2021 © Ricky Yates

…..is this pile of logs, the second half of my order, delivered on Monday 25^th January. I was very glad I got some of them into the woodshed and the rest covered, before the latest snowfall.

I have lost track of how many times I have scraped snow from my front path and the paved area that gives access to my carport. This was view after a considerable amount of labour on the afternoon of Saturday 29^th January, once it had finally stopped snowing.

One increasing problem has been where to put all of the excess snow. As you can see, there isn’t much more room here.

Or here.

This afternoon, I went for a walk to try and capture some of the beauty of the snow. I had to walk very carefully as the temperature only rose to -2° and it was very icy underfoot. Tonight as I write, it is back down to -6°! Here are a few photographs from my walk around the village.

‘When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even’ © Ricky Yates

Olešský rybník on Saturday 30th January © Ricky Yates

View towards Camping Pod lesem © Ricky Yates

Winter has arrived

The view from my front door on Tuesday 12th January © Ricky Yates

As I explained in this post, the winter of 2019-2020 was remarkably mild. However, the winter we are currently experiencing is bearing a much greater similarity to my first two winters living here in Stará Oleška and a week ago, winter arrived with a vengeance.

Before Christmas, we had a dusting of snow on a few occasions, but it soon melted. On 26^th December, Boxing Day, we had a further light snowfall but which again, mostly melted in the following twenty-four hours. But overnight Friday 8^th – Saturday 9^thJanuary, snow fell once again and didn’t melt. And since then, snow has fallen, snow on snow!

The view from my front door on Saturday 9th January © Ricky Yates

This was the scene that greeted me when I got up on the morning of Saturday 9^th January.

Olešský rybník on Saturday 9th January © Ricky Yates

Later that day, I went for a walk to Olešský rybník, the lake at the other end of the village. As you can see it was almost totally frozen at the surface with snow lying on top of the ice.

The photo at the beginning of this post was the view from my front door on Tuesday 12^th January, before I cleared my front path. And above is a view of my house from outside of my front gates, taken the same day.

The new path across my back garden, from the rear steps to the woodshed, has very much proved its worth during the current weather. You can just about make it out in this photo, taken before I cleared it of snow. But being smooth and even, it is relatively easy to scrape snow off it.

A few days ago, my Czech friend Kát’a, who has helped me with language issues in recent months, saw one of my snowy photos and said she would like to make a snowman. She lives in Decín, which although being only 11km from my home, is 135m above sea level, whereas Stará Oleška is nearly 300m above sea level. Therefore what falls as snow here, often only falls as rain in Decín.

Therefore yesterday, ironically when Decín did get some snow, I picked her up and brought her to my house and together, we made a snowman and a snow woman 🙂 The snow woman was Kát’a’s idea and her creation 🙂

My back garden, Friday 15th January © Ricky Yates

Today we have had yet more snow. Once more, I cleared the path to the woodshed, past the snow people 😉 , in order to split some more logs and bring them into the house and keep the wood-burning stove going. But as you can see, within an hour it was once more being covered in snow.

A Letter to Dominic Raab and Thérèse Coffey

As a recipient of a UK state pension and living in the Czech Republic, last Friday I received a letter from the British government. The letter was organised by the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Thérèse Coffey. Below is the text of what I have written in reply, sent this afternoon by email, to both ministers.

Dear Mr Raab, Dear Ms Coffey,

On Friday 4^th December 2020, I received a letter entitled, ‘UK Transition Period: A message for UK Nationals living in the Czech Republic’. Ostensibly, it came from the British Embassy in Prague. However, as is acknowledged at the end of the letter, it was actually compiled by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) in London. Interestingly, it was posted to me from Port Louis, Mauritius – so much for the UK government’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint 🙁

At least on this occasion, the DWP managed to address me with my correct name. Just over a year ago, I received another letter from the DWP dated 7^th October 2019, assuring me that following Brexit, I would still continue to receive my UK state pension. However, that letter was addressed to Rev Warwick Panayiotou – one of about 98,000 letters that were sent out with incorrect names on them. Please note, my surname is Yates. Both that letter, and the recent one, contained the assurance that at the DWP, ‘We treat personal information carefully’. If ever there was an empty promise…..

I knew that I would receiving this latest letter because I had already seen the press release announcing that the UK government would be writing to me. Mr Raab, in that press release you are quoted as saying, ‘Protecting the rights of UK nationals living across Europe is an absolute priority for this government.’ I see you are following the example of your boss, the Prime Minister, in saying something that is a complete and utter lie!

British citizens living and working or, in my case, now retired in one of the 27 EU member states, have never been a priority for this current Conservative government or its two predecessors. Rather, we have at various times been called ‘cards’ and ‘bargaining chips’, by Conservative ministers and MPs. The only reason we have been able to retain any of our rights that the British government is happily taking away from us is because of the of the work of the ‘British in Europe’, a voluntary organisation.

The timing of this letter is a very clear indication that UK citizens living in the EU are at the bottom, and not the top, of your list of priorities. Your letter tells me about all the steps that I need to take in order to secure my future here in the Czech Republic. But when have you chosen to impart all this information? Less than four weeks before the end of the Transition Period, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when many Czech offices are working shorter hours and with reduced capacity, and with the Christmas/New Year holidays at the end of the month.

Stating that, ‘Protecting the rights of UK nationals living across Europe is an absolute priority for this government,’ belongs in the same category as Boris Johnson’s claim to have an ‘Oven-ready deal’ for post Brexit trade with the EU, together with what was written on the side of that bus back in June 2016. They are all lies and falsehoods and you should be ashamed of peddling them.

I have already done all the things listed in your letter. But it isn’t thanks to the help and advice of the current British government, far from it.

Autumn walks

The viewing tower at Vlcí hora © Ricky Yates

As well as working on improving my garden, I’ve also been exploring more of the wonderful countryside in the surrounding area where I now live. I’ve enjoyed sharing several walks with my Czech friend Kát’a who, in turn, has been a great help to me in overcoming various Czech language issues.

Back on the afternoon of Wednesday 9^th September, we climbed to the top of Vlcí hora (581m), a prominent mountain about forty-five minutes drive north-east of Stará Oleška, near the town of Krásná Lípa. Like so many Czech hills and mountains, Vlcí hora is completely forested. But also like quite a number of Czech hills and mountains, there is a viewing tower at the summit, which overcomes the problem of the trees blocking the view 🙂

Vlcí hora is the result of volcanic action during the Tertiary period. In the neighbouring photo, you can see the columns of basalt rock beneath the base of the viewing tower. Amusingly, you can also see Kát’a’s mobile phone which she was using to take a similar photo to me at the same time 😉

The viewing tower was open and manned so, after paying the 20kc/£0.70 per person admission fee, we climbed the 64 steps to the top. We were rewarded with these magnificent views.

On Saturday 3^rd October, we walked from the village of Ludvíkovice, which lies halfway between Decín and Stará Oleška, to the Ružová vyhlídka viewpoint above Kanon Labe, which I have featured in a previous post more than two years ago.

View from Ružová vyhlídka viewpoint above Kanon Labe © Ricky Yates

I always think this view is spectacular. But what I particularly liked on this occasion, was the tinge of Autumn colours that you can see beginning to appear on some of the trees.

Me, contemplating the view from Ružová vyhlídka © Kát’a Burešová

And here is me, contemplating the view in the other direction, towards Decín.

Earlier this month, on Thursday 5^th November, we drove for about an hour, north and east of Stará Oleška, to the Lužické hory or Lusatian Mountains, as they are sometimes called in English. Parking the car in a small car park at the end of a narrow road, a couple of kilometres south of the small town of Jiretín pod Jedlovou, we set out to climb to the summit of Jedlová (774m).

We were blessed weather-wise, with the perfect day for walking with mainly clear skies and therefore very clear views.

View whilst ascending Jedlová © Ricky Yates

This was the view to the south on our upward climb.

Viewing tower on the summit of Jedlová © Ricky Yates

Just like Vlcí hora, Jedlová has a viewing tower on the summit, along with a small hotel and restaurant. But all three were closed because of the current lockdown restrictions to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Fortunately, good views are available without needing to climb the tower.

View north-west from the summit of Jedlová © Ricky Yates

This is the view north-west. Apparently, the lake in the centre of the photo is called Velký rybník, which translates as ‘big pond’ 🙂

View north from the summit of Jedlová © Ricky Yates

This is the view northwards with the border town of Varnsdorf in the middle distance, and Germany immediately beyond.

View when descending from the summit of Jedlová © Ricky Yates

A view when descending from the summit of Jedlová.

Walking the red waymarked route © Ricky Yates

Our return journey along the red waymarked route, (note the waymark on the tree on the right), took us between two lines of trees with an autumnal carpet of fallen leaves to walk on.

Two shadowy characters on the path 🙂

Across the road from where we had left my car, are the ruins of Hrad Tolštejn, situated on the top of a rocky outcrop. We both decided we still had just about enough energy for the climb, before setting out for home.

Jiretín pod Jedlovou as seen from Hrad Tolštejn © Ricky Yates

We were rewarded for our effort by more wonderful views. This is the small town of Jiretín pod Jedlovou.

View from Hrad Tolštejn © Kát’a Burešová

Whilst these two final photos capture some of the wonderful Autumn colours on display.