By Ricky, on January 19th, 2012
The west front of St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague © Ricky Yates
Last Monday evening, Sybille and I took the tram from Podbaba to Vozovna Strešovice and from there, walked through the back lanes to Hradcanské namestí, the large square lying immediately to the west of Prague Castle. As we did so, the only other people we saw were a young couple who were walking the same way as we were and whom we thought were probably Russian. Whilst we can tell when people aren’t speaking Czech, we have yet to be able to clearly distinguish between other Slavic languages!
In front of the west gates of the castle, there was a small group of Spaniards with a native Spanish speaker as their guide. But as we entered the first two quadrangles of the Prague Castle complex, we were surrounded by the amazing array of architecturally beautiful . . . → Read More: Prague – minus the tourists
By Ricky, on January 14th, 2012
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 . . . → Read More: Winter weather & walks
By Ricky, on January 8th, 2012
Suspension bridge across the Lužnice River © Ricky Yates
At the beginning of 2011, I wrote a blogpost entitled ‘Why I like living in Prague’. Whilst I still stand by everything I wrote twelve months ago, I should really have also added, ‘Because it also allows you to very easily explore other parts of the Czech Republic’.
Regular readers of this blog will know that Sybille & I have spent much of our holiday time these past eighteen months, exploring various different parts of this small landlocked Central European country. And whilst Prague is wonderful, there are times when some of the central parts of the city do get rather overwhelmed by tourists. But as I hope some of my previous posts have shown, there is much of beauty and historical interest elsewhere in the Czech Republic and these places see vastly fewer visitors.
. . . → Read More: Exploring the Czech Republic
By Ricky, on January 5th, 2012
Sam © Ricky Yates
This is not the first blog post of 2012 that I wanted to write. After a long consultation with the vet, and an equally long discussion between Sybille and myself, we together took the very difficult decision last Monday morning, of having our dog Sam, put to sleep.
Unfortunately, starting in mid-November 2011, Sam began to exhibit characteristics totally out of character for a Labrador. He became aggressive towards other dogs and on occasions & without any apparent reason & with no warning, aggressive towards other humans. This culminated in him biting the hand of a very good friend who was with us in the Chaplaincy Flat on New Year’s Eve.
The vet believes that Sam had developed some serious form of neurological disorder which would be impossible to treat or to find any cure. In the previous six weeks, he had rapidly . . . → Read More: Sam – 25/08/10 – 02/01/12 – At peace
By Ricky, on December 24th, 2011
Tribute to former President Václav Havel in a lady’s fashion shop window © Ricky Yates
I’m writing this on Christmas Eve, just a few hours before setting out from the Chaplaincy Flat to St Clement’s Anglican Episcopal Church in the centre of Prague, in order to celebrate our Christmas Midnight Eucharist which begins at 23.30 this evening. It is now dark and therefore in terms of the liturgical Church year, the season of Advent has ended and we have entered the Christmas season.
As I mentioned in my earlier blogpost entitled ‘Advent Sunday‘, this year, because of Christmas Day being on a Sunday, the preceding season of Advent has been a full four weeks long. Depending on which day of the week Christmas Day falls, in some years the fourth ‘week’ of Advent is only one or two days long. However, further to . . . → Read More: Christmas Eve 2011 in Prague
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