Extending and upgrading our tramline

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 . . . → Read More: Extending and upgrading our tramline

Slapy Lake – Vodni Nadrž Slapy

Slapy Lake © Ricky Yates

Last Monday, being my day-off, Sybille and I decided to take advantage of the warm sunny weather and pay our first visit this year to Vodni Nadrž Slapy – Slapy Lake, and the little lakeside village of Ždán. The village and lake are about 50km south of our home with the journey taking about an hour in the car, because of needing to either get through or around Prague, before being able to head out into the Bohemian countryside.

The lakeside beach at Ždán © Ricky Yates

Slapy Lake has been formed by the building of the Slapy Dam across the Vltava River. Both take their name from the village of Slapy which lies a couple of kilometers west of the site of the dam. As I explained in my earlier post entitled ‘A Trip up the . . . → Read More: Slapy Lake – Vodni Nadrž Slapy

We have a new address

Pat’anka 2614/11A © Ricky Yates

Last Wednesday 25th May 2011, Sybille & I changed our address. No – we haven’t moved out of the Chaplaincy flat. Instead, solely due to the intricacies of Czech bureaucracy, the building in which the Chaplaincy Flat is located, has been re-numbered.

All buildings in Prague have two numbers. One number, on a red plate with white lettering, is the registration of that building with the local authority – in our case, with Praha 6. Prague, like Paris, is divided into numbered districts, each of which has its own mayor and council. The registration number of our building – 2614, is unchanged. The other number, on a dark blue plate with white lettering, is the number of the building in that particular street. Our building was and still is, Pat’anka 11. But because there are two separate doors & staircases to . . . → Read More: We have a new address

Welcome to another Karen

With Rev’d Dr. Karen Moritz outside St. Clement’s Church on Sunday 1st May 2011 © Gerhard Frey-Reininghaus

In recent months it has been a great privilege to have another lady called Karen join the St. Clement’s congregation. She is not to be confused with Karen the TEFL teacher, who has been the subject of several of my previous blogposts and who now lives in Istanbul, but remains a very regular and faithful commenter here. Nor is she to be confused with Czech/Australian Karen, who helped us with adopting Sam the dog. Nor is she Karin, (note the slightly different spelling), who has also previously worshipped at St. Clement’s, currently lives on the Greek island of Paros and, from time to time, also leaves comments here.

This latest Karen is the Rev’d Dr. Karen Moritz, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). . . . → Read More: Welcome to another Karen

We have a dog!

Sam our adopted dog © Ricky Yates

I am pleased to announce that, much to Sybille’s great pleasure, on Wednesday 20th April 2011 we became the proud owners of a dog. Strictly speaking, until a date in early October 2011, we are only the surrogate foster parents of a dog. I’ll explain that situation in greater detail in a moment. But first of all, let me introduce the dog.

Our dog, pictured here on the left, was found by the police in early April, wandering around a Prague suburb. He did not have either an ID microchip or a tattoo to identify him. But he did have a collar with a metal tag attached, which gave his date of birth & said that his name was ‘Sam’. However, rather oddly, the tag had no address or phone number.

Officially, Sam is deemed to be a Labrador mix. . . . → Read More: We have a dog!