In my last post of 2009, I did promise to start blogging again about ex-pat life in the Czech Republic rather than our October journey to Turkey and back. However, this afternoon, I had a brainwave as to how I could produce a map that I could put online to show our journey. So here it is! I hope it will help readers understand better my previous twenty-one posts about our trip.
Št’astný nový rok! Happy New Year!
Yesterday, Tuesday 17th November 2009, marked the twentieth anniversary of the start of the events that led to the ‘Sametová Revoluce’, the Velvet Revolution, which saw the demise of the Communist government that had ruled Czechoslovakia for previous forty one years. As I mentioned in my recent blog post about Holidays and Celebrations in the Czech Republic, 17th November is now kept as a public holiday entitled ‘Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day’.
Although not a Czech and having only lived here for 14 months, I was still interested to see how the momentous events of twenty years ago would be celebrated. So early yesterday afternoon, Sybille and I set out from our flat and travelled by bus and Metro to the centre of Prague, in order to soak up the atmosphere.
One thing the Czechs have become very good at is attaching a midweek public holiday to the nearest weekend and thus creating a long weekend. Therefore most schools and university faculties were also closed on Monday 16th as students and staff were granted a Headteachers/Deans holiday. As one Czech parent said to me, “If it wasn’t granted as a holiday, most people would take it as one anyway!”
However, in contrast to those enjoying a four-day weekend, most retail outlets were open on Tuesday. Our local Billa Supermarket had a notice declaring that on 17th November they would be open ‘normal Tuesday hours’. In Prague city centre, most shops, not just those aimed at tourists, were also open as normal for business. Twenty years on from the fall of communism, the capitalist free-market has well and truly established itself in the Czech Republic!
We went first to Staromestské námestí/Old Town Square where we understood various attractions had been laid on. We stupidly arrived two minutes too late and missed out on the thirty minute period when beer was being sold at the communist era price of just under 3 Kc for 0.5l. In UK terms that is about 10p a pint! However, we did enjoy some ham that had been freshly charcoal roasted over an open fire, accompanied by a cold beer. But for that privilege, we had to pay nearer the 2009 tourist price.
We then walked across to Václavské námestí/Wenceslas Square. At the Muzeum end of the square, were a series of display boards explaining in Czech and English, the events of 1989 that culminated in the capitulation of the Communist government and the election of the dissident playwright Václav Havel, as President on 29th December that year. The first of these events were students gathering in Wenceslas Square to mark the twentieth anniversary of the self-immolation of Jan Palach on 19th January. This and subsequent gatherings in what has become known as ‘Palach Week’, were forcibly dispersed by the National Security Corps officers using batons and water cannons.
Between the site of the display boards and the towering statue of Sv. Václav/St. Wenceslas on his horse, there is a small memorial to Jan Palach and another self-immolator Jan Zajic. In front of the memorial, many people had laid flowers or lit votive candles and several more people came to light candles as we stood in silence in front of the memorial. It had just gone dark and the flickering light of the candles made for a quiet evocative atmosphere.
We then set off back down Wenceslas Square and turned left into Národní where the main action of the day was due to culminate. On 17th November 1989, a large group of students who were trying to march from Albertov to Wenceslas Square, were attacked and severely beaten by riot police in Národní, the main thoroughfare from the banks of the River Vltava leading to the square. The reaction of the wider public to this violent action by the Communist authorities against their own people, was the catalyst for a series of daily demonstrations of an ever increasing size, which eventually brought about the end of the oppressive regime.
Yesterday, that march was re-enacted by several thousand people. Whilst also ending in Národní, instead of violence, more candles were lit at the site of the 1989 event, speeches were made and the national anthems of both the Czech Republic and Slovakia were sung. Suddenly, with very loud bangs and plumes of smoke, a ‘curtain’ of fireworks exploded symbolising the collapse of the Iron Curtain. Then, a street concert began, beamed and broadcast onto large screens erected at various points in the street, as well as live on Czech television.
One of the very good things about yesterday’s re-enactment was the number of young people who took part in it, as well as those who were re-tracing the steps that they themselves had walked twenty years before. I have often heard the complaint from numerous older Czech people who lived and suffered under the Communist regime, that the young people of today do not appreciate the freedom they have – the freedom to travel, to express their own views, to be educated rather than indoctrinated. Yesterday, at least some Czech twenty-somethings, did think it important to go out and commemorate such a significant event in the history of their country.
One rather ironic observation I noted was the role of the police. There was a sizeable police presence in central Prague overseeing yesterday’s events. They too all seemed rather young. Sybille wondered whether older officers, who might have been around twenty years ago, had been shipped off to the countryside for a few days! But instead of attacking the crowds, they were seeking to protect them, directing traffic away from streets pedestrianised for the day and ensuring that no one got hurt in the crush.
The ultimate irony was in relation to the news media. On Wenceslas Square, we came across the mobile base for a CNN News crew. Under the awning attached to their van, they had a laptop computer set up which was showing clips of the events twenty years previously. The short bit I watched included a clip where a riot policeman deliberately comes across to the TV camera and puts his hat over the lens to try to prevent filming of the violence directed at the student protesters. Yesterday, one of the main police tasks was protecting TV vans and outside broadcasting facilities so that pictures of the events could reach the whole of the Czech Republic and the wider world!
The 2009 meeting of the Eastern Archdeaconry Synod of the Diocese in Europe took place in the Kaya Prestige Hotel, Izmir, between 17.00 on Thursday 8th October until mid-afternoon on Saturday 10th October. We met in a large conference room on the second floor of the hotel and were able to set up the furniture so that one part was suitable for worship whilst the other could be used for listening to our speakers and for round-table discussion. However, like so many hotel conference rooms, there were no windows through which daylight might appear so it was good to be able to get out and walk around the city on the Friday afternoon during a two-hour break in proceedings.
In our Eucharist on Friday morning, we remembered Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna who was martyred for his faith c155 AD, not so far from where we were meeting – Smyrna being the ancient name for what is now known as Izmir. We were reminded that Polycarp, when asked to forswear his faith and curse Christ famously declared, “I have served him for eighty-six years and he has done me no wrong; how can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour.” He was burned alive!
Our main speaker was Dr Colin Podmore, a Church Historian who has worked for the General Synod of the Church of England in various capacities since 1998. He gave three talks entitled ‘Aspects of Anglican Identity’. Not surprisingly, he has also written a book of the same title! Whilst one might not agree with everything he had to say on the topic, he certainly was a lucid a thought provoking speaker to listen to.
We also heard from David Healey, Communications Manager and General Manager of the Intercontinental Church Society (ICS), an Anglican mission society who support Christian work among English-speakers in countries where English is not the first language. ICS financially enabled the appointment in 2000, of John Philpott my predecessor as Prague Chaplain, and currently continue to meet about 10% of the Chaplaincy’s running costs as well of supporting us 100% prayerfully. Within the Eastern Archdeaconry, they also support the work of the Chaplaincies in Corfu and Kiev.
As well as speaking about the work of ICS, David also gave an illustrated talk about the impact of consumer culture upon belief and unbelief from a mission perspective. This was a revised version of a talk I’d heard him give last April at the ICS Chaplains and Families Conference. Part of his theme is one I have referred to more than once in this blog – that as Jesus said, “Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” Luke 12 v15b.
A very important part of synod proceedings are the reports from each of the Chaplaincies. Many have financial struggles; those in St. Petersburg and Moscow have ever increasing difficulties regarding visas for chaplains and congregational members alike. Others have problems regarding their legal and tax status.
But there were also many positive things in several reports, particularly in the area of ecumenical cooperation. There are also possibilities of new Chaplaincies being established, notably in areas where increasing numbers of English-speakers are settling. One of these is on the west coast of Turkey. Members an expat group of Christians based at Didim attended the synod in an observer capacity and there is another similar group based around Bodrum. I understand that both these groups would like come under the ‘Anglican umbrella’. Our Archdeacon Patrick Curran, together with our Suffragan Bishop David Hamid, were staying on in Turkey after the synod, for a meeting with these groups to explore possibilities.
Although the synod had its serious moments, it was also a time for fellowship and fun. For the clergy, who in England would normally meet up with their near neighbours about once a month for a chapter meeting, it is rare opportunity to get together and mutually support one another. All of us in the Eastern Archdeaconry work in quite isolated situations. Geographically, my nearest colleague is my Archdeacon Patrick Curran who as well as being Archdeacon, is also Chaplain in Vienna. Vienna is about four hours from Prague either by car or train!
One of the slightly unnerving aspects of our meeting was security presence that surrounded us most of the time. There were always police in and around the hotel and often a private security man was hovering outside our meeting room. When on Saturday afternoon at the end of synod business, we set off to walk as a group to St. John’s Church, led by the Izmir Chaplain, Rev’d Ron Evans, we were followed by several police officers.
So far as one could ascertain, all this was organised by the hotel. There have in recent years been terrorist attacks in a number of tourist areas in Turkey which have usually been attributed to either the Kurdish PKK or Islamic extremists. The Turkish government is very keen to maintain and increase the number of tourists visiting the country as tourism makes a major contribution to the economy. Therefore they clearly want to deter and prevent anything that might damage the image of the country abroad. Later in our Turkish travels, we visited various tourist sites and an armed police presence was always very visible.
The final part of the synod meeting was our Sunday morning Eucharist, held in the Church of St. John the Evangelist, at which Bishop David presided. During the service, he ordained Tony Lane deacon, to serve the congregation of the Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, Kefalas, Crete. This congregation, which is now about 50 strong, was started by Tony a few years ago as half a dozen people meeting around his kitchen table. Since then he has personally built the chapel where the congregation now meet which was dedicated by Bishop Geoffrey in 2008.
Due to previous theological study, Tony was already a licensed Reader and this past year, he has undergone further training and been mentored by Canon Mike Peters, a recently retired priest from Somerset, who has spent the last six months in Crete, leading the congregation. Canon Mike was the preacher at the ordination service. The Crete congregation come under the umbrella of the Greater Athens Chaplaincy led by Canon Malcolm Bradshaw.
The Eucharist and Ordination Service were a wonderful way to conclude our synod meeting. It was followed by refreshments laid on by the Izmir congregation which we were able to enjoy in warm sunshine in the grounds of St. John’s Church.
Knowing the dates of public holidays when you move to or visit a country of which you are not a native, is quite important as my wife and I found out only on Monday of this past week. We were returning from our trip to Turkey about which I’ve just started blogging, when we drove from Italy into Austria on the penultimate leg of our journey home to Prague. We were driving along the Austrian autobahn when my wife said, “Rather than stop at a service station for lunch, why don’t we drive into a nearby town and find a nice restaurant instead?”
So it was that we drove into Spittal an der Drau and parked in the centre of the town. It was only when the parking ticket machine refused to accept my euro coins I tried to feed it, did it begin to dawn on me that the town was rather quiet. Then I noticed that all the shops and banks were also closed. We did eventually find a pleasant bar-restaurant that was open where I enjoyed a fine Wiener Schnitzel. Whilst there, we quietly enquired of the proprietor whether the day was by any chance a public holiday. “Of course”, came the reply. “It is the Austrian National Day.” Therefore beware if you ever have cause to be in Austria on 26th October. Most shops and businesses will be geschlossen!!
There are five public holidays annually which are peculiar to the Czech Republic. Each celebrates individuals or events that helped form the Czech nation.
5th July celebrates St. Cyril and St. Methodius, two brothers who lived in the ninth century and were responsible, both for bringing the Christian faith to the Czech and other Slavic peoples, but also for inventing an alphabet that allowed the Slavic language of the day, usually now known as ‘Old Church Slavonic’, to be written down for the first time. Whilst the Czech Republic is now seen as one of the most atheistic countries in Europe, these two Christian saints are still celebrated for being responsible for the origin of Czech culture.
28th September celebrates the patron saint of the Czech people, St. Wenceslas. He is believed to have been martyred on this day in 935. He is well known to English speakers because of the Christmas Carol ‘Good King Wenceslas’. The day is also known as ‘Czech Statehood Day’, no doubt because Wenceslas (Václav in Czech) is seen as an embodiment of the Czech state.
6th July is celebrated as Jan Hus Day. Hus was an early Church reformer calling for Church teaching and practices to be in line with what appeared in the Bible, for the Czech language to be used in liturgy and preaching and for the people to be able to receive Holy Communion in both kinds. He was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1412 for insubordination and burnt at the stake on 6th July 1415. Once again, it is his desire for the use of the Czech language that has caused him to be celebrated more as a Czech cultural hero rather than as a Church reformer. The Communist government of 1948 – 1989 even tried to make him out to be a Czech proto-communist!
28th October marks Czechoslovak Independence Day. It celebrates the declaration of independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire on 28th October 1918 by Czechs and Slovaks in the dying days of World War 1 and the establishment of what is now referred to as the ‘First Republic’ under the presidency of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. Although the state of Czechoslovakia ceased to exist on 1st January 1993 following the ‘Velvet Divorce’, the public holiday remains!
17th November is the most recent addition to the Czech calendar of public holidays and is officially known as ‘Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day’. It marks the day in 1989 when students began demonstrations that led to the fall of the Communist regime and the successful ‘Velvet Revolution’. This year it will be especially celebrated being the twentieth anniversary of those remarkable events.
On all Czech public holidays, the Prague integrated transport system runs a Sunday timetable and trams and buses display two Czech flags at the front. Why two flags you may ask? The answer lies in the years of Communist rule. The Communists loved flags and insisted they were displayed on public holidays, not just on trams and buses but on a variety of buildings too. But the Czech flag could never be displayed on its own; it always had to be accompanied by the flag of the Soviet Union. Now this is no longer required, they just display two Czech flags instead!
This was my contribution to WBSD and I’m asked to link next to an expat blogger I know rather well, Hospitalera who blogs about ‘Christmas in Prague‘.
We are also being ‘Twittered’ by Karen and I’m asked to include the following about her. Karen is an American expat blogger last seen in Prague. The Wall Street Journal said, “Her blog makes a fun read for anyone looking for reassurance that change can be a wonderful thing–and also for anyone interested in visiting the Czech Republic.”
It is a month and a day since I’ve published a blog post and I’m sure some of my regular visitors will be beginning to think that I’ve disappeared off the planet. Rest assured – I haven’t! However, I have been absent from Prague for 23 of those 31 days only returning to the Chaplaincy Flat on the afternoon of Tuesday 27th October having left on the afternoon of Monday 5th October. Over the next few weeks I’m going to write about what I’ve been up to, hopefully making up for the lack of news during most of October.
As the title of this post says, Sybille and I have travelled to Asia and back and we’ve done the whole journey by car! I’ve driven 4,500 miles/7,200 kilometres and we’ve visited twelve countries in total. The trip has been part work and part pleasure – let me explain.
St. Clement’s Anglican Episcopal Church, Prague is part of the Church of England’s forty fourth diocese, the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe. As with the other 43 dioceses that make up the Church of England, the Diocese in Europe is divided into Archdeaconries. My previous group of parishes were part of the Archdeaconry of Oxford, one of the three Archdeaconries that together form the Diocese of Oxford.
The Diocese in Europe is divided into seven Archdeaconries. Even the smallest of these, the Archdeaconry of Switzerland, covers the whole of one country. And Prague belongs to the largest of the seven, the Eastern Archdeaconry, which consists of everything eastwards from Poland, Czech Republic and Austria, including all of the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey and all the former Soviet Union except for the Baltic States.
Once a year, each Archdeaconry has an Archdeaconry Synod where the clergy, together with elected lay representatives, meet to discuss and report on issues facing our scattered congregations, to pray and to study, as well as to make decisions regarding the common life of our chaplaincies. Because of the distances involved, the synod meetings have to be residentiary. This year, the synod meeting for the Eastern Archdeaconry took place between the afternoon of Thursday 8th and lunchtime on Sunday 11th October and was hosted by the Izmir Chaplaincy in Turkey. In their wisdom, this year’s Annual Meeting of the Prague Chaplaincy elected Sybille as one of their two lay synod representatives. So we decided that it would make good sense to combine our attendance at the Synod with my remaining annual leave.
Once we had decided to do this, I was very pleased to be able to arrange for Rev’d John Dinnen from Northern Ireland, accompanied by his wife Jane, to come and take up residence in our flat and for John to be locum chaplain for the three Sundays I would be away from Prague. John had been the first locum chaplain in April-May 2008 after the retirement of my predecessor John Philpott. What is more, Jane likes cats so they needed no persuasion to agree to also look after Oscar.
Because we would be on holiday once the synod meeting finished, rather than flying to Izmir, I thought, why not drive there? Instead of two airfares, there would only be the cost of petrol and overnight accommodation and we would have the car to explore Turkey and various chosen places on the way back. So it was that, at 2pm on Monday 5th October, we set out to drive from Prague in Central Europe to Izmir on the Asiatic west coast of Turkey.
Monday 5th October 2009
That afternoon, we headed south east out of Prague on the motorway towards Brno. Just before reaching Brno, we turned south and entered Slovakia, passing around the capital, Bratislava. Then it was into Hungary by which time it was beginning to get dark. So we ended our first day’s travel at Györ, an interesting historic city about an hour’s drive short of Budapest.
Tuesday 6th October 2009
The following day, we drove towards Budapest before heading south across the Hungarian plain to the border with Serbia, near the Hungarian town of Szeged. Here we left both the EU and the Schengen area. Entering Serbia, we had our passports stamped to show our date and place of entry and were also asked to produce our insurance green card for the car.
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office website offers the following advice about driving in Serbia.
“You should also be aware that some parts of the motorway between Novi Sad and Belgrade have two-lanes with a hard shoulder on only one side. Some drivers use the ‘middle’ lane to overtake, thus forcing the ongoing traffic onto the hard shoulder. We advise you to take additional care when driving on these stretches”
In fact, it is mainly the section from the Hungarian border to Novi Sad that has these characteristics. Frequent memorials at the side of road were a constant reminder of those who had previously failed to heed the wise advice of the FCO! Serbian police lurking under bridges were also an effective visual aid!
We crossed the Danube for the third time on our journey near Novi Sad, (having previously crossed it in Bratislava and just south of Budapest), and drove on to Belgrade. From Belgrade, there is a good dual carriageway/four-lane highway motorway passing through ever increasingly attractive scenery, all the way to the southern Serbian city of Niš where we spent the second night of our journey.
Wednesday 7th October 2009
That morning, we headed east from Niš, now on an ordinary single carriageway road, eventually reaching the border with Bulgaria just over an hour later. Here the Serbian border police stamped our passports, this time to show when we had left the country. They also took the cards, dated and stamped by the hotel where we slept in Niš, which proved where we had stayed during our time in Serbia. Apparently, the Serbian authorities can be difficult if you don’t have the proper evidence to show where you’ve been in their country! Entering Bulgaria, we re-entered the EU (but not Schengen!) and headed further east on a good road until we reached the outskirts of Sofia.
It was here that we experienced the worst section of road during the whole of our journey – the Sofia ring-road. Clearly dating from the Communist era, it is single carriageway nearly all the way around the city. Each crossing with a road heading out of Sofia is controlled by traffic lights with no roundabouts or flyovers. Because of the impact of heavy trucks, the road surface is severely rutted in many places. Unfortunately, we followed a large slow moving truck for the whole of our journey around it. Eventually, the last little section suddenly became three lanes each way and then joined the motorway enabling us to head east towards Turkey.
We had lunch at a motorway service/rest area in an establishment called ‘Happy Bar & Grill’. The food and service were good and reasonably priced and with our complete inability to speak Bulgarian, it was most helpful to have a waitress who could speak English. But the abiding memory we both have of our visit, is of the outfits worn by our waitress and all her colleagues which featured the shortest miniskirts you are ever likely to see!!! Some internet research since reveals that ‘Happy Bar & Grill’ are the largest and most successful restaurant chain in Bulgaria. I wonder why??!!!
After an enforced detour around a section of motorway still under construction, we eventually reached the border with Turkey. Leaving Bulgaria was easy but successfully entering Turkey was another matter. At the first of numerous check points, we had our usual problem of explaining why a Czech registered vehicle had right-hand drive whilst the two occupants produced German and British passports! The Turkish passport officers were all smiles once we’d explained everything but they then forgot to stamp our passports or tell me where to go to pay €15 for an entry visa.
When we got to the next check point, this time for the car, I duly produced my Czech registration document and green insurance card, together with my passport, in order that a record could be made of the car being brought into Turkey. It was then that the failure to obtain my visa and have both passports stamped came to light. We had to park the car, go to the cash office, buy the visa, go back to passport control, get both passports stamped and then return to vehicle control!
There I got a lecture about why I must not try and sell my car whilst in Turkey but instead, export it again when I left the country. Why anyone in Turkey would actually want to buy a nine year old right-hand drive Czech registered car is beyond my comprehension!!! However, a record of my car was duly entered in my passport and woe betide if I dared try to leave the country without it.
We returned to the car in order to reverse back to baggage control when the car, for reasons known only to itself, refused to start! Eventually we had to ask someone from baggage control to come to us and then get a nearby coach passenger to help push the car in order to bump start it. Next it was customs and another check of documentation before finally, over an hour after we had arrived at the border, we were actually allowed to drive into Turkey.
The absence of part of the Bulgarian motorway, together with the Turkish border delays, meant we were somewhat behind my anticipated schedule. However, Turkey then produced the first of several surprises. I had expected the first section of motorway from the border to, & then around the city of Edirne, to be good. But when we left the motorway to head south towards the Gallipoli peninsular, I discovered that what I had expected to be a single carriageway road, was in fact a dual carriageway/four lane highway or well on the way to becoming one. Throughout our time in Turkey, time and again we were to be impressed by the standard and quality of the roads we drove on.
Eventually, after experiencing a wonderful sunset across the nearby Aegean Sea and driving for another hour and a half in the dark, we reached the town of Eceabat on the Dardanelles. As we drove slowly into the town, we saw a hotel sign and at the same time, two men sitting outside the building almost jumped out in front of us to flag us down. Seeing our foreign number plate, they suspected we were looking for somewhere to stay and were very keen to find more paying customers for their hotel. So it was that we booked into the somewhat eccentric but very pleasant Aqua Hotel in Eceabat.
After putting our overnight bags in our room, we went back downstairs to the restaurant. We were told that the menu was on the far side of the restaurant. When we got there, it was not a printed menu nor written on a blackboard on the wall as one might have expected. Rather, it was a glass fronted refrigerated unit! Within it was a selection of fresh fish, no doubt caught in the waters immediately outside the hotel, a variety of meat including kebabs, together with a selection of side dishes from which to choose. Basically we pointed to what we wanted and it was taken out, cooked and delivered to our table.
We chose a large fish to be cut in two & shared between us, together with some side dishes and a salad. All this we washed down with our first Turkish Efes beer. The meal and the liquid refreshment were most welcome after two and a half long days of driving.
Thursday 8th October 2009
After breakfast on the terrace by the sea, we drove about 3 km further along the road to the little port of Kilitbahir. Here we boarded the ferry that would take us on a short journey across the Dardanelles but also one that would take us from Europe to Asia. As you can see from the photograph, we were the first car on the ferry & therefore needed to be the first one to drive off on the other side in Canakkale. Fortunately on this occasion, the car started first time!
The journey from Canakkale to Izmir along the Turkish Aegean coast is one that I had made in reverse as part of a coach party, nearly 35 years previously in April 1975. For Sybille, it was her first time in Turkey or anywhere in Asia for that matter. Whilst the views and scenery were as beautiful as I remembered them, what I couldn’t help but notice was the scale of development of hotels and apartments all along the coast to support a tourist industry which was only in its infancy when I last passed along this self-same road. Also, as noted previously, there was a considerable improvement to the road itself.
So finally, after three days and nights, 1300 miles/2080 km of driving, just after 2pm, we arrived in the city of Izmir. There then followed a rather interesting 45 minutes or so whilst we tried desperately to find our way to the Kaya Prestige Hotel, the venue for our synod meeting. No, we don’t have a GPS/Satellite navigation system and guess who forgot to print out a Google map? However, assisted by the proprietor of another hotel who answered our crie de coeur by hopping in the front seat of the car to direct us around the one-way system, we finally arrived, two hours before the synod meeting was scheduled to begin.