By Ricky, on August 24th, 2013
Memorial to the victims of the Soviet invasion of August 1968 © Ricky Yates
This past week saw the forty-fifth anniversary of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Red Army, which brought to an abrupt end, the short period of liberalisation known as the ‘Prague Spring’. On the night of 20th – 21st August 1968, around 200,000 Soviet troops poured over the borders from surrounding Warsaw Pact countries, supported by airborne troops, equipped with artillery and light tanks, who were flown in via Prague Airport. Along with the Soviet forces, there were also contingents of troops from Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and East Germany.
Whilst Alexander Dubcek, the Czechoslovak leader who had sought to introduce, ‘socialism with a human face’, called on his people not to resist, many ignored his advice and over one hundred citizens were killed and many more injured. This memorial . . . → Read More: The Soviet invasion of 1968 and its aftermath
By Ricky, on August 18th, 2013
Oscar enjoying the sunshine by the balcony door © Ricky Yates
It is three and a half years since I wrote a blog post about the third member of our family – Oscar the cat. Other than an occasional passing mention, he hasn’t since really featured here very much. So I thought it was time he once more deserved his own post.
These days, we refer to Oscar as our ‘senior cat’ as he is now nearly sixteen and a half years old. This is a very good age for a cat and in many respects, it is quite remarkable that he is still with us.
Whilst Oscar has never been a large cat, we began noticing earlier this year, that he seemed to be getting thinner. We tried feeding him cream and other goodies, in an effort to fatten him up. He . . . → Read More: Senior Cat Oscar
By Ricky, on August 8th, 2013
Bouzov Castle © Ricky Yates
On Monday 29th July, I conducted my first wedding of 2013, when Daniel, the British bridegroom, married Iva, his Czech bride, at Bouzov Castle. The castle lies in the rolling wooded hills of Moravia, about thirty minutes drive north-west of Olomouc.
As long-standing readers of my blog may know, this was not the first time I have conducted a wedding at Bouzov Castle. For I conducted my first-ever wedding in the Czech Republic at this same venue just over four years ago, also between a British bridegroom, Lea, and his Czech bride, Petra. You can read all about it and see the photos, here.
It was finding this post about Lea and Petra’s wedding on my blog, that prompted Daniel to contact me earlier this year, asking if I would be willing and available to conduct their wedding. As with . . . → Read More: Wedding at Bouzov Castle
By Ricky, on August 5th, 2013
Phillip outside the ‘Trip to Jerusalem’ © Ricky Yates
On Tuesday 2nd July, Sybille and I returned to Prague from our eight day holiday in the Orlické hory. The next afternoon, having managed to wash, dry and iron all our dirty clothes, I was off on my travels again, heading for Václav Havel Airport, as Prague Airport is now officially known, in order to spend the next five days in the UK – only my fourth visit there since moving to Prague nearly five years ago.
As on my previous visit just under a year ago, I flew with the budget Hungarian airline Wizz Air, from Prague to Luton Airport. Having landed at Luton on time at 15.30, collected my bag, got through passport control, remembering to say ‘Good afternoon’ and not ‘Dobrý den‘, I set foot outside the airport terminal, . . . → Read More: July 2013 visit to the UK
By Ricky, on August 3rd, 2013
Litice Castle © Ricky Yates
In advance of our recent holiday in the Orlické hory, I followed my usual practice and spent some time examining detailed maps of the area, looking for interesting places to walk and to visit. For those who don’t know, my first degree is in Geography and I’ve had a life-long love of maps 🙂
In the southern foothills of the Orlické hory, I spotted a wooded rocky outcrop, surrounded on three sides by the Divorká Orlice – ‘Wild Eagle River’, on top of which were the ruined remains of a castle – Hrad Litice / Litice Castle. It looked like a fascinating place so I put it on my ‘places to visit’ list for our holiday.
Hrad Litice / Litice Castle was a little too far to walk to from where were staying. So instead, we drove to . . . → Read More: Hrad Litice / Litice Castle
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