Czech language

We have a dog!

Sam 1 — Sam our adopted dog © Ricky Yates

I am pleased to announce that, much to Sybille’s great pleasure, on Wednesday 20^th 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. However, other than a few spots on his ears, there is nothing to distinguish him from a pure bred Labrador. As I have very little knowledge of dog breeds, I shall leave any detailed discussion of exactly what his breeding is, to those are more knowledgeable in these matters than I am.

We obtained Sam from the stray dog and re-homing centre, run by the police and located just across the Vltava River from where we live. We did so, by finally finding a way to circumvent the absurdities of Czech bureaucracy that I described in my earlier post in February this year entitled ‘Czech bureaucracy again’.

After our experience described in that post, we had various ideas as to how we might challenge our being treated as second-class citizens simply because we were deemed only to have ‘Temporary Residence’ in the Czech Republic. These ranged from getting the British Ambassador involved or taking our friend, an English-speaking Czech lawyer, along with us. Eventually, we decided to try the slightly less heavy-handed approach of asking a Czech-speaking member of the St. Clement’s congregation to telephone the stray dog and re-homing centre, to see if the impasse could be explained & overcome.

The person we got to help us was Karen, one of numerous ladies of that name either in my congregation or commenting on this blog! This Karen has both Czech and Australian nationality and speaks several languages fluently, including Czech and English. Having managed to speak on the phone to the man in charge of the dog centre, Karen was assured that, if she came in person with us to the centre and explained the situation, we would be allowed to adopt a dog. So on the morning of Wednesday 20^th April, we met Karen outside the dog centre to see if the promise made on the phone would be fulfilled.

Unfortunately, the same very difficult and officious lady that we had met on our previous visit, was on the front desk. She gave Karen exactly the same story as we got the first time we were there – we were foreigners with ‘Temporary Residence’ and therefore not eligible to adopt a dog. Karen demanded to speak to the man in charge of centre saying that he had assured her that we could adopt. The gentleman duly came and a long discussion in Czech ensued. Eventually, a solution was arrived at which is once more best described as Kafka-esque.

Officially, Karen has adopted the dog because she is a Czech citizen and therefore has ‘Permanent Residency’ here. However, the authorities have noted on their records that the dog will actually be living with us and not with Karen! Hence my description earlier of us being only ‘surrogate parents’ to Sam. This is all because they think that we, as foreigners, will run away out of the country with the dog. The reality is that Karen, together with her Australian husband and family, are planning to return to live in Australia in two to three years time, whereas we hope to be living here for at least the next six years.

The reason that we, together with Karen, are only ‘foster parents’ until early October is much more straightforward and something we were fully aware of before embarking on this exercise. If a stray dog is found by the police, wandering in the streets anywhere in the Czech Republic, the original owner has six months in which to reclaim his or her dog, measured from the date the dog was found. After the expiration of that period of time, the foster parents can register the dog as their own.

Therefore, in early October, providing the original owner doesn’t come forward, we can return with Karen to the dog centre and transfer Sam’s registration into our names. Apparently at that point, the fact that we are foreigners with ‘Temporary Residence’ doesn’t matter!

You may be wondering how Sam the dog is getting on with the existing third member of our family – Oscar the cat. As most people know, cats consider themselves to be superior to humans and certainly far superior to dogs. I believe the picture on the left illustrates this reality very clearly!

Babylon and Pasecnice

Babylon 9 — The railway station in the village of Babylon © Ricky Yates

We spent the final long weekend of our October holiday in the far west of Bohemia, close to the German border, staying in the little village with the somewhat surprising name of Babylon. To get there from Slavonice, we spent a good part of Friday 8^th October driving, firstly through parts of northern Austria before passing back into the Czech Republic. Our journey then took us through Šumava, a highly attractive area of mountains, forests and lakes, parallel to the German border. Having now driven through Šumava, this area has been added to my ‘must re-visit and explore more’ list of places in the Czech Republic.

Babylon is where Jack, an Irish member of our St. Clement’s congregation, has a house that dates from the first decade of the twentieth century, which he has spent the last few years, restoring to its former glory. We have visited and stayed with Jack in Babylon on a couple of previous occasions and enjoyed his hospitality. On this occasion, he gave us a wonderful meal on our arrival on the Friday evening but then set out for Prague by train on Saturday morning, leaving us alone to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of his house and the beautiful rolling hills and woods of the surrounding countryside.

Babylon 2 — The village of Pasecnice with the Church spire (top left) and the lake (bottom right). © Ricky Yates

Just after Jack left, we decided we should make the most of the fine, sunny autumnal weather and set out to walk, through the woods beyond the railway station, to the neighbouring village of Pasecnice. The village has a very picturesque setting with a small lake in the centre. On the hillside beyond the lake is the village Church which we were delighted to find open as an older man and two older ladies were busy sweeping the Church forecourt and arranging flowers.

Babylon 3 — The Church of St. Francis of Assisi, Pasecnice © Ricky Yates

The Church is quite new having only been consecrated in 2003. It is dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi whose feast day is 4^th October, the previous Monday. Our Czech was sufficient to be able to read the notice on the door saying that on the following day, Sunday 10^th October at 11am, there would be a mass to celebrate their patronal festival. This was the obvious reason for all the cleaning and flower arranging that was going on.

The gentleman had a little German and was very pleased to show us the interior of the Church. It was decorated in typical Roman Catholic fashion with various pictures and statues of saints. As well as a statue of St. Francis, there was also one of St. James or ‘Santiago’ as the gentleman said as he pointed it out. We both then told him that we had made the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and he proudly told us that he had done so too, beginning his journey at Leon.

On Sunday morning, we once more walked through the woods from Babylon to Pasecnice, in order to attend the mass and see how the village celebrated its patronal festival. We were not disappointed! The Church was already nearly full when we arrived about twenty minutes before the service was to begin. We stood at the back of the Church which continued to fill up so that by 11am, there were also many people standing outside on the Church forecourt. Fortunately, the day was fine and sunny so the Church doors could be left open.

Babylon 7 — Chod people in traditional dress. The lady on the the left is the one who gave us the cake © Ricky Yates

This border area of the Czech Republic is known as the Chodsko Region and the local people, the Chods, have customs and traditions which are a blend of Bavarian and Bohemian. For this special occasion, many of the women, both old and young, wore their traditional costume with brightly coloured floral dresses and orangey-red stockings. Two of the men, including the one we had met the previous day, were also dressed in their traditional costume which includes yellow breeches and long white socks.

Babylon 4 — Father Antonio (left) & the Parish Priest (right). The man in traditional costume behind Father Antonio is the one who showed us around the Church the previous day © Ricky Yates

The parish priest, who is based in the nearby town of Domažlice, introduced the Spanish visiting preacher and celebrant for the mass, Father Antonio. As Father Antonio was a foreigner who has learned to speak Czech, he spoke Czech much more clearly and distinctly than many a native Czech speaker. As a result, Sybille and I understood far more of what he was saying than we normally do listening a native Czech speaker going at full speed!

Babylon 5 — Chod dudy (bagpipes) being played © Ricky Yates

After the mass was over, the whole congregation processed to the neighbouring nursery school which had recently been renovated and extended, for the building to be dedicated. These proceedings were accompanied by a man, dressed in traditional costume, playing the Chod dudy (bagpipes). His daughter, realising we were not native Czechs, asked if we spoke English or German to which of course we replied ‘both’! She told us that her father had been to Scotland a few years previously, to attend a festival of bagpipers which he had very much enjoyed.

Sybille also managed to speak in Spanish with Father Antonio, (much to his surprise!), to find out what a Spanish priest was doing in the West Bohemian countryside. The answer was that he is a member of the Augustinian order based in central Prague at Sv. Tomáš, where along with his colleague Father Juan, they celebrate mass in Spanish. Another of their colleagues is the American Father William Faix who celebrates mass in English and whom I know well. The Augustinians own a Church and monastery in Domažlice but no longer have a community living there. However, they maintain their connection with the parish by coming to help out in the various Churches a few times each year.

Babylon 8 — The amazing cake which was given to us, together with 4 small cakes © Ricky Yates

Our amazing morning had one final instalment. One of the two ladies we had met the previous day, insisted that we walk back with her to a house just the other side of the Church. There she proceeded to present us with a large cake, together four little cakes, all in a box to enable us to carry it safely back to Babylon. What we had done to deserve this gift we did not know. But her broad smile seemed to say that she just wanted to thank two foreigners who had effectively gatecrashed their village celebration!

Babylon 6 — Chod young lady in traditional costume © Ricky Yates

There are many people who will tell you that Czech people are not welcoming or hospitable. This has never really been our experience and the warmth of the welcome given to us by the villagers of Pasecnice on Sunday 10^th October 2010 will remain long in our memories.

Babylon 1 — Tree with fascinating colours between Babylon & Pasecnice © Ricky Yates

Telc

Leaving behind the Bata Canal and the valley of the Morava River, we drove westwards some 200 km to the little town of Telc, situated around 500 metres above sea level in the rolling hills of the far south-west of Moravia. Telc had been on my list of places to visit ever since I first read about it soon after arriving in the Czech Republic in September 2008.

The historic centre of Telc is surrounded on three sides by medieval fish ponds and access to it is via a narrow bridge and/or a gateway through the town wall. Inside the wall is the cobbled town square námestí Zachariáše z Hradce, which is surrounded by arcaded houses with beautifully decorated facades. These all date from the 16^th century when the town was rebuilt by Italian masons in the Renaissance style, following a disastrous fire in 1530. There has been little alteration or additions since then.

Late in the afternoon of Tuesday 5^th October, we parked the car near the narrow bridge across the fishponds, walked over the bridge, through the gateway and into the square. The view that greeted us did not disappoint, despite the poor light and the drizzle that was falling.

Telc 4 — Cobbled town square - námestí Zachariáše z Hradce, in Telc © Ricky Yates

Walking around the square, we found Penzion a hospada U zeleného Žížaly on the southern side and enquired about accommodation. The proprietor had no English but did speak German, not surprising as the Austrian border is less than 30 km away to the south. She showed us a very pleasant room on the first floor, with access to a well equipped kitchen, which was within our price range. We gladly accepted the offer, especially as we were promptly given a parking permit for the car, allowing us to park in the historic square, directly outside the Penzion. Then, deciding that there was plenty to see the next day, we booked in for two nights.

At one end of the town square is Telc’s Renaissance Water Chateau. Originally belonging to a branch of the Liechtenstein family, it is now in the care of the Czech government. The following morning, we took a tour of the interior of the chateau. There were only four of us for the tour which was given entirely in Czech, though we were given laminated cards with quite a bit of information in English, which helped us understand more of what we were looking at. Some of the decorated ceilings were quite incredible but, as is often the case these days, no interior photography was allowed.

Telc 5 — From l. to r: Spire of the Church of St. James the Apostle, former Jesuit monastery and the twin spires of the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, Telc © Ricky Yates

Adjacent to the chateau are two Churches, one dedicated to St. James the Apostle and one to the Holy Name of Jesus. And in between, a former Jesuit monastery which is now used as a branch of Masaryk University in Brno. Here they can all be seen from the far side of one of the fishponds.

Telc 2 — Decorated building in Telc © Ricky Yates

Visiting Telc in early October, well out of the main tourist season, had both its advantages and disadvantages. The main disadvantage was that we could not gain access to the interiors of any of the Churches. In particular, we both would have loved to have seen inside the Church of St. James. But that is only open regularly between the beginning of June and the end of August. Otherwise you can only get inside when mass is being celebrated and mass times didn’t coincide with our time in Telc.

The main advantage was the absence of other tourists, especially during the two evenings we were there. During the day, there was the occasional group of tourists, particularly Japanese or Koreans. It would appear that some coach tours of Central Europe stop off at Telc for an hour or so, to break the journey between Vienna and Prague. But by late afternoon, all of these had departed and we could walk around the town square with only a few local residents for company.

Writing this post has once again highlighted my constant problem of most web browsers being unable to cope with diacritics which are an essential part of writing Czech correctly. There should be a hácek, (a little hook) above the ‘c’ at the end of Telc. But if I were to put one in, most readers of this blog would see ‘Tel?’ There should also be a hácek above the ‘c’ in ‘hácek’, but if I put one in, that would likewise appear as ‘há?ek’!!!!

Telc 3 — Arcaded houses in Telc © Ricky Yates

Telc 6 — The town square - námestí Zachariáše z Hradce, Telc © Ricky Yates

A visit to the UK

Phillip & Charlotte 1 — Phillip & Charlotte at Matt’s birthday sports afternoon © Ricky Yates

On Friday 16^th July, I set out to make my first return visit to the UK since moving to Prague nearly two years ago. The five day trip was part holiday – spending sometime with my son Phillip in Derby; and part work – fulfilling a promise made earlier in the year to undertake a deputation visit for the Intercontinental Church Society (ICS) who prayerfully and financially support the work of the Prague Chaplaincy.

As usual, the wonderful Prague public transport system got me from the bus stop, five minutes walk from the Chaplaincy flat, to the front entrance of Terminal 1 at Prague Airport, in little more than thirty minutes. Much more surprisingly, my Easyjet flight was taxiing down the runway at 10.45, exactly the time it was meant to be departing from Prague. Less than two hours later, we landed in the UK though, because of the one hour time difference, it was only 11.40 BST.

I flew into the rather incongruously named ‘Robin Hood Airport’ which serves Doncaster and Sheffield in South Yorkshire. At the end of 2009, Easyjet ceased to operate out of East Midlands Airport, the airport that serves Derby, and passed the Prague – East Midlands route to bmibaby.com. In their wisdom, bmibaby.com have suspended their Prague – East Midlands flights during July and August, presumably because it is more profitable to use their planes to fly British tourists to the Costas in Spain or the Greek islands during this time.

At UK passport control, I had great difficulty stopping myself from saying “Dobrý den” to the immigration officer, instead of saying “Good morning”. This was a problem I continued to have during the following few days, adjusting to the fact that I could actually speak in English and be completely understood. That I needed to say “Thank you” and “Goodbye”, not “Dekuji” and “Na shledanou”.

It was equally strange once I met up with Phillip in the airport car park. I got into the front passenger seat of his right-hand drive (RHD) car, in that respect no different from being in my RHD car in Prague. But he then proceeded to drive on the left-hand side of the road! After nearly two years of travelling or driving on the right-hand side of the road, that took some getting used to once again.

A forty minute drive down the M18 and the M1 got us to Derby. After Phillip had purchased a few things from Morrisons supermarket, I tried to get some Sterling currency out of the nearby ATM, using my Barclays Bank debit card. I had deliberately transferred funds from my Czech bank account to my UK Barclays account to be able to do exactly this. My attempt to withdraw cash was declined – a security measure because I hadn’t used the debit card in the UK for nearly two years! So, before proceeding to Phillip’s home for a late lunch, we drove to a branch of Barclays Bank plc where I duly produced my passport and debit card with the request that I be allowed to withdraw my own money! I was extremely glad that I had arrived in the UK on a weekday rather than a weekend.

During my visit to the UK, I was asked several times whether there was anything I missed about the UK now I lived in the Czech Republic. My answer was always negative – as things currently stand, I don’t see myself living in the UK again in the foreseeable future. But on that Friday evening, I did do two thoroughly enjoyable things which it would not be possible to do in Prague.

Firstly, en-route to the city centre, Phillip and I purchased our evening meal from a Fish & Chips shop. We then walked slightly further on to the County Ground where we ate our fish and chips, (in Phillip’s case, pie and chips), whilst watching a day/night Twenty20 cricket match between Derbyshire CC and Northamptonshire CC. However, one less enjoyable, (though expected), thing was paying £3.00 a pint (0.568 litre) for a beer whilst watching the cricket when a 0.5 litre beer in most Prague bars would cost no more than £1.00.

The following day, Saturday 17^th July, Phillip and his girlfriend Charlotte, had been invited to the birthday celebrations of Matt, a university friend of Phillip who, like Phillip, has stayed on in Derby after graduating. Matt kindly assured Phillip that his Dad was more than welcome to come along with him.

Matt lives with his heavily pregnant wife, in the village of Hilton, just to the west of Derby. For his birthday, he had invited various friends, his brother and sister, together with their respective boyfriends/girlfriends, to a picnic lunch and a sports afternoon on the nearby village playing field. So, after sandwiches, crisps and other goodies, accompanied by a variety of liquid refreshment, we spent the afternoon playing rounders and kwik cricket.

Afterwards, I returned with Phillip and Charlotte to their home. We quickly ate a stir-fry and got washed and changed before we rejoined the others in the centre of Derby where the birthday celebrations were resumed and the following two pictures were taken.

Phillip & RY Derby — Father and Son © Ricky Yates

Phillip & Charlotte 2 — Phillip & Charlotte © Ricky Yates

More about my UK trip in my next post.

The Weak Will

Although Saint Clement’s Church is located in the centre of Prague, it does lie slightly away from the streets most frequented by visiting tourists. It is situated in Klimentská, the street taking its name from the Czech form of Saint Clement, Svatý Kliment. Klimentská is accessed from Revolucní, which runs from Námestí Republiky to the River Vltava. Whilst Námestí Republiky is bright and busy, particularly since the opening in October 2007 of the Palladium Shopping Centre, Revolucní has always struck me as being a little run down, with a number of empty premises at street level.

It was therefore a most pleasant surprise a couple of months ago, when alighting from the Number 8 tram at the Dlouhá Trída tram stop on Revolucní, to see that one of these vacant premises directly alongside the tram stop, had been transformed into a new Bar-Restaurant entitled U Slabé vule. A quick examination of their menu and price list displayed in the window convinced us to try it out for Sunday lunch after our service.

For their city centre location, prices at U Slabé vule are remarkably reasonable. 0.5l of Staropramen is 25 Kc (£0.90). Meal prices range from 120 – 150 Kc (£4.00 – £5.00) with generous portions very nicely presented. Their printed menu, in Czech, German and English, is most notable for the almost complete absence of ‘Czenglish‘.

The premises themselves are large, reaching through as far as the street parallel to Revolucní to the west. It is almost divided in two by the kitchen and bar with the whole of the section on the Revolucní side being ‘non-smoking’, a rare provision in the Czech Republic. What is more, they enforce it!!! In several other bar-restaurants we have frequented, whilst there is nominally a non-smoking area, as soon as a smoker lights up, rather than telling him/her to move, the waiter brings an ashtray. At U Slabé vule, the customer is told to move to the smoking area – Halelujah!

The last two Monday evenings, U Slabé vule has become the venue for a new activity in the life of St. Clement’s Anglican Episcopal Church – Czech conversation classes led by my native English, Czech-speaking Churchwarden, Gerry Turner. Over a glass or two of various varieties of liquid refreshment and a simple nicely presented meal, a small group of us are trying to lose our inhibitions and converse in Czech. Will I be successful or will I have what the name U Slabé vule actually means which is – ‘The Weak Will‘!!

PS – As you will see from the photo above, vule should really have a kroužek (ring) above the ‘u’ which is meant to lengthen the vowel sound by 30%. As with many other diacritics, most web browsers can’t cope and would render it as ‘?’, hence I’ve had to leave it out.