Podbaba – Page 3

Prague – minus the tourists

St-Vitus — 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 floodlit buildings, including the west front of St. Vitus Cathedral, with hardly a soul in sight. We basically had the whole place to ourselves. We were enjoying Prague – minus the tourists!

This is our fourth winter since moving to Prague in September 2008. Therefore we knew from previous experience that, following the Epiphany weekend in early January, through until late March, Prague has what can best be described as its non-tourist season. It is the period when you can walk around all the amazingly attractive sights of the historic centre of Prague, with very few foreign visitors surrounding you. But even then on Monday evening, we were still astonished as to how few people there were around.

For anyone reading this blog and wondering when is a good time to visit Prague, the answer I would give is between now and the third week in March. And if you want a really good financial deal, be adventurous and come without having pre-booked accommodation. At this time of year, there are regularly signs outside of hotels in the city centre saying, “Rooms available tonight” at remarkably reasonable prices.

Of course, you need to come prepared for the weather. Normally by now, there would be snow on the ground. But as I wrote in my earlier post, ‘Winter weather and walks’, we still have yet to experience really cold weather this current winter.

As someone who has chosen to live in Prague, I realise how very easy it is to complain about how, for much of the year, the city can feel almost overwhelmed by the number of tourist visitors. And yet they make a major contribution to the Czech economy and keep a considerable number of people in employment.

Likewise, they also make quite a contribution to the life of St. Clement’s Church. It very rare for us to have a Sunday service without visiting tourists in the congregation. Nearly all of them express grateful thanks for the opportunity we give them to worship in English, whilst they are visiting Prague. And some of them are quite generous towards us financially which we greatly appreciate. However, you would be amazed at the variety of currencies that appear in the collection!

The most recent example was Christmas Day morning 2011. For our Family Eucharist that day, we had a congregation of about 110 people. Of those, only about 25 were regular members of our worshipping community, as so many of them go back to their home countries over the Christmas season. All the rest were visitors spending Christmas in Prague.

I shall seek to make the most of the next two relatively tourist-free months in Prague. But I am very aware that much of what I enjoy living here only exists because Prague attracts so many visiting tourists.

Winter weather & walks

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 2009, we suffered from an abundance of mosquitoes here in the Chaplaincy Flat and elsewhere. Then two successive severe winters caused their numbers to drop to a handful. I fear that a mild winter might just allow the Prague mosquito population to recover!

In the meantime, a few evenings ago, we did experience this wonderful sunset, the picture being taken from one of the balconies of our flat. The floodlight pylon belongs to the stadium of FK Dukla Praha who, like the rest of the football clubs in the Czech Gambrinus liga, are on their mid-season break which started in early December and doesn’t conclude until late February. In view of the mild weather we have experienced so far this winter, they could still be playing!

As I mentioned in my recent sad post about Sam the dog, one of the many great things he did for Sybille and I was to get us out walking far more than before we adopted him. He became our ‘weight loss programme’ because he exercised us as we exercised him! We are both determined to continue walking just as much as we did when we had Sam so as to maintain our weight loss which between us now exceeds 30 kilos.

Most days, we would walk from the Chaplaincy Flat to the extensive and beautiful Stromovka Park, which lies about twenty-five minutes walk away from where we live. Through doing this, we got to know numerous other Czech and expat dog owners and improved our ‘dog Czech’ no end.

Mobile phone — Talking on my mobile phone © Ricky Yates

However, one behavioural habit which I regularly observed and continue to observe, annoys me intensely – dog owners and parents of young children, who go to the park, but then spend the whole time they are there, talking to someone else on their mobile phones!

The most extreme example I remember was of a woman we met, just by the entrance to Stromovka. She was pushing a buggy with a baby in it; was also holding onto the hand of a toddler and had a dog on a lead. She also was responsible for a slightly older toddler walking in front of her and for a second dog who was off-lead. But at the same time as all of this, she had her head bent to one side to hold her mobile phone next to her shoulder, in order to have a long conversation with one of her friends. I know women are meant to be able to multi-task, but…….

What conscious or sub-conscious message does such behaviour send to either the children or to the dogs? Why do people need to have such phone conversations if they are going to the park in order to spend quality time with their children &/or their dog(s)? Mobile phones are incredibly useful but they can also be a curse.

My photo is of a young woman walking across Václavské námestí/Wenceslas Square, also talking on her mobile, though admittedly, without dog or child in tow. But I hope I make my point – it is perfectly easy to say in response to a call, “I’m in the park with my dog/my children. I’ll call you back when I get home”.

Historical Restaurat — Historical 'Restaurat' in Malá Strana © Ricky Yates

As part of our ongoing walk programme, as well as walking to and around Stromovka Park, Sybille and I have also recently started walking around some of the more central areas of the city, particularly as they are currently relatively free of tourists! However, I’m afraid I cannot resist posting this further wonderful example of Czenglish we spotted one evening recently in Malá Strana. What might be on the menu at a ‘Restaurat’?

Finally for this post, below are two photographs, both of which brought a smile to my face as I hope they will for the many readers of my blog.

This year, New Year’s Day was a Sunday. Our Church Treasurer Gordon is a Scotsman and marked Hogmanay, by coming to Church in his kilt. I did jokingly suggest that he could put the collection in his sporran to take it home to bank the following day! I should add that it is post-Eucharistic coffee rather than a wee dram that he is drinking!

And alongside is an invitation to ‘Explore the meaning of life’ – in Czech!

Gordon in kilt — Gordon in his kilt on New Year's Day © Ricky Yates

Czech Alpha — An invitation to 'Explore the meaning of life' - in Czech!

Kaufland prichází! – Kaufland arrives!

Kaufland 1 — Kaufland arrives! © Ricky Yates

Today, 19^th September 2011, is the third anniversary of our arrival in Prague. Ever since then, Sybille and I have almost constantly lived next to, or very adjacent to, major building and construction work. In many respects, this should not be surprising as the Czech Republic bounces back from over forty years of Communist era stagnation, to now being the most economically prosperous of all the former Warsaw Pact countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

For nearly two years from our arrival, we had the fourth and final stage of ‘Residence Podbaba’ being constructed in front and to the side of our Chaplaincy Flat. As I mentioned in a July 2010 post, the dust and noise that building work constantly generated, was at times quite irritating and frustrating. More recently, at the beginning of 2011, the work on extending our tram line commenced and was only completed at the end of last month. And around the same time, work began on creating a large new supermarket on the site of a former bus depot that lies between the Residence Podbaba estate and the new Podbaba tram stop.

As you can see from the accompanying photograph, our new supermarket will be part of the German owned Kaufland retail group, who already have numerous supermarkets in Prague and elsewhere in the Czech Republic. The billboard proclaims that “Kaufland arrives” but does not yet tell us exactly when it will!

Kaufland 2 — Demolition work around the former bus depot © Ricky Yates

Kaufland 3 — The side of the former bus depot in February 2011 © Ricky Yates

These first two photographs were taken in mid-February this year and show the early stages of this new development. Whilst the main building with its curved roof is being retained, some rather ugly concrete flat-roofed extensions were demolished.

Kaufland 4 — The cleared site around the former bus depot in May 2011 © Ricky Yates

Kaufland 5 — The side of the former bus depot in May 2011 © Ricky Yates

These next two pictures were taken in May. They show how the site surrounding the main building was completely cleared. Also, if you look closely, you will see that all of the glass in the triangular shaped roof-lights has been completely removed.

Kaufland 6 — Insulation, cement rendering & new construction in September 2011© Ricky Yates

Kaufland 7 — Insulation & cement rendering on the side of the building in September 2011© Ricky Yates

These two pictures were taken earlier this month. As you can see, as well as the roof-lights having been re-glazed, the exterior walls have been insulated, then cement rendered and painted. Work on insulating the lower section of wall at the far end of the building was in progress at the time I took the first photograph, as it was on the higher part of the side of the building which can be seen in the second photograph. Beyond that, the framework of a new extension to the former bus depot was in the process of being erected.

Kaufland 8 — The new extension under construction in September 2011© Ricky Yates

Here you can see that new extension under construction, this picture being obviously taken from a different vantage point to the previous six! Work continues and I promise to write an update with new photographs in due course.

To have this new supermarket right on our doorstep, will be a great boon. But we do wonder some times whether we will ever cease to have construction work going on around us or whether it will only all come to completion just as we are about leave and move on!

The tramline from Podbaba to Vítezné námestí has reopened!

New tram 1 — Tram 8 at the new Podbaba tram and bus stop © Ricky Yates

Yesterday, for the first time in more than three and a half months, Sybille and I were able to travel from the Chaplaincy Flat to St. Clement’s Church, in one uninterrupted tram journey lasting just 17 minutes. Further to my earlier post entitled ‘Extending and upgrading our tramline’, on Thursday 1^st September, the re-laid and extended section of track between Podbaba and Vítezné námestí re-opened.

Here is the new Podbaba tram and bus stop with Tram 8 about to set off for the centre of Prague and then on out to Starý Hloubetín on the eastern side of the city. The new stop is about 200 metres further on from the old one and thus slightly nearer to where we live. Travelling on the tram along the extended and re-laid section of track for the first time yesterday, I certainly noticed a much smoother ride than the one previously experienced.

Although the disruption and mess caused by all this work has been at times quite irritating and frustrating, especially for the poor souls who live nearer to works than we do, there has been a lot of attention to detail with many sections of pavement being re-laid and new pedestrian crossings created. And the area either side of the tramlines has been nicely landscaped with older trees protected and preserved and new ones planted as I hope these before and after photographs will illustrate.

Tram 2 — The new tram turning circle under construction with archaeological work in progress © Ricky Yates

New tram 3 — New tram turning circle © Ricky Yates

Tram 5 — The new tracks of the tramline extension under construction © Ricky Yates

New tram 4 — New tram tracks landscaped and in use © Ricky Yates

Tram 6 — The existing tram route with old track lifted and new ballast laid © Ricky Yates

New tram 5 — New tracks laid and surroundings landscaped © Ricky Yates

Regular and very observant readers of my blog may have noticed that each of the three photographs on the left above, all appeared in a larger format, in my earlier post entitled ‘Extending and upgrading our tramline’. In that post I also included two photographs of the previous Podbaba combined turning circle and tram stop, one taken on the last day it was in use and the second, a few days later. Below are both of those photographs, together with a third showing how the same spot looks now with new tracks going straight through and on to the new tram stop 200 metres further away.

Tram 3 — Old Podbaba tram terminus on last working day 15th May 2011© Ricky Yates

Tram 4 — And a few days later! © Ricky Yates

New tram 6 — Same location on Thursday 1st September 2011 © Ricky Yates

Extending and upgrading our tramline

Tram 1 — 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 Dejvicka station.

But as you can see from this photograph, since the early hours of Monday 16^th May until 31^st August, no trams are running between Podbaba and Vítezné námestí – instead we have to make that first part of our journey by bus.

Earlier this year, work started on extending our tramline from its current terminus at Podbaba, to a new terminus adjacent to the Prague-Dresden railway line with plans for a new adjacent railway station to further integrate public transport. I took this photograph back in February when work on the new tram terminal turning circle was well underway.

However, if you look closely, you can see a series of pits where archaeological work was being undertaken. I have never fully discovered exactly what they were digging for except for one sentence on a local resident’s website which said that some early mediaeval items had been found. Apparently this archaeological work delayed the tramline extension project by three months.

Work on the new tram tracks leading to this new terminus did proceed quite rapidly as can be seen in this photograph looking from Podbaba towards the railway line in the distance. You should be able to just make out the bridge where the railway crosses the road and the new tram turning circle will be off to the left of the bridge.

I did wonder how this new extension would be successfully joined to the existing tramline at Podbaba without disrupting the normal tram service. Back in early May, I found out the answer to my question – by closing down the whole line from Podbaba to Vítezné námestí for three & a half months!

To be fair to the Dopravní podnik hravního mesta Prahy or dpp for short, they have decided to use this opportunity to totally renew all the track from Vítezné námestí to Podbaba. Within a few days of the closure, most of the old track had been ripped up, the earth underneath excavated and fresh ballast had begun to be put in place.

These two photographs show the extent of the work at the old Podbaba terminus. The first photograph was taken on Sunday 15^th May, the last days that trams were turning around here. The second was taken only a few days later!

It is frustrating to be without our normal tram service for over three months. And I do feel sorry for all those who live nearer to all this construction work than we do as the dust and noise must be irritating to say the least. But the end result will be improved transport infrastructure providing an even better and more accessible service. And according to the plans I’ve seen, the new tram stop at Podbaba will be a little closer to where we live making it only an eight rather than a ten minute walk to get there!