River Vltava

Advent 2016

Advent ring with the first candle lit © Ricky Yates

This year, the season of Advent has been as long as it possibly can be – a full four weeks. In 2017, quite the reverse happens with the Fourth and final Sunday of Advent, also being Christmas Eve!

I have very much appreciated the length of the Advent season this year, for a number of reasons. One slightly selfish reason is the cause of Advent lasting fully four weeks – the result of Christmas Day falling on a Sunday, which is every clergyperson’s delight! No need for services on three successive days, or on three out of four days. Instead, a full week beforehand, to prepare for services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and then an uninterrupted week afterwards, to take as a post-Christmas break 🙂

I also very much appreciated the way the Sundays fell in Advent this year, allowing me to hold a Service of Lessons and Carols in Dresden, Brno and Prague on separate Sundays. Last year, the Brno and Dresden services had to be held on the same Sunday evening.

As happens each year, I arrived at Church in Prague on Advent Sunday morning, to be greeted by a beautiful hanging Advent ring, with the first candle already lit. This is one of the joys of borrowing the Church building from our host Kliment congregation of the Ceskobratská Církev Evangelická / Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren – the main Czech Protestant Church. They provide the Advent ring at no cost to us! All we have to do is ensure we snuff out the candle(s) at the end of our service, as part of our duty of leaving the building safe and secure.

In previous years, the candles have always been red. This year, for no apparent reason of which I am aware, the candles are white. Certainly they seem to be of a better quality as, over the four Sundays of Advent, none of them has burnt down so much as to need being replaced, despite one of them being alight for nine services 🙂

The Order of Service for Sunday 4th December at 6pm

On the evening of Sunday 4^th December, the second in Advent, I conducted the December English-language Anglican Service in the Frauenkirche, Dresden – A Service of Nine Lessons and Carols for Christmas. At the equivalent service last year, I was introduced as the new service coordinator and read one of the lessons. This year, I had to organise the complete service, including finding several different readers.

I fortunately inherited the tradition of a Berlin-based choir, the Embassy Singers, under their musical director Andrew Sims, singing at this service. They sang five choir items as well as supporting the congregational carols. A number of choir members volunteered to read and I took Lay Reader Jack Noonan along with me to also be one of the lesson readers.

The Embassy Singers together with Jack Noonan © Jack Noonan

Here he is, posing with the choir whilst I was shaking hands with the departing congregation who I suspect numbered about two hundred.

The Brno congregation in ‘The Upper Room’ following Lessons and Carols © Ricky Yates

On the evening of Sunday 11^th December, I conducted a Service of Lessons and Carols in Brno, marking the fifth anniversary of our first ever Brno service held on 18^th December 2011. Despite getting the service well publicised we were only a little congregation of sixteen people but we still made a joyful noise with our carol singing. Most importantly, all those who attended expressed their enjoyment of the service.

On Sunday 18^th December, I didn’t travel anywhere further than within Prague itself. It was the one Sunday in the year when we hold two services, our regular 11.00 Sung Eucharist in the morning and a Service of Lessons and Carols in the evening. For both services we were blessed by having a visiting choir of Old Blundellians – former students of Blundells School, Tiverton, Devon UK, under their recently retired music master Andrew Barlow.

In the morning, they sang a setting of Kyrie, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei, written by Andrew Barlow, together with an Introit, and two anthems during the administration of Communion. In the evening, they sang five choir carols as well as supporting the congregational ones. I particularly enjoyed their final choir carol – ‘In the bleak mid-winter’, to a setting by Harold Darke.

Along with wonderful congregational singing and choral music, probably the most encouraging aspect of Advent 2016, has been the number of people attending worship in Prague on each Sunday morning. This has ranged from 73 to over 80 when our normal average Sunday attendance is around 50 – basically a 50% increase! Unfortunately, I’ve no photographs to illustrate our Advent worship at St Clement’s, Prague, so instead I finish with a photograph of one of several magnificent sunsets that we had during the early days of December.

Sunset over the Vltava River and Prague Castle © Ricky Yates

Spring seems to be arriving!

Snowdrops in Stromovka Park © Ricky Yates

During the past three weeks, we’ve had numerous bright sunny days, enhanced by the hours of daylight getting longer each day. This has encouraged Sybille and I to get out walking and exploring again, especially on Mondays which are meant to be my regular weekly day-off.

As I wrote in an earlier post, three weeks ago on Monday 16^th February, we made a round trip to Prague Zoo. A week later on Monday 23^rd February, late in the morning, we left the flat, took the tram and travelled to Hlubocepy in the southern suburbs of Prague. From the tram stop, we made our way down to the side of the Vltava River and then walked all along the river bank to the village of Zbraslav.

The Vltava River with Central Prague in the distance © Ricky Yates

Our walk started, a little beyond the more distant of the two bridges in this photograph.

Barabizna Mexican Restaurant & Café © Ricky Yates

Just as we were entering Zbraslav and were about to walk into the main square, Sybille spotted this beautifully decorated building in a street off to our left – the Barabizna Mexican Restaurant & Café. It was just as beautifully decorated inside as on the outside. Here we enjoyed a most delightful very, very late lunch 🙂 Sybille’s only disappointment was discovering that none of the staff hablaba español 🙁

Last Monday 2^nd March, got somewhat taken over by preparation for my presentation the following evening for our Lent Course on the Bohemian Reformation, about the writing of the early English Church Reformer, John Wycliffe and its influence on Jan Hus. But with the sun still shining in the late afternoon, we set off and walked up to the top of the wooded ridge called Baba, that lies behind the complex of flats where we live. As I’ve previously explained, we live in Podbaba. ‘Pod’ in Czech, means ‘under’ or ‘beneath’ – hence we live under the ridge called ‘Baba’.

Residence Podbaba and Hotel International © Ricky Yates

On a clear day like last Monday, the views from the Baba ridge are outstanding. In the foreground of this photograph is ‘Residence Podbaba’, where the Chaplaincy Flat is located. Beyond, is the wonderful example of Stalinist-Baroque architecture, now once more known as ‘Hotel International’ (formerly the Crowne Plaza Hotel). The tall white chimney belongs to the plant that supplies our hot water and heating.

Stadion Juliska, the home of FK Dukla Praha © Ricky Yates

This is the view to the right of the first photograph and shows Stadion Juliska, the home of FK Dukla Praha. With Spring on its way, the Czech football season resumed a couple of weeks ago, following the regular mid-season break.

Kaufland supermarket, Hotel International & Prague Castle © Ricky Yates

Whilst this view, shows our nearby Kaufland supermarket with a large red ‘K’ on the side of the building, with Hotel International directly behind and Prague Castle in the distance.

Farmer's Market © Ricky Yates — Farmer’s Market © Ricky Yates

This past weekend, the weather really has become Spring-like, with warm sunshine during the day. The nights are still cool because of clear skies, but the temperature hasn’t been below freezing for several nights. Yesterday, Saturday 7^th March, under these blue skies, the regular Farmer’s Market at Vítezné námestí resumed, after a break of over two months since Christmas. No market in the Czech Republic would be complete without flowers….

Beer stall at Farmer's Market © Ricky Yates — Beer stall at Farmer’s Market © Ricky Yates

…….and certainly not without beer!

Štefánikuv most © Ricky Yates — Štefánikuv most with the yellow spire of St. Clement’s Church beyond © Ricky Yates

This morning, the warm sunshine meant that it was warmer outside the Church than within it! Following worship and Coffee Hour, Sybille and I decided to walk home. We crossed Štefánikuv most and then climbed the steps and steep path to Letna Park. Drinking Czech beer in a beer garden, with warm sunshine and a perfect view. I think Winter is over – Spring seems to be arriving!

Welcome refreshment in Letna Beer Garden © Ricky Yates

A round trip to Prague Zoo

As Monday 16^th February dawned cold, but fine and sunny, Sybille suggested that we should take advantage of the weather on my day-off, and pay our first visit of 2015 to Prague Zoo. Here is an illustrated account of our most enjoyable day out.

The ferry boat waiting at Pobabe © Ricky Yates

Prague Zoo lies directly opposite from where we live in Podbaba, on the other side of the Vltava River. As there is no immediate bridge, the only way to get there is by ferry. So we walked down to the Podbaba bus stop and took the bus, two stops to Podbabe from where the ferry departs.

Here we are, approaching the arrival and departure point of the ferry at Podhorí, on the other side of the river. I love the sticker that declares that this small boat is part of the Prague Integrated Transport System 🙂

The main entrance to Prague Zoo © Ricky Yates

There is a half-hourly bus service from Podhorí to the zoo entrance, but as it would have been a twenty minute wait, we decided to walk instead. Upon arrival at the zoo entrance, we paid our admission fee, (CZK 200 for Sybille and CZK 150 for me, as being between aged 60 and 69, I am deemed to be ‘senior’ 🙂 ), and then set off to explore. My apologies that I took the photograph above, as we were leaving in the late afternoon, hence the metal gates across the entrance!

Here are a variety of creatures that we met during our visit.

Cassowary © Sybille Yates	Bird with a dangerous beak! © Ricky Yates
Flamingoes © Ricky Yates	Great Grey Owl © Sybille Yates

Trying to be camouflaged :-) © Sybille Yates — Trying to be camouflaged 🙂 © Sybille Yates

Rather than retracing our steps, we decided to walk home, first passing by Zámek Troja.

Footbridge over the Vltava River © Ricky Yates

Then crossing an untamed section of the Vltava on this footbridge…..

Bridge over the Vltava navigation channel © Ricky Yates

…..followed by crossing the nearby parallel navigation channel on this bridge…..

……before walking back home through Stromovka Park, just as the sun was beginning to set.

Discovering the Way of Saint James in the Czech Republic

Svatojakubská cesta – the Way of Saint James © Ricky Yates

As Sybille and I have, at different times, both made a walking pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, ever since moving to Prague more than five years ago, we have sought to discover more about pilgrimage routes that lead from the Czech Republic, via Germany and Switzerland, to link with the well-established paths in France and Spain.

Soon after we arrived in Prague, we managed to purchase a guidebook in German entitled, ‘Der Jakobsweg von Prag bis Tillyschanz/Eslarn‘. It describes a route starting at Kostel sv. Jakuba / Church of St. James, located in the Old Town centre of Prague, heading in a roughly south-westerly direction to the German border at Tillyschanz, a small village four kilometres from the Bavarian town of Eslarn. The guide is the work of three Germans and one German-speaking Czech and suggests that it is possible to complete the journey in ten days.

Over the past five years, we have from time-to-time talked about trying to use this guidebook and walk from Prague to the German border. But for a variety of reasons, the idea has never until now, become a reality. However, last Monday on my day-off, we finally set out to explore a short section of the route just outside the confines of the city of Prague.

We were particularly keen to discover how well the route is waymarked. We were already aware that there are no yellow arrows or scallop shell markings, showing the way from Kostel sv. Jakuba, through the Old Town, across Vltava River and out of the city. But both the German guide and my 1: 50 000 Turistická Mapa, seemed to indicate that waymarking should exist, beyond the outskirts of Prague.

We took the train out to the small town of Radotin, and following lunch in a town centre bar-restaurant, found the route where it passes through Namestí sv Petra a Pavla, the square in front of the parish Church of Radotin, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. It was here that I photographed the sign at the beginning of this post. The little blue and gold scallop shell emblems, show that the route from Zbraslav and heading via Vonoklasy to Karlštejn, is part of the Svatojakubská cesta – the Way of Saint James.

Bridge across the Berounka River with Kostel sv Petra a Pavla © Ricky Yates — Bridge across the Berounka River with Kostel sv Petra a Pavla, Radotin © Ricky Yates

As the sign also indicates, it is a ‘red route’ and therefore waymarked with by red and white marks, very similar to the French balises that mark long distance footpaths in France. At this point, it is also part of a European long distance footpath, the E10. We set out and walked towards Zbraslav, heading back towards Prague. The route took us over this footbridge across the Berounka River. Red and white waymarks were plentiful making the route quite easy to follow.

Former monastery at Zbraslav © Ricky Yates

As we walked down a steep wooded path towards Zbraslav, through the trees we were able to see this former monastery below us, with a Church dedicated to St. James – its small tower with a golden orb and cross, is just visible in the photograph. Unfortunately, the whole complex is now in private hands and appears not to be open to the public. I took the photograph below, by putting my camera through the metal gates that keep the grounds around the former monastery, secure from interested intruders 🙁

Former Monastery & Church of St. James, Zbraslav © Ricky Yates

In the main square of Zbraslav is where unfortunately, waymarking of the pilgrimage route comes to an end. The red route/E10 heads eastwards across a bridge over the Vltava River, whereas the pilgrimage route to/from Prague, remains on the western side of the river. So far as we can establish, there is no waymarking at all between Prague and Zbraslav.

However, there are much more encouraging signs further west. Whilst our German guidebook only describes the route from Prague to Tillyschanz, it does mention an alternative more southerly route, that leaves the one described in the guidebook at Karlštejn, and heads via Príbram and Klatovy, and then crosses the border about six kilometres before reaching the small Bavarian town of Eschlkam. Between Príbram and Klatovy, is the small town of Nepomuk, where my friend Adrian Blank is based, who has regularly helped me with repairs and servicing of my car.

On the outskirts of Nepomuk, there is another Kostel sv. Jakuba / Church of St. James by which this more southerly route passes. When visiting Adrian in January earlier this year, I discovered a display board near the Church with a map showing this pilgrimage route, together with this newly installed sign indicating the distance to Santiago de Compostela.

Ricky has returned to Rícky

Ricky at Rícky v Orlických horách © Ricky Yates

I am writing this, sitting in the bar/dining room/lounge of Hotel Konšel, located in the small settlement that bears my name, Rícky v Orlických horách. Yes, after our short, very snowbound visit in early April this year, Ricky has returned to Rícky 🙂

This time, Sybille and I are here, hoping to spend the first eight days of two weeks of my annual leave, enjoying a walking holiday in the Orlické hory. And, if the hotel’s slightly dodgy wifi internet connection had allowed me, I would have posted this on the evening of Wednesday 26th June, as my first ever blogpost not posted from my office in the Chaplaincy Flat in Prague.

We arrived here on the afternoon of Monday 24th June, following a good week in which several positive things occurred.

On Thursday 20th June, TelefonicaO2 finally reconnected our landline phone and internet access at the Chaplaincy Flat, a few hours short of seventeen days from when it ceased to function. To once more have reliable internet access with a reasonable download speed, was a welcome relief for which we are both very thankful. Of course, now we are away from the Chaplaincy Flat, internet connections have once more become a little more intermittent 🙁

The same day, I drove out to Horažd’ovice, to meet up with my good friend Adrian Blank, in order to help me get the ‘Carly’ through its STK, the equivalent of a British MOT Test. It did eventually get through but, at the expense of two new front tyres and some work to re-align the front wheels. Adrian reckons, probably quite rightly, that hitting a few Czech potholes was probably the cause of the problem. But at least the ‘Carly’ is now deemed fit to be driven on Czech roads for another two years.

The third thing of note was our worship and post-services activities last Sunday. Not only was our Sung Eucharist extremely well attended, we also had the privilege of having a guest preacher, Rev’d Dr Peter Walker. Peter and I trained for ordained ministry together at Wycliffe Hall, between 1987-1989. After serving his title in a parish in Kent, Peter has had an academic career, including a spell back at Wycliffe on the teaching staff. He is now Professor of Biblical Studies at Trinity School for Ministry, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. His challenging sermon, which has now been uploaded to our Church website, was widely appreciated by the congregation.

Churchwarden Richard York with Rev'd Dr Peter Walker © Ricky Yates — Churchwarden Richard York with Rev’d Dr Peter Walker © Ricky Yates

Following worship, many of us migrated to the nearby park on Lannova, a street that lies between the Church and the Vltava River, for our annual summer Picnic-in-the-Park. The picnic is always a good opportunity for fun & fellowship before many in the congregation are often away from Prague for several weeks, visiting family and friends in their home countries. Peter and his wife Georgie were able to join us for the picnic and very much enjoyed meeting and talking to members of the St. Clement’s congregation.

Last week was also notable for some very hot and sticky weather, in stark contrast to all of the rain earlier in the month, which was responsible for the very serious flooding in Prague and elsewhere in the western half of the Czech Republic. Fortunately the weather turned a little cooler at the weekend, but still dry except for a few spots of rain – ideal conditions for our picnic. Ideal weather, so I thought, for our walking holiday commencing the next day.

Unfortunately, Monday 24th June dawned cold, grey and with light rain. And when we set out late that morning on the Prague-Hradec Králové motorway, we drove through a positive downpour! However, just before reaching Rícky some three hours later, the rain stopped, allowing us an enjoyable short circular walk around the somewhat scattered settlement, after we had checked into the hotel.

But that dry couple of hours proved illusory. It was followed by forty-eight hours of continuous rain, meaning a couple of expeditions in the car but no walking in the hills. The rain finally stopped on Wednesday evening, so our walking holiday in the Orlické hory finally began today. Watch this space!