Prague Lockdown - Loves and Loathes

They say that you can never really know a place until you’ve lived and worked there. I’ve now spent a very large part of the last six years living in Prague, and the last two months in a lockdown situation on my own. Not only do I feel reasonably comfortable saying that I know Prague, but I also feel fairly confident that what I thought I knew about myself has passed muster, and I haven’t had a problem living with myself during a fairly uncertain couple of months.

Of course, the uncertainly remains for the time being. There is no clear exit strategy for me to return home any time soon, and this could well have an impact on my state of mind as we get closer to the end of the year and my contract expires. My worst fear is being stuck in Prague without a contract and with nowhere to go. But it’s only just May and there’s plenty of time before December to try and formulate a plan.

I went for a little walk this morning; my back pain returned yesterday with a vengeance and I wanted to try and move around a bit to see if it would ease the problem. It did, thankfully, but as I walked around the still fairly deserted backstreets of the city decided it was time to make a list. I like lists and haven’t made a Prague oriented one for a long time. So here’s my list of lockdown likes and dislikes, starting with the latter…

1. I hate not being able to choose who I can socialise with

The hardest thing about being anywhere away from home is the isolation from friends and family. But all successful ex-pats know that the key to remaining sane is building up a network of friends and acquaintances in your new environment. Over the years I’ve built up a small but amazing group of friends here - mostly locals, but a few ex-pats as well. They are either people I’ve met through work, music or bars. And when work, music venues and bars are all closed it becomes it a bit tough to socialise. And when you’re not allowed to socialise with anyone who doesn’t share your home it becomes downright impossible without breaking the law. I can live quite happily with my own company, but it is really hard living alone and not being allowed to see anyone else. I haven’t spoken to a real physical person in English for nearly eight weeks. I’ve only been able to use my limited Czech - although I did manage a conversation two days ago in a hardware shop - I spoke in my pidgin Czech and he replied in perfect English. Surreal!

2. I hate feeling guilty 

Until the rules were recently relaxed we weren’t generally supposed to go out except for essentials like grocery shopping to trips to the doctor, chemist or hospital. A few days later a vague clarification (we’ve had lots of vague clarifications) declared that it was “allowed to exercise in parks or forests”. Luckily I’m just a two-minute walk from Letna park so I was able to abide by the rules and get some exercise minutes and miles notched up (and I confess to getting a bit creative on my journey to the park which occasionally involved going a few extra miles to relieve the monotony).

But reading some of the extraordinarily judgemental social media sites made me feel a little bit guilty even though I wasn’t doing anything wrong. There weren’t that many people around, I always wore my facemask and made sure I kept my distance. And there were plenty of people disregarding all the rules - especially cyclists and smokers. Whoever originally coined the offensive hashtag “stay the f*** at home” deserves their own little special corner of hell as far as I’m concerned.

3. I hate having to wear a face mask

Society here is completely polarised on this one. I’ve read pretty much every reasoned argument on the pros and cons of face masks and I’ve come to the conclusion that they are a complete waste of time and in the worst-case scenario actually cause more health problems than they can ever solve. If a Covid-19 virus particle is 1/1000th the width of a human hair, then nothing much short of an astronaut’s helmet is going to stop it. 99.9% of the masks that people are using fall far short of the gauge of surgical masks used by medical professionals. Face masks actually provide a safe haven for virus particles to accumulate so that they come home with you and have plenty of time to wait for you to lick your fingers or rub your face after you’ve taken off the mask. I wear one because it’s the law, but that doesn’t mean the law is either right or sensible. Again, the judgemental arguments on social media are mind-blowingly stupid - and made up by people with no understanding of statistics, cause and effect or correlations, not to mention their own cognitive bias. Besides that, I hate my glasses steaming up...

There are plenty more things I dislike about this lockdown, but there are short term workarounds for most of them - I would prefer to drink socially rather than on my own, I’d like to get back into the office to stock up on office supplies since it’s a struggle to buy them, and I really dislike the judgemental attitudes, almost always by ex-pats of a certain age and demographic and from all over the world, but to be honest, that was the same even before this crisis, and the answer is easy - stop reading them or just be amused by how stupid people are! But there are some good things that have come about - it’s not all doom and gloom!

1. I love the way this community has just got on with life

Czech people are very resilient which is hardly surprising given their history, especially in the last century. I’ve not witnessed panic buying, I’ve hardly seen any queues in supermarkets, and I’ve not noticed any shortages - in fact, I’ve seen new varieties of certain staples. I have seen people ignoring the lockdown rules but they are in a tiny minority. Most people seem to understand that although the situation is pretty shitty, most of the things being done are at least being done to protect them not constrain them. And credit to the government for acting quickly and decisively. It’s not been perfect, but the statistics here indicate their actions certainly helped keep the initial spread under control. People are respectful and polite when you see them, and most respect the social distancing rules. I still maintain that I’m better off here than in the UK even though I’d much rather be with my family

2. I love being able to see Prague without the hordes

Being ’stranded’ here has given me an incredible opportunity to see the city in the most natural state it has been in since the tourist explosion go out of control. Seeing the landmarks and streets in their deserted state has been a privilege and has made me even more in love with the place. Already those opportunities are disappearing as life starts to return to some kind of normality and out oft owners are beginning to visit their capital city; some for the first time. And that’s OK and proper that they should get the chance to see their heritage in the same way that I’ve been fortunate enough to witness.

3. I love being able to take pleasure in the simplest things

I’ve lived here, on and off, for most of the last six years. A couple of weeks ago I heard the bells of St Vitus while I was walking along the embankment on the opposite side of the Vltava; something I had never heard before because the noise of the traffic and people usually drown them out. I saw a huge hare on the slopes of Letna park, two days running, taking advantage of the lack of people and dogs to sunbathe on the trail leading up to the plateau. I’ve seen a Nuthatch and a Greater Spotted Woodpecker on the plateau itself. It was a joy to watch little kids being able to feed the pigeons in the old town square without their parents worrying about losing them in the crowds.

4. I love that I’ve finally found the time to start to learn Czech

I tend to really busy with work while I’m living here and by the time I get home from the office, caught up with my extramural work activities, gone for a beer, cooked, eaten, cleaned up and had my daily video call with Mel it’s not usually long before I need to hit the sack. But with the working from home regulations and the pubs being closed, there’s a little bit of extra time and some language schools were offering on-line courses to learn Czech, so I jumped at the chance. I have a lesson every Saturday which lasts three hours and I try and spend some time in the evenings (not too successfully I confess) to do some extra learning and homework. It’s slow and hard, and wish I’d done it a couple of years ago. As an old dog, it is difficult to learn new tricks, especially this language, but I’m going to persevere and at least be able to speak some Czech, even if I won’t have clue what they’re saying back to me!

Hezký den! - enjoy your day! Stay safe, stay sane and may all your lockdowns be short.

Lockdown Behind the Velvet Curtain

I first started this blog over six years ago and this is entry number 68. Regular readers (if there are any) will be aware that I’ve been a bit quiet since January 2019. In March last year, I returned to Prague to take on a new role and I’ve been here ever since. It's a little bit weird, but I tend to be so busy while I’m living here that the blog tends not to get much attention. But everything has changed now and I have a bit of time to continue the story.

In November last year, I received my temporary residence permit. The idea was to try and protect myself from the uncertainties surrounding Brexit but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that small piece of paper that is allowing me to remain in the Czech Republic, and conversely, that is preventing me from going back to the UK. Strictly speaking, if there was a way to get back I could go home, but I wouldn’t then be allowed back here.

I went home at the beginning of March to celebrate Mel’s birthday and to visit my mother who is currently in a nursing home in London suffering from vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s. Word of coronavirus was out but it still seemed a long way away, and I don’t think any of us had any expectations of what was to come.

I returned to Prague on Match 9th with some extra treats (bottle of HP sauce, crumpets, Fry’s Turkish Delight, Rowntree’s fruit pastilles, etc.) and some summer clothes. By then, there were 10,000 worldwide cases and 3,400 deaths. Italy went into a lockdown that very day and in the Czech Republic, the first measures began to be implemented with random border checks, and mandatory self-isolation for anyone coming into contact with a confirmed patient.

On March 10th, public events in the Czech Republic were banned, and my concert season came to an abrupt end. Anyone returning from one of a number of listed countries had to go into 14-day quarantine - the UK wasn’t on the initial list. The next day schools and universities were closed and the WHO declared the global pandemic.

On March 12th the Czech Republic declared a state of emergency starting at midnight. Things were getting serious and basically, the borders were closed to foreigners coming in and Czech people, including foreigners with residency permits, banned from leaving. Pubs and restaurants were only allowed to open between 6am and 8pm. Shops and malls over 5,000 sq. m were closed along with sports facilities, and gatherings were reduced to 30 people.

By Saturday 14th there were 141 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country. The lockdown gathered momentum as bars and restaurants, markets, public events and pretty much all non-essential services were closed down.

A full nationwide quarantine went into effect on Monday 16th, March. This now meant that we could only travel to work, go shopping, family visits and do limited exercising in the parks or the countryside. The two-metre social distancing rule took effect. A large number of internal economic measures were also being introduced. By Thursday it became mandatory to wear some kind of face-covering whenever in public with a £650 fine for non-compliance.

             

The law prevents some of these measures from being put into place for more than short periods. Initially, they were put in place until April 11th but have now been extended, along with the state of emergency until April 30th.

As I write this, there is some talk of minor relaxations after Easter but nothing significant at this stage. There have been 6022 confirmed cases, 143 deaths and 128K people have been tested. 519 people have recovered and the R0 number is declining and currently stands at 0.9. It would appear that the measures have been helpful in at least preventing overwhelming medical facilities.

It is a rather surreal situation to be in. The city, which last year hosted over 8M visitors, is empty. Most people have accepted the situation with good grace and humour. There has been no sign of panic buying, at least not in the city, no shortages and no queues. For the first time in my life, I have to carry my papers around with me just in case I get stopped by the police.

             

My apartment is just a few hundred metres across the river from Letna park, so I’m able to get out and get a really good dose of fresh air and I’m managing to walk about 5 miles a day. Everyone at work is now working from home, and I’m lucky to be really busy during the day. I have a video call with Mel every night and sometimes in the morning, and my internet connection is usually good enough to be able to get access to UK TV on demand. I’m finally learning Czech through an on-line school. I do miss physical contact with my friends. We’ve had a few virtual beers and drinks which helps, but I’m worried about my mum and whether she understands what’s happening.

I occasionally wonder if I should have tried to get home before everything kicked off, especially as I’m unlikely to be able to return until June at the very earliest. But this isn’t like the fall of Saigon and I’m probably safer here than in the UK! And this is a unique opportunity to see my beloved Prague in its natural glory, without the hoards of people. I just wish I could sit down in my favourite restaurant and have a few beers with my friends and eat something that someone else has cooked for me! Until then...

Stay safe, stay well and stay sane!

Prague In Plain Sight #5 - The Wallenstein Gardens

There is a myriad of palaces and gardens on the Malá Strana side of the Vltava. I’ve written about a few of them including the Palace Gardens and Vojanovy sady.

I’d read about the Wallenstein Gardens (Valdštejnská zahrada) but it took me a while to find out where the physical entrance was. As is often the case in Prague, I’d walked past the entrance dozens of times without realising that the doorway set in the long whitewashed wall running the length of Letenská was the portal to the secret garden. It didn’t help that the gardens are only open between April and October, which meant I had to wait for six months before the door was open!

Wallenstein Palace in Malá Strana

Covering over 4 acres (1.7 hectares) the Wallenstein Garden and Palace complex lies sandwiched between Letenská and  Valdštejnská, in the heart of the government district of Prague. It was built by Albrecht of Valdstejn between 1623 and 1630. The general was one of the most influential Catholic commanders in the imperial army of Ferdinand II and was the Commander-in-Chief during the Thirty Years War. Ultimately, Ferdinand had him assassinated in 1634, so he only lived in his palace for a year. However, it remained in the Wallenstein family until 1945. Following the war, it became the property of the Czech state, and now houses the Senate of the Czech Republic.

The Sala Terrana hosts concerts and plays

The palace complex was designed to rival Prague Castle and consists of four main courtyards, a period garden, a riding school, an aviary, a grotto, a pavilion overlooking a fountain and lake, and an Avenue of sculptures.

Looking down the mythological corridor

These sculptures and frescos which adorn the palace and garden buildings are all based on mythological stories and beings, but many of them include depictions of the Duke himself, giving us an indication of his vanity, and why Ferdinand II considered him a threat to his own reign.

The Sala Terrena is used for plays and concerts and shows scenes from the Trojan War. Next to this is the artificial grotto, comprising lime stucco stalactites built using roof ridge tiles.

The Grotto

A nearby, small fountain is a copy of a bronze original of Venus with Cupid and a dolphin, which was taken by the Swedish Army as war booty in 1648. The same fate met the statues of the mythological avenue, created in 1625-26. These are now copies also, as the originals are still located in Castle Drootningholm in Sweden.  The main fountain is a sculpture of Hercules with the Nayades (river nymphs), and the pond in which it stands was used for experiments with a steamship in 1816.

As I mentioned, the gardens are closed during the winter, but if you’re in Prague between late spring and autumn the Wallenstein gardens should be near the top of your bucket list. Aim to go earlier in the morning, as the gardens are popular with large, organised groups and it's best to appreciate the splendour of the surroundings in relative peace and quiet, and easier to take photos of the statues (and the white peacocks) before small children start climbing all over them!

Christmas In Prague and The Last Lamplighter

Christmas is a pretty special time of year wherever you are, but there’s something especially magical about Prague during Advent. I’ve been lucky enough to have been in town in early December for the past four years, and I still feel like a schoolboy in a sweet shop.

Lighting the Christmas Tree - this year in the Old Town Square

The Christmas markets are amongst the most famous in the world and there are a number of them dotted around the city. My two favourites are the ones in Staroměstské náměstí and Náměstí Míru (which was recently voted the most popular amongst Prague expat residents). The atmosphere is very special, and despite the crowds, there is such an assault on your senses that you can't help feeling that this is a magical time in a magical place!

Staroměstské náměstí from the Clock Tower (2014)

Each of the markets is filled with food and drink stands, with Prague Ham, klobása (sausages), tredlník (rolled dough, grilled and topped with sugar and cinnamon), and freshly fried potato chips (crisps) being the favourites. These are usually washed down with hot medovina (honey mead wine), or other warm mulled wines. There are plenty of stalls selling trinkets, gingerbread and other cakes, but some of the Christmas decorations on sale are beautiful and are good value (as long as you take care getting them home!).

                 

 

There are a couple of other things that you might not find described in any of the standard tourist guides.

First of all, there are the buckets of carp dotted around town. Carp is traditionally eaten at Christmas in the Czech Republic, and the fish are sold on the pavements, where they are kept in huge blue bins and you select the specific fish that you want, take it home (swimming around in a plastic bag) and leave it in the bathtub until you’re ready to cook it (carp are bottom feeders, and can taste a bit muddy unless there is time to flush the dirt through their systems). The more squeamish - or folk that prefer not to share their baths with live fish - can get the fishmonger to perform the necessary decapitation. Carp may be a strange choice for a Christmas dish, but fish has religious significance because it is eaten instead of meat on days of fasting and Christmas Eve is a day of fasting. The fish is served with a traditional Czech potato salad containing potatoes, onions, peas, carrots, gherkins, eggs and mayonnaise.

Carp on sale in the street

Traditionally, the lights on the Charles Bridge used gas to power them. The city converted all their old gas lights with electric ones starting in 1985 but in 2002 the decision was made to change back to gas in many parts of historical Prague, and the lamps on the Charles Bridge reverted to gas in 2010. All of Prague’s gas lights are lit electronically these days, but during advent, each day between 16:00 and 17:00, one of the last lamplighters still performs the duty in person, making his way across the bridge, lighting each of the forty-six lamps using a long pole. The Lamplighter is instantly recognisable in his red and black tunic and peaked cap.

             

 


Enjoy your Christmas and have a great New Year.

Veselé Vánoce a šťastný nový rok!

Prague Moments #12 - Home Alone in a Post Apocalyptic Prague?

One of my most magical Prague moments was getting up at the crack of dawn in April 2015 and watching the sunrise over the Charles Bridge. Last month, I almost repeated the experience by accident when I'd woken up at five a.m.,  unable to sleep. I only had a few more days in town, so I decided to get up and have a walk around town. My particular mission was to take photographs of each of the statues on the Charles Bridge, and this was only realistically possible early in the morning before the crowds made the task nigh on impossible.

I missed the sunrise this time by about thirty minutes, but the bridge was still relatively empty bar a few photographers, some hardy tourists and the ubiquitous Japanese wedding photo party! (I wonder if it was the same ones as last time?)

I managed to complete my task - I'll maybe publish another post in the future on that topic - and headed into town to see what else I could find in the early morning light. What I found blew me away!

Coming back off Karlovy Most, I headed down Karlova, a street I normally try and avoid because of the crowds. Apart from a few delivery vans and some store/restaurant staff taking in the deliveries, the street was completely deserted.

Karlova

I headed into the Old Town Square and found exactly the same phenomenon - there was one other person in the square. I walked on towards Wenceslas Square and the only life was a lady at one of the sausage stands, smoking a sneaky cigarette while the grills were warming up. It was a similar story around the back of the Estates Theatre, Můstek and Na Příkopě, all usually buzzing with people and life.

Old Town Square

Old Town Square

Wenceslas Square

For over an hour, I appeared to have Prague to myself. It was a bit like walking around a post apocalyptic cityscape. The beautiful skies of this time of year and this time of the morning gave the place real atmosphere and were reflected in the empty streets. Finally, I headed back to Ostrovni and went back to bed for a couple of hours while the city woke up around me and started filling the streets.

Life returns to the Old Town Square

Once again the city shared its magic with me, but please don't all go out and try this at the same time. It won't work!

Prague Landmarks #6 - The Astronomical Clock

My initial intention with this series of Prague landmarks was not to pick the most obvious places, but to focus on some of the less well known and less obvious ones. It's fairly safe to say that the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square is probably the most well known and obvious sites in the city, but I've decided to include it now...because it's just about to disappear. That is to say, it is just about to undergo a huge year long maintenance programme and for the time being is going to replaced by a video representation.

The clock is one of the most iconic images associated with Prague - and justifiably (in my opinion at least). The impact it makes the first time you see it lasts a lifetime, and even having walked past it hundreds of times, I still find it impossible not to sneak a peek when I'm nearby.

There is so much history about the clock it would be impossible to do it justice in such a short post. Trying to explain the science behind such a phenomenal piece of engineering would be even more difficult. Instead I'll focus on the basics and point you towards one of the books or pamphlets available on sale inside the clock tower. 

It has now been determined that the original clock dates back to 1410 by Mikuláš of Kadaň, but it has been modified and added to many times over the centuries. The clock shows four types of time:

• Old Czech (Italian) time displayed by the Gothic symbols on the outer rings
• German (Local) time marked in golden Roman numerals along the edge of the astrolabe
• Planetary time shown by the 12 blue Arabic numerals
• Sidereal time designated by the star on the zodiac ring

Additionally the clock displays the position of the sun and moon and other celestial events such as solstices.

The calendar dial which is situated underneath the clock was painted by the Czech painter Josef Mánes (1820-1871), although the original was badly damaged by exposure to the weather, the current copy was unveiled in 1882 .

St John the Evangelist (left) and St Thomas (right)

The statues of the apostles which appear from the windows above the clock appear to date back to 1793. The originals were destroyed by fire in 194 and replaced with the current set between 1946 and 1948. They appear so briefly that the best way to see them is to take the trip into the clock tower and find them in their little cubby hole where you can really appreciate their eerie beauty.

There are too many details all around the clock to describe them all but it wouldn't be right not to single out the orchestrator of the chiming ceremonies - the wooden sculpture of Death.

Death (the skeleton) and Delight

Every hours, when he rings his bell, and the hourglass turns it launches the apostles forty second journey outside into the elements, before the windows close and the rooster crows and flaps its wings (generally to the sound of applause from the gathered throng down below).