Snowed under!

Hello followers (if I have any left!)

If you are reading this blog to hear about the trials and tribulations of moving abroad, you can simply take the last months' silence as an indication of just what it's like to be an expat. Busy, tiring, with not enough time to even update a paltry little blog, let alone do all the things one actually needs to do - that's what it's been like. But I'm not complaining - if you know me, you know that busy is how I like it best. Until it all finally takes a breather and lets me pause - like it has tonight - and then I like nothing better than a hot bath, my pyjamas and a bit of peace and quiet.

Crikey, the last time I updated this blog I'd just been to watch Zizkov play football! Well, the football's on its Winter Break right now since we seem to be permanently underneath at least 30cm of snow. That match seems an age ago! The snow started falling last weekend, the 28th November, at which time I was spending a weekend in Manchester and so I missed the first flurry. However, as I waited for the tram to take me home after that weekend jaunt, the snow began again at 8pm and did not stop until very very late the next day. We've had a little more on most days ever since, with a substantial amount again today; there is definitely something absorbing about gazing wide-eyed out of the window watching the snow drift down and wrap everything up in its soft white blanket, while you are supposed to be supervising 9De1 German complete their December Levelling Test...

This being the Czech Republic, I am pleased to report that the country seems to cope largely very well with the freezing conditions. The trams work (bar the occasional freezing tracks and digging-out sessions); the metro works (bar the treacherously slippery floors and huge accident potential); the buses work (bar the perpetual threat of road-rage due to the drivers' tendency to drive faster in the snow!). Walking around Prague at the moment is a dangerous game, though: snow and cobble stones do not mix. But hey! I'm certainly living the 'abroad' experience, in that every day is a new and slightly more dicey adventure...

The transport system has failed me once, however. And at a most inconvenient time. There I was last Thursday, after four months' planning, standing on the platform at Hlavni Nadrazi accompanied by 31 twelve-year-olds and three intrepid and shivering colleagues, waiting to board the train that would whisk us off for EISP's first Linguistic and Cultural Visit to Germany. It seemed that the powers-that-be decided right then to unleash the largest amount of train-related chaos imaginable onto the Czech and German railways.

Imagine thus: 1o mins delayed.. 20 mins.. 30 mins.. (at this point we were thankful that our train was not delayed 90 or 100 mins like those before ours on the Departures board!).. platform 3.. RUN, kids! RUN! ... no train at the platform... -10 degrees air temperature... train cancelled. But wait! That's our train over there on Platform 1! RUN, kids, RUN like you really want to go on this trip! Get on the train! That's it, everyone.... oh, train cancelled. Everyone off. Can we change the tickets for the 12.31, since ours was cancelled? Excellent, we can, although the 12.31 already has a 20 min delay and it's not even 12.00 yet. Right, everyone, eyes on the Departures board for further announcements. 30 mins delay, 35 mins... PLATFORM 3!! Let's go! GO GO GO! Everyone on the train? Everyone got a seat? Yes, great. Relax, kids, we might be 3 hours late and frozen solid, but we're on our way to Germany! Except, erm, we're not. The train needs to wait in Hlavni Nadrazi for 60 further minutes due to 'technical problems'. Right, well if we've not moved by 2pm, we need to abandon- our 3 day trip is already down to the best part of 2 days. 1.55pm... the train's moving! Hurrah! We really are off this time now. We lean our heads back in our seats and relax, thanking our lucky stars, as the snowy scenes flash past our windows... aaaaaaand then we stop. Yes, that's right kids, we're going to sit for 40 minutes on the track, all of 5km out of Prague, due to more 'technical problems'. Great. The Fatherland has never seemed so far away.
Finally, after all that palaver and accompanied by 31 very downhearted kids, I made the decision to abandon the trip and return to school. Tails firmly between our legs we trudged through EISP reception, admitting our defeat by the weather. We'll try again in the Spring. I don't imagine Germany is going anywhere fast, and it will probably be a whole lot easier to enjoy a visit once everything's defrosted.

Right, a brief summary then of some highs and lows of the expat life in Prague.

High - a Sunday afternoon walk in Divoka Sarka park on the outskirts of Prague, an hour well spent in the fresh air and Autumn chill just before the snows. Beautiful.
Low - getting my bag stolen a couple of weeks ago from right by my side in a bar, losing the passport, keys, wallet, phone, camera (hence the lack of photos on the blog from now on)...
High - getting most of it back including the vital passport, via a couple of kindly souls on the other side of town :)
Low - three consecutive days spent journeying to the post office to pick up replacement bank cards/travel pass. See an earlier post on how much I detest the post office.
High - getting the 17th November off work for Revolution Day, and using it very profitably for a visit to the countryside and a day's walk to Karlstejn, finishing with a well-earned beer in a Hospoda below the formidable castle. Great scenery, great company. Thanks Dykesie, Nush, Rhian and Jon!
Low - needing a pair of 'sensible winter boots' in order to make my way through the snow without getting frostbitten, soaking ankles.
High - finally finding said pair of industrially grippy boots in the good old Doctor Marten shop (where else, you might ask!)
Low - working a long, long term until the Christmas break
High - Christmas coming early - beautiful Christmas markets; plentiful hot wine stands; and a wonderful Christmas weekend just gone spent planning, cooking and eating Christmas dinner along with 15 of our friends. It's times like that when I feel so at home here, and it's testament to how welcome everyone's made me feel from the start.

It has to be said that there are many more highs than lows so far. I love my job - it's easy, it's fun, it's not without challenges but those are not insurmountable. I love the city - it's stunning to look at, it's easy to get around, it's full of little hard-to-find gems of bars, cafes and restaurants - all the good things in life! I love my friends - the fact that last week I was at parties or gatherings on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights says it all. And I love my little flat - it's cosy right now with all the candles going and the view through the window of the snow coming down. There are a few key people missing - I do miss you, though I find it difficult to say - but they're never far away on Skype, on the phone or by plane - in fact right now I'm preparing for an influx of visitors starting 20th December. So, it's all going well, and life here seems so far to be suiting me just fine.

I just can't wait for those 9 more get-ups to pass, and then I really will be able to let the Prague Christmas take hold!

Festive greetings to all, I wish you less snow, and plenty of winter warmth!
Love to all x

'Let's go away to come back'

Evening, readers! Tonight sees the end of the half-term holiday and therefore the last true night of freedom until 17th December. Not that I have the date etched into my mind or anything! It's been a great half-term break, very rewarding after a hard nine-and-a-half weeks on the trot at work - as I am sure many teachers will tell you, that's longer than we usually work in one go. But I don't expect any sympathy at all because I know I have an amazing job, and I love it, so there you are. Still, I think I'm allowed to feel some trepidation at the thought of going back tomorrow nonetheless. Just ask any teacher - on Sunday nights we're worse than the kids!

Needless to say I went out last Friday night to mark the occasion of school finishing for the week, and took a tour round some bars and clubs in Prague including Blatnicka (dinner), Zapa (cocktails) and Aloha (dancing). I didn't see Saturday morning; but I was assured that nothing much happened. On Saturday evening Anuska, her friend Sian, Rhian and I had a lovely meal at Grossetto Marina restaurant down by the river overlooking the lit-up castle view. Gorgeous. We rounded this off with a couple of drinks at Blue Light bar and then some dancing to VERY cheesy music at Lucerna music bar. All good fun. On Sunday I ate more than my body-weight (and that's no small amount) at the all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta cafe. Have I mentioned this before? It is a sight to behold. Get this: you sit down, and receive a procession of waiters at your tableside with a mouth-watering range of freshly-cooked pans of various pasta, gnocchi and pizza dishes. If you like the look of what they have in their pan, you nod 'Ano, prosim' and get a small amount on your plate to try. If you prefer to wait, you mutter 'ne, dekuji' and they move on - but two seconds later, something even more delicious is offered to you. As with all serious eating, there is a strategy. Do not take something you are not particularly fussed about. Just bide your time - there will always be something better coming along in a moment. So Rhian and I spent a happy two hours (!) in here, chatting away and planning our upcoming trip to Berlin.

On Monday morning we managed to catch our train, secured a compartment suitable for picknicking in, and set off to Berlin. One scary ticket moment (Rhian almost got thrown off the train, for reasons she will explain, if you ask her), one delay-inducing signal failure and six hours of travelling later, we arrived. Our accommodation was pretty good really for 40euros a night between us- a double (Rhian) and bunks (me), a little bathroom (mostly Rhian) and a fridge (wine) were all there and were all we needed. We spent a fairly busy three days checking out the sights - Berlin Wall (in photo), Tiergarten park's beautiful Autumn colours (in photo), Checkpoint Charlie, Unter den Linden, Berliner Dom, Neue Wache, Brandenburger Tor, Reichstag, KaDeWe, Hackesche Hoefe.... the list could go on. We made sure of course that there were plenty of eating opportunities - Asian, Turkish and Italian were all consumed with plenty of Kaffee und Kuchen on top. There were also Lie-Ins, that most vital part of any holiday. All in all , an excellent trip, and we didn't kill each other so Sarah Dykes you can have your money back!

After arriving home on Thursday night and appreciating the comfort of my own bed, I had a lazy Friday morning of reading, tidying and cleaning the kitchen. Since then I have descended into total domestic bliss, marked by buying a blender, sandwich toaster and hand mixer and deciding to Learn to Cook. Yes, that's right, at 29 I have realised that I can't rely on restaurants and takeaways ALL my life! So I have started easy - with soups - and already tried out two fantastic recipes that have worked really well. (celery apple and stilton a la Si & Ross, and Potage Bonne Femme in case you are interested). Above in the photo you can see the results of the former, alongside some delicious toasties from my sandwich toaster. That was a lovely lunch on Saturday! After eating it I took a very exciting trip to Ikea with Chris, my accomplished accomplice in 'quick and painless Ikea shopping', for there is such a thing, and I bought warming rugs and throws to make my place a bit more homely and winter-proof. You can see the results above - better than the orange, I dare say you'll agree.

On Saturday night Chris and I ate out (the soup was enough cooking for one day, plus the previous night had been spent at Chris's where I was treated to Coq au Vin and chocolate tart, so he deserved a night off too) and then I retired home early to talk to my man, whom I am missing very much, and then to read my book and go to bed. 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' - top book, I must say.

This morning saw a trip to FC Viktoria Zizkov who played at 10.15am (!!) against Banik Most and drew 1-1. The experience was made complete by an 11am half-time pint, a couple of potato pancakes and a fantastic 80's bloke in full-on stonewash denim wielding a 60s wooden rattle and waggling his Zizkov scarf defiantly at any of the 20-strong opposition who deigned to look in his direction. Above in the remaning pic, you can see Chris and I bracing the cold and enjoying the game. I learnt something I didn't know at that match - namely that football in the Czech Republic takes a 'winter break' because it gets so damn cold here. Too cold to play football? But they play right through the winter in Newcastle, I heard, and it gets pretty cold up there..... yet again I began to suspect that I hadn't adequately braced myself for the Czech Winter.

Did I forget to mention the highlight of my weekend? I think I may well have. I took a trip to the dreaded Post Office, anticipating a Gas bill or the like, but no! waiting for me at Sportovni Posta was a very exciting-looking parcel! I skipped (well, puffed up the hill) home with my parcel tucked proudly under my arm, feeling sorry for all those people passing by me who didn't have one. I got home, opened the parcel..... and good old Mr AC had sent me some much-missed T-shirts that I'd left at home, plus a book, plus (and this is the best bit) a mini bottle of champagne! How lovely is THAT! So, let's raise a glass to AC and chalk up a few more brownie points on the scoreboard. When you live abroad, it can be just lovely and heart-lifting to receive news from those you left behind, in whichever form it arrives. And best of all when it arrives in the form of champagne. In some ways, I am a girl after all.

Well at 8.45pm on a Sunday night I really should be thinking bath, pyjamas and bed. School tomorrow, after all! My schoolbag still needs to be packed and sandwiches made, just as many a ten-year-old will be doing right now. October 2010 was a great half-term break. I shall sleep safe in the knowledge that Christmas and New Year will be even better.

Thank you for reading, and love to all x

I'm back!

Crikey, it's been a long time since I've checked in here! It says the last day that I wrote here was on the 3rd October... that must mean this is the first moment of spare time I've had since then, and it's now the 16th. The trouble is, so many things have happened since then, that I now can't catch up - that would be impossible. As I recall, I was half-way through telling the extraordinary tale of the D of E weekend. At some point I may well finish this off, though if not, I am sure there will me other and more extraordinary tales to tell soon.

A whistle-stop update: Since the D of E weekend I've been living on a building site (as you can see), seen several frosty only-just sub-zero mornings (Winter is coming), been elected on to the School Board (responsibility! crikey), been to the UK and back (including a quick trip to Alton Towers, of all places), eaten Lebanese food and survived (only just), and now my parents are here and today we're off to Plzen to visit the Pilsner Brewery. So, it's been hectic as ever, but that's the way I like it of course.

The building-site thing is starting to get on my nerves, especially when combined with all the windows in the block being left open so that the cement can dry, and a few frosty mornings, and a leaky boiler that it's best if I don't turn on. Yep, it's been rather chilly chez Sarah! But all is looking better now - boiler mended, cement dried, doors closed, and the final bits of work are under way (the laying of tiles and the painting of walls). It is going to look much nicer when it is finished, I am sure, and it is after all nice to get your place of residence upgraded and decorated at no extra cost to yourself. But it was just a bit of a shock on the first day, when I had to unexpectedly walk the plank to get into my own apartment.....

Enough whingeing. All is well, lots of exciting things are lined up, and I'm looking forward to experiencing the famous Czech winters. Pay arrived a couple of days ago, so boots, fleeces and woolly hats are first on my list for October purchases.

Love to all - enjoy the weather wherever you are, and I hope it's warmer for you than it's set to be here! xx

A Weekend with the Duke, czech-style

Hello readers! Greetings from my bed, where I am hiding under 2 duvets in a bid to a) avoid turning on the heating properly till mid-November and b) chase away the chilled-to-the-bone feeling left behind by a weekend sleeping outdoors. It's been a fantastic weekend, 2nd in a row spent in the beautiful Cesky Raj, and my first proper full outing with the EISP D of E group. It was just great to be out with such a lovely team of friendly colleagues and enthusiastic students, and to see what those students achieved for themselves. I have always loved this about the D of E award, both as a participant myself and as a leader, the fact that it encourages and enables young people to get out there and push themselves to limits they perhaps never knew they had. Certainly I would not know how to enjoy the outdoors so much as I do now, had I not joined the D of E group at my own school back in 1995 or whenever it was... Over the last 6 years working on the D of E at Mountbatten I have had some of the most rewarding and silliest times of my career, and it is encouraging to know that after this weekend they are set to continue. Admittedly it doesn't look like there will be much in the way of Legless, Flailing Branch or Fire Jumping here, but at the end of the day one can find just as much pleasure/weirdness in random Archery competitions or pubs in rocks..... Yes folks, that's right, welcome to the world of Czech D of E.

Thursday afternoon saw Gully (hilariously disorganised Welsh friend with the world's kindest heart) and I lead the Silver Expedition group out of school, onto bus, metro, bus and bus up to a Royston Vasey, or at least the Czech equivalent. First challenge was to find the B&B - easier said than done. I think we bluffed it successfully - "kids, first D of E initiative test is to find the accommodation... it's a test... we know where it is really..." - but just in the nick of time, an elderly village local shuffled his way up the road and led us directly to the front door of our self-proclaimed 'stylish pension'. One hearty chicken-and-potatoes dinner later, laid on by the B&B lady for 50kc, we planned the expedition routes and headed to bed. At this point I shall do my best to recreate the atmosphere of that B&B. Imagine, if you will, all the colours from 1960s decor thrown together in one happy place, accompanied by the smell of your Nan's cooking and the sounds of creaky doors and howling winds (well, I made the howling winds bit up, but the rest is accurate). Once the kids were off to bed, Gully and I celebrated our safe arrival in Cesky Raj with half a soluble asprin each in shot glasses whilst seated in our brown Granny chairs watching static on the un-tuneable portable TV. Rock n' roll, needless to say.

On Friday the kids completed a fairly eventless first day of hiking (eventless apart from leaving a map behind in the B&B, getting lost several times and realising on arrival to the campsite that they'd forgotten the poles of one of the tents, that is). Meanwhile Gully and I 'remotely supervised', ie we had a picnic, caught the train, did some shopping, went for lunch and enjoyed a hot chocolate at the campsite awaiting their arrival. At this point, I thought, Czech D of E is definitely for me. Chaos took hold at check-in at Autocamp Sedmihorky, however, as somewhere in between English, Czech, German, gesture, mime and much furrowing of brows, we managed to ascertain from the bewildered campsite lady that our kids were supposed to camp in the middle of -wait for it- an Archery masters weekend. Blimey. Bob Rhodes would have had a bleedin' fit at this flagrant breach of Hampshire County Council D of E health and safety regulations, were he to have been present. As the archers proceeded to set up all manner of bizarre plastic animal models as their targets, we harangued the campsite lady to give us another piece of grass for use. Eventually she decided we could camp inbetween the rows of families in their caravans. Fine for our kids, but would you like a bunch of worn-out irritable teenagers camping outside your plastic caravan window? No, thought not. Anyway, kids arrived, set up camp and started to cook their delicious dinner (largely goulash). We retired to our heated cottage to eat a fine chicken curry brought down by Anuska, our third colleague who joined us that evening, accompanied by an entirely appropriate amount of wine and some very sensible conversation. A rather perfect evening, all in all.

As Saturday dawned, so too did the Archery Competition announce its opening with the Human League's 'Don't you Want Me' blasting out through the tannoy system. Hi-de-Hi! this wasn't . As soon as we could we bade farewell to the archers who were so busy firing arrows into their plastic gibbons and leopards, they probably didn't notice us leave. We set off the Silver group on their route, and accompanied the newly-arrived Bronze group up the hill to Hruba Skala castle. After a bit of route-planning at the top we abandoned them, too, for their first taste of hiking without the teachers! Unwittingly I had established myself as 'map technician' and was being relied on to make sure we, unlike the kids, did not lose our maps. I succeeded in this, but failed in making sure we did not accidentally miss part of the path and end up clambering up a near vertical hillside to find our way out of a staggeringly beautiful but very deep gully. This is where I found out that on Czech D of E - completely unlike Mountbatten's - the teachers hike too. No minibuses here, oh no. It was a lovely day though, blessed with sunshine and clear blue skies, as we walked through sleepy villages and caught back-garden glimpses of pre-Revolution Czech life (and indeed post-Revolution life, for it is still like that in many parts here). We feasted on pumpernickel bread, cheese, ham and biscuits for lunch, and spent the last hour or so walking, talking, pepping ourselves up with wine gums and bracing ourselves for imminent arrival at Hell.

Yes, Hell.

And on that note I shall temporarily pause the story and leave you guessing, for my fingers ache from typing and my back longs to be stretched out and have its rucsac grooves softened. Am I being melodramatic enough? It's not that bad at all, really - I am just tired and feeling a little pathetic. And very, very sleepy. The story will resume tomorrow after a good night's rest.

Hoping you are all well, wherever you are reading this. Tomorrow - tales of Hell and High Mud. And goblins serving beer from the rocks in which they dwell (really). Love to all xx

Flipping Heck!

Hello, blog readers! It's been a grey and rainy week so far in Prague and its environs, and this miserable weather provides suitably melancholy conditions in which to bid an emotional farewell to my old friend Pauly M, who as I write is packing to leave for England tomorrow. He has just informed me, however, that he 'will definitely be making a return visit', though this may have more to do with the fact that we did not quite get around to eating at the all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta buffet restaurant this time. It's been great having Paul to stay for the week, he's been an excellent hiking/touristing companion and, as only he knows how, has almost split my sides with laughter several times. The title for this blog post comes from us having uttered this phrase with alarming frequency, be it at spectacular hiking sights, delicious meals or the longest escalator in the world (really. I challenge you to visit the escalator at Namesti Miru metro station and then find a longer one). So I will miss Paul greatly but at least I know that the buffet will lure him back eventually.

We had a lovely hike on Saturday through the Czech countryside, after embarking on a train on Friday night which took us to Turnov, otherwise known as the 1980s. A town where pink guitars are readily sold and taxi drivers sport grey ponytails while wearing tracksuits and listening to 'Nikita' by Elton John. The hike took us from Turnov town centre to 3 castles in Cesky Raj - first Waldstejn, then Hruba Skala and finally Trosky. Our walk ended up being somewhere between 15 and 20km long, due to our managing the unmanageable and getting lost on Czech hiking trails. I should explain. There is usually no map-reading necessary here, and definitely no compass work, for the maps are marked with either red, yellow, green or blue hiking trails which correspond to very clear and well-organised signs pointing down said trails in the woods, and splashes of each colour are also displayed with reassuring regularity on trees, houses and other landmarks along the trails. However, we started on a red trail, deviated to a blue, ended up on a yellow and surprised ourselves completely ('flipping heck!') by emerging onto a green. Ho hum. So having taken in a few incidental sights we made it to each castle in turn, admiring their beauty and jaw-dropping views across Cesky Raj. A highlight was the 'rock town' of Hruba Skala - absolutely beautiful gully carved naturally between rock faces inside the forest - but this was slightly marred by a sudden downpour and the unfortunate incident of my dropping the camera and breaking it. Despite these happenings though, a very satisfyingly tiring day was had, and by 7pm we had repaired to the hotel restaurant for the most gigantic gastronomic guzzle-fest of carbohydrates and sugar that any hungry hiker could hope for.

On Sunday morning we awoke to a downpour that has by time of writing made itself resident in Prague and refuses to budge. So we hastened home to dry off and spent a leisurely afternoon chatting, chilling, listening to tunes and browsing warm, dry shopping centres. Other highlights of Paul's visit have mostly been the meals - Thai, Indian, Italian, Czech - and the swimming in which Paul spurred me on to swim a mile. I was so pleased with my effort that I saw it fit to celebrate with a curry. His visit has also enabled me to do some quality touristing - the Astronomical Clock, the Old Town Square at night, the fascinating and emotional Jewish Museum and cemetery. And quite a reasonable amount of eating overpriced ice cream.

There are many more adventures to be described, but it's far too late to start describing them now. I don't want to waste the restorative powers of today's Bank Holiday by going to bed far too late, especially as tomorrow night is my only night to myself for the foreseeable future because Thursday heralds a 3-day Duke of Edinburgh hike with school, then next week sees a trip to the UK and following that the arrival of the parents! So I shall close now, and try to think of some witty anecdotes for the next blog. And purchase a new camera so that I can keep the photos going.

Love to all reading this, and may I have many more wonderful visitors like those I have had the pleasure to receive so far. xx

A Tourist Weekend

Hello, blog fans! Long time no write,

I am very sorry about that. This will be a quick post too since I am yet again short of time. Here are a few photos from the weekend - all were taken from Charles Bridge. In the two night photos you can really see why Prague is often called 'the golden city'!

I was lucky enough to be graced with a visit from Anthony this weekend, who flew out on Thursday night to spend the weekend getting to know my new home town. I can safely say that he loved it! I introduced him to just about the right combination of International Food Festivals, drinks, beautiful riverside restaurants, impressive nighttime cityscapes, Euro-Rock clubs and sunny tourist walks, so I believe he went home happy.

We took in Charles Bridge (of course), the castle, Letna park and beer garden, Wenceslas Square, Old Town square, and many winding little streets which we found whilst getting lost in Stare Mesto. We found Grosetto Marina Italian restaurant with its beautiful riverside view; rested in Ebel Coffee House in the Old Town; and made it for Mojitos in the graffiti-adorned Blue Light bar. There is still much to do and so hopefully he'll be back for another visit soon.

More blog to follow later - hopefully a more interesting and finely-crafted entry - to include D of E tales, EISP International Week and plans for New Year.

'First week down...' type musings

Good evening! It's been a while since I've written, which is probably testament to the fact that I've been keeping busy and making the most of the time in which I'm not at work. We've had some mixed weather recently here in Prague- last week we witnessed a LOT of rain, but the weekend was largely beautiful! In fact, I have had various reports from England of rain, rain and more rain beating down the doors and windows, while at the same time I have been eating on restaurant terraces and swimming in open-air pools. But wait! The laugh will be on the other side of my face, once the snow sets in and all my friends back there DON'T have to wear thermals and a ski jacket to work. For now, however, I shall enjoy the advantages of living abroad!

In the photos above we have two shots of Slapy, a river/dam/lake/nature reserve (we spilt wine on the map, so couldn't quite make out which). On Sunday I joined Anuska, Rhian and Sarah for a day out of the City. We started at 11am with a trip to Tesco to stock up on all the good things in life - cheese, bread, olives, crisps, chocolate biscuits and of course Pinot. Astonishingly I refrained from the Pinot, since I fancied a 'healthy' day. Pah! the crisps soon made up for that. Anyway, we took the bus from Smichovske Nadrazi up to Stechovice and on to Slapy, in total around 40 mins' journey from Prague, and all for the princely sum of around 30kc. It was a lovely journey, with the sun shining into the bus, beautiful views all along the river and plenty of woods to make up for the fact that I am missing the New Forest a little! Once in Slapy it was down to Sarah to read the Czech map (pre wine-spillage) and get us to the beach by the riverside in Rabyne. This ended up being a one-and-a-half hour walk, which was enjoyable apart from the constant stream of very loud motorbikes passing us. We eventually made it to the little beach and commenced our picnic, joined by Jon (another work colleague) and his partner. All in all a very pleasant day of walking, eating, nature and conversation was had, and I am grateful to my 'new friends' for looking after me so well! (They had warned me, 'Sarah - our picnics are epic/intense/massive' - and they weren't wrong. Which is the way I like it.)

The other picture is from U Knihovna or similar, a nice Czech restaurant down in Stare Mesto, in which we Newbies celebrated having survived our first week of school. Friday evening was spent here in the company of Chris, Dave, Tara, Aileen, Lyn and Katie, the other 'new starters', plus another Katie from our rival school (!), and her boyfriend Neil who is currently visiting. I enjoyed a 'Kureci Hawaii', a chicken steak topped with ham, pineapple and cheese, complete with fries and garnish for just over £3. Recommended.

The night proceeded to become much longer, taking us to the Pirate Pub (arrrr! one for Phil Seaman there!), the Grossetto restaurant in a breathtaking location by the river and to which I shall henceforth be taking ALL my visitors for its 'wow' factor, then on to the very smoky Blue Light bar and yet further to Popo Cafe Petl, by which time it had somehow become shockingly late/early and so I made the executive decision to head home. I do believe that a good night was had by all, as they say.

INTERRUPTION - I am officially slightly silly. The oven timer just rang to signify dinner was ready, and I answered the front door. Hmmm, I'm not so sure that living alone is all that good for my sanity...

School continues to delight, with lots of very nice and slightly cheeky students. On Friday I had the pleasure of a day-hike with my Year 12 tutor group, and since then I feel I have struck up a slightly better rapport with some of them... but they still don't really talk much. A couple have signed up to D of E though, and we have our first camping weekend this Friday, so we shall see how that goes. Today my efforts were mostly taken up by the initial research for a German trip, much like the one we ran at Mountbatten. Things are looking good for that project, I am pleased to report - more news as we get it up and running.

Other than that, not much to add - life carries on just fine and the learning curve is nice and steep, which is what I had hoped for. D of E will take over most of this weekend, and arriving next Thursday is my first visitor! Better start cleaning the apartment...

Hoping all's going well for everyone reading this, thanks as ever for following, it's nice to know you're out there. I've had a few lovely phone/Skype conversations with some of you recently, which has reminded me how much I miss you all and what funny times we had last year! Keep in touch - it's always nice to hear a friendly voice and receive an update on what I'm missing. Rain, most probably.

Love to all x