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I have just relocated from Thetford to the Czech Republic, to a village roughly 5 miles from the centre of Prague. This means that I have the best of both worlds, peace and tranquility at home and one of Europe's most beautiful and exciting cities on my doorstep.
As I have only been here for two weeks, I can't make any profound observations about Czech culture or way of life, although I have been making short visits to Prague for the last 30 years.Visiting, even frequently, is a totally different experience from actually living in another country - shopping for food, using public transport, buying a left-hand drive car, etc. My satellite tv is being installed as I write this, but what I will actually view I 'm not sure about! Internet and internet phone are a life-saver - I can't recommend too highly software such as Skype or VoipBuster, which enable UK calls at very low cost - one Euro cent a minute to the UK.
Today the snow that fell on 26 December is melting - a pity, as it stayed so clean and white for so long. We had about 3 inches and the country was totally unaffected, normal life continued. It is very cold, day-time temperatures at times dropped to -4C but wrapped-up warmly, you don't feel the cold. It's essential to wear some sort of head covering, whether woolly hat, Gorbachev-style fur cap with earflaps, or elegant chapeau (I choose the former). More snow is on the way,I'm told.
From next Monday I shall be flying to the UK (Stansted) on business once a week for an overnight stay, thanks to EasyJet. It will be useful to be able to visit Tesco and Sainsburys to stock up on Columbian coffee, PG Tips etc. More news soon.
Mary P.
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