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There was a flurry of snow this afternoon. It didn’t last long, and it mostly melted as soon as it hit the pavement, but it was enough to dust Náměstí Míru and the Advent Market.


I feel so sorry for the merchants in those drafty little stalls!

The snow resumed this evening, and has been going off and on for the past couple of hours.

Incidentally, for those of you who may be wondering, yes, I have been wearing my coat. And frequently my hat and gloves. Sometimes even a scarf ’round my throat.

Well, it’s not quite Advent, but the Advent Market at Náměstí Míru has already started:

The most popular stalls are the ones selling hot wine and sausages:

I’m not seeing a lot of buying going on; most people seem content just to look, at least for now.

The big Advent Market will be at Old Town Square, but that isn’t set up yet.

Most Prague districts are supplied with hot water from power stations and heating plants using centralized heat distribution. Unfortunately, maintenance is performed annually, which means residents must do without hot water for several days (typically 5 to 12) every year. Each district has its own schedule, so there isn’t a city-wide shortage of hot water, and most natives make do by heading for their gyms, instead.

This regularly scheduled maintenance, however, is apparently not the cause for the present absence of hot water in my flat, where we have been without hot water for very nearly a week now. I don’t know what the problem is: all I’ve heard from the landlord on the subject is "Damn technicians!".

I knew of course that things would be different outside the US; that was, in fact, part of the point of my leaving. But gosharoonie: I wasn’t expecting things to be this primitive!

Czech pedestrians are very complaisant when faced with traffic lights. They will stand patiently at the curb, waiting for the light to change, even when there’s no traffic in sight, even at midnight, even at 9 AM when they’re scurrying to work. (Well, actually, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a Czech scurry.)

Czech drivers, on the other hand, and most particularly cab drivers, appear to consider traffic lights to be strictly advisory. Which, come to think of it, may be why the pedestrians are so cautious.

So, now that I’m settling kinda sorta permanently (well for a year or so anyway) in Prague, I’ve taken a new apartment, a shared flat, in Vinohrady, near Náměstí Míru.

I continue to be fascinated by the colors and ornamentation of the buildings. The three buildings I can see from out my bedroom window:

And more buildings from a random walking tour around my neighborhood:

In a very different mood, there’s this, the Žižkov TV Tower:

The Church of the Sacred Heart is also kinda sorta in my neighborhood. It’s a relatively modern church, having been completed in 1932. One of its most noteworthy features is the transparent clock in the tower (which unfortunately you can’t see from the angle at which this picture was taken):