Where In The World Wednesday: Prague

Would you believe it, it's time for Where In The World Wednesday again, hosted by the fabulous Classy in Philadelphia. Why don't you take part too? All you have to do is post a picture (or many like I do!) of someplace in the world. Don't forget to use the WITWW button in your post, and to visit Classy in Philadelphia later to post a comment on her WITWW, so that other participants can visit your blog too.

Today, I'm taking you to Prague....capital city of the Czech Republic, and nicknamed Stověžatá Praha ("City of a Hundred Spires"). At the end of March last year, B and I spent a freezing cold weekend exploring this fascinating city....B was pretty ill with a bad bout of 'man flu' but soldiered on regardless.

Our first port of call is the Old Town Square, home of the famous Astronomical Clock (that you can read more about here) and dominated by the Church of Our Lady before Týn (Kostel Matky Boží před Týnem) dating from the 14th century.

Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí)

Astronomical Clock

Old Town Square with Astronomical Clock Tower

Old Town Square by night

Winding our way through the old streets towards the Vltava River, we cross Charles Bridge to reach Malá Strana (Lesser Quarter).....

Cafe culture

Bridge Tower, Old Town side

View from the top of the Bridge Tower

View from the top of the Bridge Tower

Organ grinder on Charles Bridge

Watch Tower, Malá Strana side

Malá Strana

Then we walk up towards Prague Castle....

Street art (once parking metres)

Prague Castle seen from the banks of Vltava River

View from Prague Castle

This is just a selection of my photographs from the amazing city of Prague, and I would throughly recommend a trip there if you ever get the chance. Everywhere you turn there is something else that catches your eye, like this statue, which I called "Death"....

And this manhole cover....

Click on any phtotographs to view larger versions, click back to return to blog 

Who, Me?

I am very suprised and flattered to have been awarded the all-new, original Shutter Bug Award by the brilliant writer, photographer and all round blogger extraordinaire, Pat Tillett. If you're not already reading his blog, you really should be as he has led an amazing life and has many fascinating stories to tell and great pictures to share....plus he is a very supportive blogger buddy.

Thanks, Pat!

patricktillett.blogspot.com

A very warm welcome to my new followers and a big thank you to all my early, faithful ones for staying onboard :-)

Where In The World Wednesday: Brussels

The lovely Classy in Philadelphia is back from her Caribbean cruise and hosting her 'Where In The World' feature today. If you'd like to take part too, all you have to do is post a picture (or many like I do!) of someplace in the world. Don't forget to use the WITWW button in your post, and to visit Classy in Philadelphia later to post a comment on her WITWW, so that other participants can visit your blog too.

Today I'm in Brussels, capital of Belgium and the EU.... and not the place to be if you're on a diet! Temptation is everywhere....Belgian chocolates, Belgian waffles and Belgian beer.

Belgian chocolate waffles

A great place for a long weekend... just a short train trip from London onboard the Eurostar and if you go after the European Parliament breaks up for the summer holidays (at the end of July), there are fantastic deals to be found on luxury hotels.

Here are a few of my photos of the city...click on any to enlarge, hit back to return to my blog (click on the links to read more)....

Brussels Town Hall on Grand Place

The Maison du Roi (King's House) on Grand Place

Manneken Pis

I loved these shop shutters!

'Tintin' created by Hergé , scene painted on building

The Atomium in Heysel Park

Move Your Feet!

Two months today, I'll be taking part in the 10 km (6.2 miles) Cancer Research Race For Life.

Then in September, I'll be walking a half marathon (21 km/13 miles) to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Time to get moving!

A Day In The Life Of Nat

6.30am: Alarm goes off...curse and question WTF I'm waking up earlier than a week day on a Saturday (?!)

6.47am: Finally drag sorry ass out of bed and into shower

7.10am: Shovel breakfast cereal while watching TV news...learn about horrific plane crash in India, apparently few survivors (poor souls!)

7.36am: Start driving to parents' house, wonder at misty morning and question summery choice of clothing (weather forecast said sunny and 26 degC)

8.15am: Almost have accident with white van driver (WVD) on motorway

8.45am: Almost have second accident with second WVD

9.15am: Almost have third accident with man in blue van (obviously another graduate of the WVD school of driving)

9.27am: Arrive at parents in time for coffee and second breakfast (toast)

10.00am: Start helping B mow lawn, trim hedges and rake and sweep cut foliage

12.30pm: Finish up gardening, sit down to lunch (chicken kiev and roast veg followed by raspberries and ice cream)

1.45pm: Set out for shopping mall with mom

5.15pm: Arrive back at parents' home with new pjs for me, cardigan for mom, two shirts for B and shirt for dad for Father's Day.

6.30pm: Start driving home. No WVD in sight....

8.30pm: Arrive home, start watering and sorting out wilted garden (it has been a real scorcher of a day after all)

9.15pm: Finish sweeping and tidying garden (thank goodness for long summer evenings, still light enough to see outside)

9.30pm: Start whip-around clean of house (high speed hoover, flick of duster and express bathroom freshen-up) in anticipation of lunch guests tomorrow

10.05pm: Give up on the housework, whip together omelettes for quick supper

10.30pm: Log onto google reader, quick catch up on today's posts

11.00pm: Start writing up this drivel

11.05pm: Publish and log off....

[11.07pm: Collapse in an exhausted heap]

Global Citizen.....Or Nationless?

“What do you think of the new government? Personally, I’d rather have seen the Icelandic Volcano Party in power.... it’s done more to stop immigration than Labour managed in the last 13 years!”

This was relayed to me last night by the owner of our local Indian takeaway...an anti-immigration joke told by one immigrant to another - he the son of Bangladeshi immigrants, me born elsewhere and to parents who were themselves both immigrants to that country. I’m not too sure the jolly Tandoori owner saw the irony.

Immigration is a highly contentious issue in the UK, and one that can sometimes make me feel a bit uncomfortable. Do those born and bred here look at me as “one of them, coming over here and stealing our jobs!”? Not that I am perceived as a typical “immigrant”... for one thing, with my father being British born, I have always held UK citizenship. Years ago I forfeited the citizenship of my birthplace...dual nationality is forbidden in Zimbabwe, and since the late 1990s, anyone born to parents who themselves were not born in that country is deemed a foreign national unless they renounce their parents’ ancestry.

I’ve now lived exactly half of my life in a country that is not the one of my birth....the past nine years in the UK, and the previous nine as a student in South Africa. There, I had to abide by the Aliens Control Act, allowed temporary residence provided that I paid my repatriation deposit (a lump sum of money to cover the costs of deportation if I misbehaved and had to be hoofed back over the border). I also had to promise not to seek employment in South Africa when I finished my studies.

And so I left Cape Town a week after graduation, and came to live in the UK. I arrived with no standing on ceremony, no pomp or circumstance, no “Britishness test” or citizenship ceremony to swear allegiance to Her Majesty and sing the national anthem....B went through all that three years’ ago, with me present as his guest. I simply landed at Heathrow late one night, joined the EU Citizens passport control queue and started living my new life....one that has been good so far. I am close to my family, I’m building a fulfilling career, I've made new friends and have many older ones that are living over here too, we've bought our own hovel house and travelled a fair bit.

I’ll never forget my background....I’ll always be told that I have “a slight accent” of indeterminable southern African origin, but I don’t exactly know how to classify myself..... just “British”, “British, originally from Zimbabwe” or “Zimbabwean now living in the UK”...and does it even matter? Perhaps I’ll be an “International Woman of Mystery”...

One Would Probably Not Approve

Mascot Or Monster?

Meet Mandeville and Wenlock....the official mascots for the London 2012 Paralympic and Olympic Games, respectively, that you can see in action over HERE.

Some say they look like Sonic the Hedgehog interbred with Mike, the one-eyed monster from Disney's 'Monster Inc'.....but love 'em or loathe 'em, these creatures (supposedly fashioned from droplets of steel used to build the stadium) are going to be all over Britain for the next couple of years.

Maybe they'll grow on me.....call me an old fart, but I hated the 2012 logo when it first come out in all it's eyeball-aching, technicolour forms. Nowadays, I've learnt to live with it.

What do you think?

Pictures found on the BBC website.