Birthday Demolition

It's my birthday, the sun is shining and there's decent coffee in my cup. This morning at five o'clock the birds twittered their excited announcement that for them spring has finally sprung and a short while later the good people of Olomouc arose to head off to work a little closer to summer and their holidays. The only fly in the ointment is that the owner of the Dolce Vita coffee shop that I use as an internet café seems to be addicted to Kenny G. All addictions are, by their nature, irrational.

So, as a short post to celebrate/commemorate 46 years since I first squealed into existance, I'd better give a short resumé as to the current circumstances of this birthday baby and what's going on.

Having lived merrily in Hong Kong for the past 15 years, for all sorts of reasons we made our decisions not to continue with employment in the Pearl of the Orient and began arranging a move elsewhere. It's notoriously difficult for British expats to adjust to life back in Blighty and, having endured BBC's The One Show online, we decided that life in the UK just wouldn't be right for us. Or perhaps it was the other way round.

Our current residence in Olomouc came about as a result of the Memsahib's position at Palacký University, a wonderful ancient institution that seeks young go-getters who wish to further their academic excellence within it's august walls. The monetary rewards for such, however, are paltry if not risible. Although living costs in the Czech Republic are comparatively low, to have also paid a rent for accommodation would have meant being thoroughly financially hamstrung. We therefore decided to buy.

The 1910 apartment property we purchased is located beneath the hallowed Saint Wenceslas Cathedral beside a curve in the little river next to the site of the old castle. It is also 2 minutes amble to and from the Mem's work. With old properties, of course, come old problems and the savings knocked off the purchase price have now been swallowed up in a thoroughly modern conversion comprising a new koupelna (bathroom) and kuchyně (kitchen) – they just don't evolve out of the woodwork without some of that precious Czech koruna being thrown about. Thus it was that yesterday we both took a sweat-inducing gulp and coughed up hundreds of thousand of them to our contractor with an extraordinarily powerful handshake, Mr K.

Mr K, not one for wasting any time, decided that today was a good day to begin the work. Thus this morning, our having only just consumed breakfast and completed ablutions, his chaps arrived and quickly removed kitchen units, sink, the bath, tiles and even the walls – all of it! The floor comes up next...

Quite how we're going to get on without these soft modern conveniences remains to be seen. Pictures and commentary will, of course, follow blog-like, but it feels a little like another eagerly anticipated birth, 46 years on. When the apartment is complete it will be easier to work, live, host and entertain there.