We've been spending the past few weeks going at a snail's pace – this seems to be advisable in the Czech Republic. It's not that the Czechs themselves are slow, far from it. Their approach to business matters, professional service and prompt delivery are as good as anywhere else. No, it's not they who are slow, but us. There is a good reason for this: we have needed time to unwind from Hong Kong. Although we both loved living there, it was a madly frenetic place – even in the Sai Kung Country Park. Stepping away from work and wages, money worries and the commonly held status envy has been as a load lifted and in more ways than we imagined.
I always grumbled that I didn't have enough energy to devote to artistic endeavors, particularly to writing, and the Memsahib felt the need to get away from the Hong Kong academic milieu (or at least the chauvinistic direction in which it appears to be heading). Setting up here, then, should have been a relief and a chance to get busy again. For me the near-opposite has been the case.
It would be the most country of bumpkins that views Olomouc as an exciting and vibrant city. It is cute, picturesque even, but not a thrashing metropolis like Hong Kong. It has medium scale industry on the outskirts, nearby farm land surrounds in all directions and the city centre attracts those with regional financial, shopping and culinary needs (more –much more– on the latter in a later blog). It has wonderful trams that rumble heavily about the cobbled streets wobbling the coffee cups in the many establishments that sell the rich continental kava. Nothing happens on a Saturday or Sunday, unless church-going is high in your top 10 priorities. The rest of the week people shop, students sit about in the park and the town gears itself up for the coming summer touristy season, but Olomouc is and probably always will be a sleepy place.
All of this has meant our lifestyle has drastically changed – and that's been good and necessary. Despite eating lots and quaffing beers a-plenty, we've lost a bit of weight and are probably more chilled than we have been in quite a few years. We certainly have lots of time and have spent it going out to eateries, the odd bar or two and for walks with the dogs through city parks and along muddy riverbanks of the fast-flowing rivers. We've even been able to watch the spring slowly emerge for the first time in 15 years: our life here thus far has also been slow, sleepy and happy. The lovely university where the memsahib is at work does appear to be one of the busier places round these parts with corridors full of constantly chattering and energetic young studenty-types. My busy life, however, revolves around arranging renovation work on our new flat. Oh, and the odd bit of writing.
We've painted a few rooms, with mixed success. Unfortunately, the small steps we brought with us from Hong Kong where they were perfectly adequate for the lower ceilings there are in need of another 3-4 feet. So painting and decorating has taken much longer than it would elsewhere. At least, that's my excuse!
Whilst taking the paint off our bedroom ceiling (sanding/scraping/washing – 2 days and a serious crick in the neck later) I uncovered the Art Nouveau detailing. It appears the original ceiling decoration back in 1910 was a hand-rolled floral motif with wide dark blue border. We had chosen the exact same colour blue for the walls. Spooky! Had I not been taking so much time over this I would have completely missed the detail, something we are seriously thinking of incorporating in the finished room. But then you'll have to come over to stare up at it from the bed...
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