Feeling poorly in Prague...

Old town square Prague, with Astrological clock on left.

Estates Theatre where Mozart conducted the first performance of Don Giovanni.

Part of the castle

Lennon's wall

Seriously good Jazz buskers 

winter berries

astrological clock

beautiful buildings

Colin, the Scottish tour guide is telling a joke, but I can’t even muster a half hearted chuckle. I feel cold and miserable and a bit sorry for myself.

I last another 5 minutes, but I’m shivering and feeling nauseous and dizzy, so I watch the rest of the tour group walk towards Wenceslas Square, the centre of the New Town, where Czech history was written, and where in 1969, student Jan Palach set himself on fire to protest the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968, and then turn and walk slowly back to my apartment at Krosna 6. 

It just sucks being sick, especially in such a beautiful city with so much to do, but as I let myself in to my comfortable, warm one bedroom apartment right in the old centre of Prague I feel pretty grateful that in nine months of travelling, this is the first time I have felt so unwell and it couldn’t have happened in a nicer, more comfortable place.

I have stopped at a supermarket and bought some supplies; bottled water, lemons, honey, and herbal tea, and I have medicine from the pharmacy and stock cubes and tiny noodles. It’s not quite chicken soup, but it will have to do.

Luckily before I got sick, my friend Zuzana and I had already spent the evening together, walking through the city, having dinner and laughing like two teenagers. It was great fun catching up with this gorgeous young single mum who was a neighbour when I lived at Floral Villa in Hong Kong. Then, she was newly married to a young Italian man who worked for Armani. Now she is working two jobs and trying to give her son a good future on her own, his father all but a stranger in his life. Fluent in four languages and with an infectious, humorous energy and keen mind, I admire her passion and vitality and am sure she will achieve what she wants and more.

I spend the next two days in a bit of a fog, hardly leaving the apartment, grateful when I can stand up without wobbling or feeling sick, my only entertainment is watching movies dubbed in Czech and reading a Swedish thriller.

Today I feel a bit better and finally venture out, initially for a short walk and then tonight to a candle light concert in a beautiful Baroque Hall. Three violinists, a double bass player and a soprano present the best of classic and opera, with music from Brahms, Dvorak, Verdi, Mozart, Corelli, Vivaldi, Handel, Bizet and Mascagni. The concert ends with some Christmas carols and afterwards I walk through the old town square, full of people enjoying the markets and Christmas decorations.

I look around at happy faces, see the Christmas lights, smell the roasted chestnuts and meat, spices from the mulled wine and sweet pastries and breads and hear the music and voices of people relaxing and having fun.

It is exactly as I imagined it would be, and I am grateful to be experiencing just a little of this Prague “Christmas spirit”.

Whatever Christmas means to you and however you celebrate it, I wish you joy and tranquillity and love.

Thanks for keeping me company.

Merry Christmas

Mon x

Some things to do in the City of 100 spires.

Take a free 3 hour walking tour with www.neweuropetours.eu

Walk over the Charles Bridge (Karluv most) named after King Charles 1V  that crosses the Vlatava River and was constructed in the 14^th Century.

Visit the Prague Castle, known as “the castle of all castles”. It is the largest coherent castle complex in the world with an area of almost 70,000 metres.

Check out the world famous astronomical clock. Its oldest part dates back to1410. Watch the 12 Apostles who pop out every hour.

Visit St Nicholas’ Church, a beautiful Baroque building. During Communist times its tower was used as an observation point by the Secret Service.

Take a walk to Lennon’s Wall.

Visit Josefov, the Jewish quarter with its ancient Synagogue.

Visit a Jazz Club like Jazz and Praha on Zelezna 16 www.agharta.cz

Visit Estates Theatre in the old town where Mozart personally conducted the first performance in 1787 Don Giovanni the opera he composed for Prague.

Buy some beautiful Bohemian crystal.

For tours in and around Prague check www.citytours.cz

You can visit Terezin, a notorious concentration camp, Glass factories a pilsner brewery or Cesky krumlov, a UNESCO listed city in southern Bohemia.