If you recall, in an early instalment, I complained bitterly about the amount of stuff that we had brought with us. You would have thought, reading my bleating about lifting the voluminous bags, that there was nothing that I had left behind. Well I discovered this morning the one thing that I left at home. It seems I have no toboggan. Today, I could have used it.

We awoke to snow this morning. Snow. About an inch of heavy, wet, white snow. The kind of thing that, if it fell in Toronto in January, it wouldn’t warrant a moment’s attention. Not enough to really stay on the ground. I tried to build a snowman and he ended up the size of a jam jar.

Winter here is, as you would expect, is not really cold. It’s just kind of chilly, wet, windy and a bit glum. Snow is a little known component of the overall milieu. But today had the proper winter feature of a nice coat of snow.

I found that as I walked the four minutes to the train station, I had a little spring in my step. The snow made it feel like it was truly winter. The nice clean coat of snow twinkled in the gathering light and also hid some of the dog poo on the pavements of West Hampstead.

The antipodeans at work were amazed by the snow. Coming from a warm climate, this was a new experience. They told stories of carefully picking their way over slushy sidewalks, not knowing how much traction would by afforded by this alien surface. Snow can be enjoyable especially if it’s new to you.

The Tube system, however did not enjoy the snow so much. It seems that snow is the kryptonite of any Tube signal. Every line was massively delayed due to “signal failures”. The Evening Standard, in its understated way, reported chaos and called for the heads of the transit system to fall on their knives.

By the time I got home this evening, it had, as you might expect, all melted. So please, spare me your offers of toboggans, shovels and snowshoes. It’s back to gray, cold and rainy. The real winter’s over.

PRAGUE PHOTO ESSAY

As there was so much to see in Prague and we shot so many pictures, herewith projectmarmite presents another photo essay. This is another sampling of the beautiful city.

The classics never go out of style.
This is an old CZ 175 single that
still gets daily use.

The photo above shows a monument

dedicated to victims of Communism.

Even the public transit in Prague is a little
different than other places. Below is one of the trams.
Above and to the right is the funicular railway that comes down the slope from the castle.













Some more examples of the variety of beautiful buildings that make up Prague's Old City area.

Prague is a city built into a hill. The streets and sidewalks are a maze of stairs. At the bottom of these steps, a local woman asks Jo for directions.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

In general, I avoid any New Year’s celebration. It’s only in the last few years that I’ve even been coaxed out for dinner with friends. It has long been this way and I’m quite happy with it, thank you very much. But, this is a new city, so new rules apply. As a pair of newly minted Londoners, what better away to celebrate than to go to the annual fireworks display.

We took the Tube to Waterloo station, on the south side of the Thames. The Tube is free on New Year’s and runs all night. Which is unlike Christmas, when there is no transit at all. There was a company that gave out stickers a few years ago for the Tube on New Years. You wrote the name of your stop on the sticker and put it on your coat. That way, if you passed out on the train, your fellow passengers could wake you at the right station.

We stood on Waterloo Bridge, looking at the London Eye. We could see Big Ben through the centre of the Eye and just off to the left of that Jo and I could see the spire of Westminster Abbey. The only way to be more cliché would be to watch from an old Routemaster bus.

After the fireworks we stopped halfway across the bridge and stood looking down the Thames. The river was filled with boats hosting parties and enjoying the fireworks display. We talked about the year that has passed, the good and bad things and how we are starting to feel settled here.

At the end of the year, a little reflection is in order. This has a been a year encompassing a lot of change. Christmas marks six months that we have been here in London and this has been a great time. It has been a lot of hard work, getting started here, but looking forward at the opportunity presented to us, it has been well worth it. Joanne and I are looking forward to the adventure that 2007 will bring.

Travelling home on London's Central Tube line.