When I looked out of the window this morning, I gasped. There was snow, and a decent amount of it! True, it was freezing last night and the weather forecasters did predict the possibility of snow showers for the whole country, even in low elevations, even in Prague. But this is very early in the year and I didn’t believe we’d actually see snow before St. Martin. Last year, Prague had its first snow on November 19, which is more like it. Let me tell you, going from short-sleeve weather and 20°C (68°F) to snow and 0°C (32°C) in a matter of a week is not pretty.
An Unseasonably Warm October
October has been wonderful this year. We’ve had a lot of sun and blue skies and very little rain. It has also been much warmer overall than you would expect at this time of year. You still see people walking around in short sleeves. Just two days ago, a 165-year old temperature record was broken in Prague where the temperature was measured at 20.6°C (69°F).
Prague parks and nature reserves are especially beautiful now when the fall colors are at their best. We went on a hike to Divoká Šárka yesterday and the scenery around the Džbán reservoir was stunning.
A noticeable drop in temperatures is forecasted starting tomorrow.
From Tesco with Love
I can’t help but point out another one of Kamal’s articles that we published on My Czech Republic this week. This one describes Kamal’s recent experience with the customer disservice – as I like to call the type of “service” that is still too easy to run into in the Czech Republic – at a Prague Tesco. Lo and behold, Kamal received a bouquet of flowers from Tesco the next day, with an apology and a dinner invitation. She sent it back with a note that said: “Prove that you have sent every single customer the same things.” Good job, girl!
The Dalai Lama Visited
The Dalai Lama paid his sixth visit to Prague, this time on the occasion of the 70th birthday of former Czech Republic president Václav Havel.
Our friend Kamal attended the Dalai Lama’s speech at the Žofín Palace and wrote an interesting article about it. Among other things, she points out the general Czech population’s lack of understanding of the world’s religions as it became apparent at the event. That of course may have to do with the fact that almost 60% of Czechs consider themselves atheist or agnostic, which in itself is fine. What is embarassing and alarming are the survey results that Kamal included. Should not believing be an acceptable excuse for not knowing?