And So It Begins...

Greetings from the other side of the mirror. The deed is done and Gina and I now live in Prague. We have the Czech mobile phones and the washing machine on order to prove it. My fridge contains sausages and beer. I keep getting lost in the flat. It is bloody cold outside but the central heating works well. And so 2006 ends with a different life from the one that it began with. All change.

The journey took two days as planned, although one day of that comprised of loading and unloading the van. The London flat was on the fifth floor of a block without a lift, and without the help of three of my former work colleagues and the brief assistance of a member of the House of Lords we would have been stuffed. Never underestimate the use of chemists, teachers, and Peers when it comes to loading a van. Slowly but surely our possessions snaked their way down, almost killing our helpers in the process. Our thanks to them are deep and long lasting.

We left London at three in the afternoon, and by seven (local time) we were Frog-side of the water. Overnight was in Köln, in one of those Ibis hotels that looms up out of the darkness at just the right moment. It was hardly sampling the local flavour but there is a time for doing the whole authentic travel thing, and knocking on midnight part way through a pan-European removal job is not it. However they did serve locally brewed beer that I eagerly threw down my neck with whatever strength I had left.

The morning brought rain, and the immense relief that the van was exactly where we had parked it the night before. It was not fitted with a wheel clamp, the contents were still there, and there wasn't a family of Borats sleeping in the back under the mistaken impression that we were heading back to the UK. It was time to roll out onto the Autobahn and go east.

I'd forgotten what snow was like. I don't mean the dribs and drabs that fall in Britain; insignificant dribbles that quite amusingly bring London to a total standstill. I mean real snow. The sort of snow that settles thick and deep after a couple of minutes. The sort of snow that just keeps on coming. From the second half of Germany until we hit the outskirts of Prague it kept on falling. Speed dropped to a steady 40 mph in order not to die. Straight lines were fine but deviating from the true induced an alarming wiggle akin to a curvy woman walking upstairs. Following gritting vans made it easier than it could have been, but sometimes it was hard to tell which lane had actually been cleared. Trucks whistled by at alarming speed, seemingly confident of their ability to stay on the road.

At last we hit Prague. Then we got lost. Then we found our way. Then we collected the flat keys that had been deposited at the reception of a nearby hotel (Ibis again!). Then we couldn't work out how to undo the locks. It was still snowing. Between the three of us we got the locks figured out, and somehow we got the stuff up two flights of stairs. It was absolute Hell, and only adrenalin and anger kept me going. I am still aching now.

Finally, at midnight, everything was up into the flat. A local pub, themed around the TV show M*A*S*H, was still open so we could still get something to eat. When I say "eat" I suppose I mean "drink". When I say "drink" I suppose I mean "beer".

At this point very public thanks must go to Andy. A good friend of mine for the last decade and our driver for the trip, he did a great job of keeping us on the road. He is also a world authority on the Mellotron, the greatest of all keyboards. When I revamp the layout of this blog I will include a link to his Planet Mellotron, but until then it is here.

And so here I am, typing away while swigging a Kozel from the bottle and puffing on a Petra menthol. The Geese & The Ghost is on the stereo and Gina is arranging the book cases. There is still much to do but we are getting there piece by piece. Premature New Year firecrackers are going off outside. Night is falling here, and with it the last light of the year dies away. Tomorrow is another day, but it is much more than that. So much more. Happy New Year folks. Have a good one. Make it one to remember.

TE
Prague
31/12/06