I know, I know...

I know, I go on about this ZZ guy but, hey, the season's over and the weather's shit so it doesn't hurt to revisit the past a little bit. Plus, this video's got stuff in it I haven't seen before, along, of course, with all the usual "roulette" footage but even then, the montage makes it look a little bit fresher. For example, check out the quick edits from the 2:02 mark, it becomes mesmerizing...

A bit of news...

Well, things have changed a bit around here in the last few weeks. You could say that my life has changed throughout two fairly important events.

Firstly, I've got a new job again. This one marks a bit of a momentous occasion: I have joined the Dark Side, I am officially "scum", I am a blood-sucker, blah blah, etc. In other words, I am now an IT contractor. That was my original goal when I'd moved to the UK but things had turned out differently. Never too late to start making some real dough, though...

Secondly, and this one's a bit of a more radical change: I've moved in with Lora. (*snigger* *snigger* Shush! at the back! I can see you!) We'd been planning that for a while but things didn't quite go according to plan. Lora was going to sell her flat and buy a bigger one, in which I was to move in with her. We'd found a nice flat in East Dulwich, and it was all going forward, leading me to give my notice to my landlord. A bit optimistically, as it turned out...

After a few months of complicated proceedings, through which I learnt more about British real estate laws than I ever wanted to know (leaseholds?!? Whoever thought of these stupid things?!?), both the sale and purchase fell through. So, we're now back at square one, with the difference that I've had to vacate my room and move into Lora's existing one-bedroom flat in Greenwich.

It's a very nice and lovely flat, mind you, and in a pretty good location so things aren't exactly bad, if only a little "cosy" at times. It's been about 6 days now and we haven't killed each other yet so we're doing good so far ;-)

Prague!

Well, if anyone's still reading this blog, I should probably apologise for the lack of updates. I'm seriously considering stopping it altogether, since I can't be bothered keeping this up to date. Maybe I'll keep this blog up just to document my doings for my own purposes, instead, to give me some sort of insight into what my life was like at this point, when I look back upon these entries a few years down the line :-)

Anyway, off to an update. Lora and I went to Prague for the Easter long weekend. This was my first time in Eastern Europe, behind the old Iron Curtain, so I was quite keen to discover whatever remnants of not only communism but also of the Holy Roman Empire.

It was at first a bit of a disappointment when we got there, as one of my first sights in the airport was a KFC! Westernization is well and truly under way in the Czech Republic, and the huge number of tourists in the city is certainly driving this phenomenon forward.

However, there are still plenty of things to enjoy in the old city, and I was fascinated to be walking through arches, bridges and buildings going back to the 14th century, following the same path which emperors and kings trodded upon back in the glorious days of the Holy Roman Empire.

Compared to other European cities which have moved on with the times, like Paris and London, the old center of Prague still retains many attributes of centuries past, making it easy for one to step back in time. That's not necessarily true, however, for areas outside of the centre, where buildings and roads look much more like one would imagine when thinking of communist states.

Our culinary experiences were surprinsingly diverse, with many influences now making their way into Czech restaurants. At the end of the day, though, Czech cuisine is still based around the likes of Goulash and dumplings, which makes it very tasty but hard to recommend to people looking after their cholesterol ;-) Interestingly, french culture seems quite preponderant, with many cafes and restaurants looking like they were set in the Paris of the 1930's. Not quite sure why.

Overall, a great experience, and more magic memories to add to our collection. Go and see the photos here.