Prague Property

One of the things about my job is you get to know a little bit a loads of things.  For instance the phrase “medical tourism” - well I had not come across it before a few short weeks ago.  And the definition for you and me - simply going on holiday and combining that with medical treatment.

This as we know is becoming ever more popular. While it gets very expensive in Ireland for dental treatment – people have been travelling to Northern Ireland for a long time to get the expensive procedures. Well this has now expanded, and it seems like we have all become potential medical tourists.

Just book a holiday, catch a plane, lie on the beach and get your teeth done, or a face lift, or whatever you want – really.

But is it that simple? For most the answer appears to be yes, however, how do you arrange who to see? How do you know if they are any good? Who checks this for me?

Well now there are companies filling this need in the market. They act as a third party and arrange everything for you, giving you more security and peace of mind when it is needed. So you can have them book your dentist in Prague, or your laser eye surgery in India, or Poland or almost where-ever you want.

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Well not a very easy 24 hours, a bit more than that now.  I stopped smoking yesterday at 6pm, 28hrs ago.

It has not been easy, but it is not hard at the same time, kinda odd really.  Last night was okay, i ate myself out, the fridge is empty.  I hate this about stopping smoking - the eating everything in sight, the getting fat - and the thought of going through all this and not stopping drives me crazy.

There are so many areas of support when you decide to stop smoking, but really you still have to do it yourself - like everything in life.  There are loads of books on stopping smoking, many leaflets from government departments and from non-government bodies.  You can read it all…

But one day you just have to stop lighting that fucking tobacco and putting it up to your mouth.

And this support does help.

A little.

Many people have stopped smoking before, so it seems such a small thing.  In the life of one human stopping smoking is immense.  It is a major thing in their life.

I don’t want to be fat either though…

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Following on from my last post on cut price shopping I thought it only fair to list Aldi Stores also.  There are more of them in Dublin, and the same stands for them also.  For buying staples they are great - I am still not a fan of their veg - though many do disagree.

Here is the list of stores in Dublin.  Sorry could not get it much neater. for all other stores see their site here

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Oh I so wish I had an easy answer to the above - as I sit here typing with a cigarette in my hand.  because I work so much at home I have become used to smoking and typing at the same time - crazy.

I have been planning on stopping smoking for a while - my date for it is 16th Oct - why then?  Well every time I have stopped before i go a bit crazy - high levels of frustration and anger, and the one that suffers is Anna.  So she is on a plane on Thursday afternoon for a long weekend at home and I thought that this will make it easier on both of us.

I have been reading about smoking, mainly from the Irish cancer website, but as the time comes closer I get a bit scared of stopping, once again.

I hate to even start out on something if I think that I will fail…

I will of course keep this updated on my progress.

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When I lived in Vienna I shopped in Lidl - it was just one of the normal supermarkets, however since I have come back to Ireland I have not been in one and I had no idea if there were any nearby anywhere.

I shop in Tesco, it is local and handy, however our food bill has went from about €80 per week to €150 per week over the last 18 months - and therefore I decided it was time to find Lidl again.

So here you are - this is the only list of Lidl stores I could find in Dublin - if you know of any more please add them at the bottom.

	Unit 8/9, Coolock Retail Park, Malahide Road in Dublin Coolock/Dublin 17 Opening Times: Mon-Sat 8:00-21:00, Sun 12:30-19:00 North Road / St. Margaret’s Road in Dublin Finglas/Dublin 11 Opening Times: Mon-Sat 8:00-21:00, Sun 12:30-19:00 Racecourse Shopping Centre, Grange Road in Dublin Baldoyle/Dublin 13 Opening Times: Mon-Sat 8:00-21:00, Sun 12:30-19:00 Moore Street in Dublin 1/Dublin 1 Opening Times: Mon-Sat 8:00-22:00, Sun 12:30-19:00 Fonthill Retail Park in Dublin/Dublin Opening Times: Mon-Sat 8:12-21:00, Sun 12:30-19:00

I hope this helps you save some on your shopping bills as I feel that Tesco is just taking the proverbial P*** right now with their pricing.  I travel back and forward to the UK and the prices in Ireland appear to be very expensive in comparison with the UK.

But then again so much in Dublin appears to be very expensive in comparison with anywhere else.

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I haven’t been writing here for a while, my eyes have been giving me some trouble for a while - since the start of July, as highlighted in previous posts.

Anyway my last complaint on this matter was I was having to wait six months to see a consultant - so I decided going private was the way to do it.  between that decision and seeing the consultant I had more problems that had me at the accident and emergency again.

So the up-shot of all this was an minor operation on both eyes last Wednesday.  My biggest regret about the operation was forgetting or not even thinking of taking a camera.  I so wish i had got a photo of them operating on my eyes.  I know what it felt like from the inside and would loved to have seen it from the out side.

My eyes were pinned back by some sort of springs and then alcohol was used to loosen part of the skin covering the cornea, then that film was scraped away with what looked like a scalpel from the inside.  And that was one of the most bizarre parts of the whole thing, I had local anaesthetic and therefore I had no choice but to watch everything that was going on - so weird.

They warned me that it was going to be very painful for a couple of days afterwards.  they were not kidding - and I think that a  post on pain should be done soon.  But it passes - eventually.  It was sore.

And now, and for a few days, I am getting board.  I want to be back on my computer, however the eye sight is not quite back to normal - but hey it is getting there fast.  Really it is quite amazing how quickly the body heals itself.

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Being a pilgrim is commonly known as someone who travels to a foreign land to visit somewhere of religious or historic importance. It is also believed that a pilgrim is someone that travels a considerable distance in carrying out this objective.

I alway had problems seeing myself as a pilgrim. I am not and was not when walking the Camino religious. I was not brought up attending any church, and when I first walked the Camino I was a student at Ireland’s catholic university - which had me fighting against the church at that time.

Howver aftr walking the Camino the last time I felt a bit more like a pilgrim. I had walked from Roncesvalles to Santiago de Compostela. During that walk I carried all my own things for just over four weeks. I became ill, and once I had to be treated in hospital, and for my own private reason it was very important for me to finish - I continued, doctors gave me painkillers in order for me to finish.

So I guess for me being a pilgrim is a state of mind. If I felt like I was on holiday on the Camino I don’t think I would have felt like a pilgrim. I had a task to do, walk to Santiago, and I was quite focused on that task - while at the same time I believed a result of this pilgrimage is that something about me would change - most likely in my mind.

Many people I spoke to on the Camino where looking for answers to their current problems in life, or a way how to make a decision at their current cross road. I don’t know if it does help in that way, however it does give a time out and show that life can go on while those problems still exist.

This is where I slept for the first time on the Camino Frances. Orisson is only about 8km to 10km from St Jean, but on my first day it felt a lot longer.

Problem 1. I was quite unfit and a bit over-weight
Problem 2. I did not sleep well the night before, as I had traveled on the train overnight from Paris.
Problem 3. My rucksack weighted 14kg - crazy man…

Problem 3 is what causes the most problems for pilgrims on the Camino. It is difficult to pack lightly, but that will be another full post at a later date.

It had been a long time since I had slept in a room with anyone else, never mind someone that I did not know. I found on that first night I had no problems sleeping, I was so physically tired that I dropped off quickly. However that brings to mind the times the ear plugs are required, and I have just made a note of that for another full post.

Orisson is a great place to stay for the night. It now costs €30 for the night - this is their website. The price includes a great evening meal and breakfast. The night I stayed there, there was about six different nationalities around the table, with many different languages been spoken - I only speak English to my dismay sometimes. But most people speak some English - way better than my French, German, Czech, or Spanish for that matter.

I woke the next morning at about 6am - disgusted by the noise people were making getting ready to start walking. This was the norm on the Camino and my disgust lessened as time wore on.

I took my morning coffee out onto the terrace that you can see on the right of the photo. There was no noise, it was sunny, and I looked down on wispy clouds in the valleys below, if there was a God he had been here. It is the way to do morning.

I walked. And Walked. Up hill. Then Down.

Ah, the Camino is hard on the body in the beginning.

But it gets better.

It is that time of year again. I am already starting to get questions about Prague during Christmas and New Year. The question most asked “is Prague crowded at Christmas?”

Yes and no.

Prague is not as crowded as it is during the summer, but in the main areas around the Old Town Square where there are Christmas markets it can be very busy during the day, however it is not so busy in the morning or after about 3pm.  But, even still, it is worth going to Old Town Square - the smells of chestnuts roasting on open grills and mulled wine being sold from stalls is wonderful.

There are two cities I love at Christmas that is Prague and Vienna - both are quite close and very similar in the way Christmas is celebrated and the smells around the cities are delightful, romantic, and very old worldly.

If you are lucky you will have snow, if you are unlucky you won’t have snow but the temperatures will be -10 or so.  It is one thing to bear in mind - the cold can be difficult, if you are coming from the UK it is hard to understand how cold it can get.  But it is not always cold, the last two Christmases have been very mild and three years ago it was very cold.

There are loads of Hotels around Prague, I have recommended the Axa Hotel to friends and they have stayed there and liked it.  It is middle of the road, but clean, friendly, the rooms are of a good size, it has cable TV, and it has a large swimming pool in the basement - the pool is open to the public also - but very importantly it is close (5 minutes walk) to the old town.

One thing to bear in mind is the flights - if you plan on going, book your flights early as they can get expensive nearer the time.