Monthly Archives: October 2021

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Halloween

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At the Botanical Gardens
Enjoying the warm sunshine and a glass of wine at the vineyard in the Botanical Gardens

Last weekend I spent a day at the Botanical Gardens with my new friend, and fellow-teacher, Sybil. Coincidentally, Sybil is from South Carolina so we automatically have a lot in common! The weather has just been spectacular here in Prague for weeks, so I have taken every advantage of it by spending most of my free time in the outdoors. I have heeded the warnings of everyone that when November comes, it will be cloudy and cold most days. But this particular Sunday could not have been more perfect! See for yourself.

  • Sybil gets credit for this gorgeous tree shot

Tonight Sybil and I are going to do Halloween right- we are going on a ghost tour of Old Town including the old Jewish ghetto and cemetery. The cemetery dates back to the first half of the 15th century. Approximately 12,000 tombstones have been counted here, but about 100,000 people are buried here! I will share more about the old Jewish ghetto of Prague in a later post. I can’t think of a better place to see a ghost, can you?!

Happy Halloween from Prague

Autumn Comes to Karlín

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Outside my building on Křižiková Street
Flower shops abound in Prague and they entice you in with all of their colorful plants and arrangements. Here’s one I bought for my kitchen table

And now for an update on my long term Visa…. As I mentioned in my last post, the Czech government requires foreigners to interview for their Visa at a Czech Embassy outside of the country. Because there is a backlog of people applying for Visas post Covid restrictions, and because several Czech embassies in European cities have stopped doing this work altogether, it is difficult to get an appointment. My appointment is on November 4th in Warsaw, Poland, a “mere” 12 hour train ride. I am considering flying there. In any event, I’ll have to overnight the night before as my interview is at 10:00 a.m. If you’re thinking that these requirements are daunting, you are correct. They are designed to “thin the herd.”

Getting ready for Halloween

A Visit to the American Embassy

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In September I made a visit to the American Embassy to collect one of the many documents necessary for my Živnostensky Visa- or long-term visa based on a trade license. This type of Visa is used by English teachers, IT specialists, or artists who usually work as freelancers. At the US Embassy, I signed a document swearing that I had committed no crimes in the US or the Czech Republic and paid $50 cash for a notarized piece of paper that served as my required criminal background check!

If only, everything was that easy! The Czech government has made the process so difficult in recent years that you need to hire a Visa Service to navigate for you. Besides a long list of other documents, you must have a notarized business address. My visa guru, Dave at Visa Force, is able to get a “virtual address” for you for a mere 1000 Czech crowns. You pay the money and don’t ask questions.

At present, I have my Trade License, and am awaiting an appointment at a Czech Embassy- one, outside the country. Yes, you read that correctly. Applicants must leave the Czech Republic and go to a Czech Embassy outside the country for their interview. I’m hoping Dave can get me one in Berlin, if not, then Vienna. It’s not likely that it will happen until late November, maybe December. My 90 day tourist visa ends October 31st.

Visa approval can take up to 12 weeks, so it’s possible that I will be living here 6 months before I have my Živno and am living here legally. Is it worth it you might ask? It’s true that the Czechs are known for their love of bureaucracy (even before Communism) and it is designed to discourage those who might consider living here as a passing fling. But I am determined to make it happen. I want the full of experience of getting to know this city and its people. To live and work here like a native.

It was a gorgeous day when I went to the US Embassy and I snapped this picture on my way there. I don’t know what the buildings are, but this is your typical view around almost every corner. And that’s worth a lot.