Living in a city vs Living in a small town

A dear friend of mine gave me an idea for this blog post earlier this week. I was walking to the station from work, rushing to get there as soon as possible knowing if I was 5 mins late, the train would be even more packed. I mentioned it in my text (yes, I was texting while power walking to the station) and he said he had just come back from a paddling session at the lake in the sun and was basically just chilling at home. I, on the other hand, was in a crowd of people that were all doing the same thing as me. Trying to get to the station as soon as possible with a promise of perhaps one empty seat on the train to make their journey home a bit more comfortable. I started to think what this rush was for and how different living in a city is to living a small town. 
I cannot really compare it to living in the countryside because I only ever lived either in a small town or a city.
Semily, where I grew up is the small town I know the best and I loved the sense of community and safety. Also freedom! We used to run around after school and only went home in the evening when we got hungry. Nobody knew where we were! Some of our activities were not the safest I must admit (think walking through a train tunnel)but mostly we were just riding around on our bikes, being in the forest building little 'houses' and playing games. This is also very different culturally, I don't think English children do this anywhere! It was safe though, nothing ever happened, apart from a few bruised knees.
When I got older and started going out there were two main places to go to - the Bowling bar and the 'Club'. You could go out on your own and you would always meet someone you knew so it was easy! Summer holiday Club Wednesdays will forever stay in my memories! We had so much fun and I am grateful for my teenage years spent away from the bad stuff kids can come across in the cities.
I moved to Prague when I was 19 as I was studying university there. I had never liked Prague before, I'd thought it was too big, scary and impersonal.
I lived there for 4 years and then left for London. Well, obviously London is slightly bigger than Prague!! For some reason though it did not feel as scary in the beginning. 
I do get a bit worried these days when I come home late at night and never really walk on my own in the darkness any more. You just never know. It is a bit sad that this has also made me feel scared when I am back home in Semily.
What I do love about the city life is that there is always something to do, shops are always open and it feels like you can do anything you'd like. I do miss the sense of community though, I know so many people in my home town and London can feel very lonely. I have made friends after 9 years but in the beginning it was a bit tough. 
I do prefer the small town atmosphere, it makes me think it's more 'family' like, nobody keeps rushing to the tube to get a seat on the train, supermarkets are not overcrowded every single weekend and times just slows down. 
I don't think I could live in the countryside right now, I feel I got used to the buzz of the city but it does wear you out and sucks out your energy. I have also found to be more aggressive after nearly a decade in London. It does that to you. 
I am hoping this year we will find a compromise and a middle ground of moving slightly out of London (I am hoping to a little town) so we get the best of both. 
What do you prefer? Small town or city life?

Places of my heart

Living in a big city often makes me crave green spaces and nature. I have a few favorite places in the world and I thought I'd share them with you.
I will start with the place where I spent my childhood and teenage years. It is still the place where I lived for the longest time in my life, solid 19 years!

Semily,Czech Republic - it is a little town of 10,000 inhabitants that lies in the northern part of the Czech Republic in between Bohemian Paradise (Cesky raj) and The Giant Mountains (Krkonose). I grew up exploring the area, going for day trips and hikes with my parents, either to rock towns or the mountains. It is a beautiful mixture of mountains with lakes and forests, lots of castles and history. I love to breathe the fresh air and go for long walks.

All photos are courtesy of my dad Tomas Hyka (www.photohyka.eu)

Rokytnice nad Jizerou,Czech Republic - this is another small town in The Giant Mountains (Krkonose), a place where my grandmother lives and where my mum comes from. I have so many beautiful memories of summer holidays spent running in the forest, building little fairy houses in the tree roots (think moss for carpets and furniture from twigs, roof from leaves). Also swimming in the cold river looking for cute stones to add to my collection or for skimming and doing all sorts of crafts with my granddad.

Bordeaux area, France - I am a mountain girl, flat land does make me nervous and the vastness feels somewhat overwhelming however the area around Bordeaux in France is a lovely place on Earth and I have lots of nice memories of places and people from there. I love the beach nearby and just watching the sunset when there are no crowds, enjoying the smell of the ocean and hot air in summer.

Wandsworth, London - This is the place in London where I first lived when I moved here but I had known it from before as well and it holds a special place in my heart. I love Wandsworth Common, all the beautiful houses and the fact you can walk everywhere and you will get to a shop/shopping centre but it is also quite easy to get to the city by train/tube.

Zell am See, Austria - This is where we go skiing nearly every year (sadly not this winter). I love the peace of the mountains, the silence, the calm. Also the fact it will always surprise you weather wise - good and bad! This is where Martin 'passed his imaginery skiing exam' and learnt to be a really good skier. I like the style of the buildings, chalets with a lot of wood and beautiful tall trees spread on the hills and mountains. I would like to visit in summer for some hiking and swimming in the lake!

Compassion

I have been listening to a lot of podcasts recently and in nearly every one of them someone used the word compassion. I felt haunted by this word by Friday! And I started thinking about it a bit more. Do I actually know what it means? With English being my second language I sometimes do not get the 'feeling' of certain words or their strength.
Compassion - sympathetic pity and concern for the suffering or misfortune of others.
Why was this word mentioned in podcasts about so many different things, from veganism to Buddhism in the Western world to entrepreneurial fortunes of two American mums?
Is there enough compassion in today's world? Do we live by our own compassionate believes? Do we even know what they are?
I feel like nowadays most people are thinking about themselves first and it is understandable - you should always look after number one, yourself. Like the oxygen masks on the plane, put yours on first before helping others. On the other hand I do believe people are compassionate in their nature. Nobody wants to see someone else suffering. There is a lot of suffering in this world and it can be overwhelming.
I found another explanation of what compassion means - a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. 
A strong desire to alleviate the suffering.... Now I can really relate to that! With one of my closest family members not being very well at the moment I just feel a really deep 'need' to take all that pain and suffering away. Unfortunately sometimes you can't physically do that.
So instead I try to ask myself what can I do to help? How can I express and show my compassion? Is there even a slightest way of alleviate the suffering?
It makes me think about other areas of my life and how I live it, what my values and beliefs are.
So thank you podcasts for making me think about compassion, I will do my best to try and apply it for more areas of my life.
What do you think? Do you live a compassionate life?

Devon Yurt camping trip

My birthday present this year was a weekend in a yurt in Devon. I was so excited as yurt camping is something I always wanted to do.
I was slightly worried about the weather (not sure February is a great month for camping of any kind) but really looking forward to the experience nevertheless.
We set off after work on Friday night and after a 4 hours drive we arrived to a little town called Liverton on the edge of Dartmoor National Park. David, the yurt camp owner (www.yurtcamp.co.uk), waited for us and took us to our yurt (it was one of the secluded ones in the forest). It was pitch black and very very muddy!
He showed us round and explained few bits and pieces and then we were on our own. Martin took on the fire lighting duty while I patiently waited for it to get warm as it was very cold! I managed to make a cup of tea on the camping gas stove. Once the fire was going we went to do the night hygiene. The showers are located in an outbuilding in the beginning of the camp and there is no heating....So, not much of a hygiene that night, brushing our teeth would do!
The yurt warmed up and we got to bed. I have taken precautions of going to bed in my fleecy pyjamas and skiing socks. I have also taken my hot water bottle from home and some blankets. I was so happy to have all of my winter stuff! The fire went out after a couple of hours and even though we were warm under the duvet and blankets, our heads were really cold!

We were up at 6am because it was so cold. Also very windy and we could hear the wind whistling. Martin started the fire again, we had something to eat (a sandwich we packed for the journey the night before), cup of tea and fell asleep again. 

We finally got up at about 8am, made 'toast' in an iron pan on the stove and set out to explore the area. 

We drove to a market town called Bovey Tracey where we were hoping to visit the local farmers market and walk around. The farmers market consisted of 5 stalls which was very funny. We did buy some free range eggs and home made pies. 

We then walked around and visited the Devon Craft Guild Art Centre which is a gallery showing works of local artists. 

The town is very small so there wasn't much else to do. We decided to drive to Dartmoor National Park and see Becky Falls. We went for a walk there which was really lovely and reminded me of my beloved mountains back home.

Becky Falls

After our walk we were hungry but the local Cafe did not have much on offer so we drove to another little town called Ashburton. We walked around and found a little cafe/restaurant called The Green Ginger which was really lovely. I had a tomato and lentil soup with wholemeal bread and Martin opted for bacon, brie and cranberry panini. 

It was only a short drive back to the yurt camp, we attempted to get the log burner going again but failed... We relaxed for a bit and then decided we didn't want to spend another night freezing so we packed our bits and pieces and drove back to London!

Even though it wasn't the ideal weather/time of the year to go yurt camping it was really lovely. I love getting out of London, exploring the nature and seeing different places. I would recommend going in late spring/summer, we were hoping to have a fire outside (all yurts have their own fire pit outside) but unfortunately there was always a little drizzle and it just wasn't the right time.

I am looking forward to our next adventure!

Outside of our yurt

Yurt n. 18

I have turned 33

It's my birthday today! 33 is what we call 'Christ' years in Czech. Age when one is meant to be wise and mature, surely! 
I no longer have birthday parties but a quite dinner with my other half followed by a mahoosive slice of a cake (that bit never changes!).
The older I get the more I appreciate the little things in life, people in my life I am grateful for, my family, this beautiful planet we live on. Yes, material things are needed in life but I enjoy non material gifts even more. 
My present this year is a weekend trip to a yurt in Devon! How amazing?! It is totally right up my street, I love to get out of the city, reconnect with the nature and my inner self. I can't wait to chop up some wood for the log burner, play games by lantern light, read some books and wander through the woods and fields during the day (I am optimistically believing the weather will be nice). My man knows me well to get me such an amazing present! 
I've had a lazy day, walked in the park, had amazing lunch in Carluccio's (squash soup followed by a cappuccino and some raspberry almond tart yuminess - shout out to the lovely staff in Pinner who gaves us free coffees as they'd asked us to move tables to accommodate a larger group, how nice!). I've watched a romantic movie on Movies24 - why are they always so bad - and made pork chops with apple & horseradish cream, my childhood celebratory dish.
I am looking forward to my 33rd year of life, there are so many things I want to do this year and yurt camping is only a start!