Great Czech Beer

It was an honour to drink such good Czech beer last night.

The Holba was dark and smooth with a taste like a good English real ale:

What was also impressive was the way it kept its head right to the end of the drink, as did the Bernard lager below:

The Bernard beer was 4.9% and the Holba 4.7%, just about the right alcohol strength for me now.

Had previously drunk several kinds of Bernard on tap at a bar not far from the train station in Bratislava, Slovakia, and a few different kinds of Holba on tap at a bar attached to a hotel in Olomouc, the Czech Republic.

A Fluffy Cat

While visiting a neighbouring village in eastern Poland, my wife came across this wonderful, fluffy cat:

Cats seem to have a natural way of posing for pictures.

Puszek Eating Kotek's Food

In eastern Poland, Kotek was a little shocked to see that our next door neighbour's cat, Puszek, had entered the house to eat Kotek's lunch:

Finishing Pride and Prejudice

 Finally got round to finishing Pride and Prejudice:

Read Emma over 30 years ago while doing A Level English Literature at Bury College of FE evening classes, so it took me a long time to get round to reading a second Jane Austen novel, but it was worth it.

What did I get from Pride and Prejudice? Well, probably the central message that people should not broadcast or gloat about their own good actions and intentions, so that other people value and appreciate them more. The latter seems to be Lizzie's great discovery about the virtuous side of Mr. Darcy's character.

Also, after reading a lot of Thomas Hardy, with Jane Austin, it's nice to have a story with a happy ending. Still, Thomas Hardy is my favourite novelist ...

My Magi Christmas Card

 A wonderful Christmas card that I received from a friend from England this year:

Receiving this Christmas card of the Magi (Three Wise Men) visiting the Christ child helped me to remember to go to Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6th) this year.

Homemade Oat Biscuits

 A quick shot of my wife's homemade oat biscuits from over Christmas:

Kotek's Christmas

 Nice shot of Kotek enjoying Christmas in eastern Poland: