Two People and a Planet: Fakt!!

Literally meaning 'Really', this is by far the funniest Czech word we have come across. It is pronounced like 'far-kt'. Lots of people use it in every day conversation, but until we knew what it meant we thought the Czechs were just avid users of the common swear word usually heard in pubs, clubs and the average High School.

I am not altogether sure why processes here are so complicated and inconsistent. It certainly works to keep us on our toes and like I said earlier, things are never boring! We went on a much anticipated visit to the local government 'take your ticket and sit down for an hour until your number is called' building where they sort out things like payment of bills and Opencards. An Opencard is a travel card that you put money on for public transport and it also works as a sort of discount card for certain places. After the said waiting period out numbers were called and we approached the desks that our tickets corresponded to. The process wasn't all together hard as we had done some serious research before attempting it, but it was difficult for something so simple. I couldn't understand the lady helping me and she couldn't understand me, which is typical for any sort of bureaucratic process here. We got there eventually and I stepped outside to wait for Jon...10 minutes later he comes out. My entire process had only taken 3 minutes! We have no idea what took so long. I had been given a dicky little piece of paper along with my card (which I think it s free parking ticket but I have no idea) and for some reason Jon had pin numbers and info leaflets! Who knows what went on there, but we were not going back inside to ask. This happens everytime something gets done here - someone will do it one and way and the next person another. As long as the end process is the same that all that matters, right? Fakt!! And I used to think that Centerlink was bad.

Autumn has officially taken hold here now which was a bit of a shock for the both of us. There was no warning, no preparing ourselves, just 30 degrees one day and the next it's 10 degrees! It has been rainy and cold for the past week, with the weather being just like Perth in the middle of winter. The only difference is that it is going to get much colder here. Everywhere is warm though, even the trams have heating which is weird but nice. All of the leaves are starting to turn and are falling off the trees, it is really beautiful. Bring on winter! :)

Here are a few snaps from around the city over the last few weeks: