There’s something wonderfully disruptive about people coming to stay… I love it more than anything, it brings the house to life, but it’s a also big reminder that there’s so much here that I need to do before we can start exploring.
Everyone who comes to No 19 knows the house is still a work in process, rooms are not finished, projects are underway, a seemingly large house suddenly feels full, and in the build up to their arrival I find myself worrying that this house isn’t capable of having people around.
I find myself doing my spring cleaning in those weeks before guests arrive whatever time of year it is. This way I can get areas cleared out and cleaned when I’d often just leave these jobs until a later date. I also find it helps me focus on getting the garden into shape.
I’m also aware that the house strangely doesn’t have that many functioning bedrooms so I’m forced to think this through and move beds around to get enough places for people to sleep comfortably. This doesn’t seem to bother the cats who have no problem finding a comfy corner to stretch out or curl up.
This is a really good exercise as I have to find a way to make this house function comfortably with anything from 2 to 8 people staying here, because when friends and family come, they all come at once! Lu naturally loves this of course as he gets to do those holiday things like go to the lake with us all.
The conclusion I’ve come to regarding guests is to prepare well, and then relax and enjoy them while they’re here, and this is what I do.
It’s very easy to become comfortable with what we have around us and that tends to lead to us not really seeing it anymore. One of the things I’ve enjoyed this year is being forced to look at the area I live in as a tourist… with fresh, new eyes.
I don’t think this only applies to me, but to many of us. Once you have to show someone around the place in which you live, you start noticing things you’ve not seen before or have just somehow forgotten about
Earlier this year some Italian friends came to stay and wanted to see Prague. This was such an amazing opportunity as for the last few years I’ve only been to Prague to buy fabrics, meet friends for lunch, or go to the airport.
Visiting this truly stunning city with the sole purpose of showing its beauty to people who’d not seen it, made this trip a very different experience.
There were cafes like the Grand Cafe Orient that I’d been past numerous times, but never actually been in. There were places like the Klementinum Library which I’d never go to alone, but proved to be a fabulous morning with a friend whose passion is history and interior design.
I also managed to get to the Mucha museum and spend a couple of hours looking at some of this artist’s most beautiful creations.
This week my guests are some of the closest and dearest people to me. My mother, and our friends who have been spending their summers here since their son Seth was a small child.
Seth is now 22 and this time has brought a friend, Louis who’s never visited this part of the world before, so we are determined that he’ll see a little of the beauty we’ve been fortunate enough to have experienced over the years.
On a trip this week, to our local town of Litoměřice we found ourselves passing the church in the main square. We stopped to look inside and Louis mentioned he’d like to take a look around. So in we went.
It was stunning. Absolutely beautiful! I walk past this church every time I’m in town and I actually don’t think I’d ever been inside. There was just so much detail, so much beauty, it was amazing.
Yesterday we all felt like going to somewhere drenched in natural beauty, close to woodlands, mountains, lakes etc. But we also didn’t feel like driving a long distance.
We decided to take a trip to Kokořín which is an area I like so much and it’s only 16 miles from No 19. We set off with music and open minds. We’re a mixed group aged between 22 and 70 so finding things we all like doing can be a little tricky.
We arrived at Kokořín in the valley close to where the steep walk through the forest up to the Kokořín Castle starts. Without really thinking it through we just decided to go for it.
My mother struggles a little with very long walks but this had the added issue of steep steps made from twisted tree roots and logs. We all helped her up and at certain points she was just laughing at how she was clutching my hand and clambering over these fairytale like forest steps.
When we reached the top, the castle was right there: magnificent, beautiful, truly stunning. My first thought was that I could happily live there.
We walked up the winding cliff side staircase to the door and entered a magical courtyard. I’d been before many years ago, but I didn’t remember just how amazing it was.
We started looking around only to be told that the castle was shutting! We didn’t get to go inside, but we did get to walk around, absorb the amazing architecture, admire the views, and see a glimpse of something truly out of a fairytale.
The castle was built in the first half of the 14th century and was heavily damaged during the Hussite Wars. It was then left neglected until its modernized in 1911 to 1918 with a real Arts and Crafts feel to it. This is a period and aesthetic I adore as it manages to combine the 20th century with the ideals and beauty of a storybook medieval Europe.
Our journey down was somewhat easier as my mother and I took the road. We stopped off at a beautiful lake where we’ve found ourselves stopping almost every year, and on the way home we had a typical Czech pub dinner in a village from where you can see No 19 perched on the opposite hillside.
Many beautiful memories come back when visiting these places. Sometimes you see progress, sometimes there are just changes, and sometimes you feel the gaps left by loved ones who are no longer with us. But sharing this area with new people and seeing it with fresh eyes means you always experience something new and this is such a privilege.
There’s something wonderfully disruptive about people coming to stay… it’s lovely, it connects me with the people I love, it injects an energy into No 19, it somehow brings me to life… and that can’t be such a bad thing ♥️
🧡All pictures are my own.
Below are some of the links to the places we visited:
♥️ The town of Litoměřice: https://www.litomerice.cz/en/
♥️ Kokořín Castle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koko%C5%99%C3%ADn_Castle
♥️ Prague Charles Bridge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bridge
♥️ Church in Litoměřice: https://www.stredohori.cz/en/detail/church-of-all-saints-litomerice
♥️ Klementinum Library: https://www.prague.eu/en/object/places/358/clementinum-klementinum?back=1
♥️ Mucha Museum: https://www.mucha.cz/en/