Arrival in Prague for ECMH
Door: Jolijn
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Jolijn
14 September 2016 | Tsjechische Republiek, Praag
This morning, 14 September 2016, I was at Eindhoven Airport at 6 AM, to catch my flight to Prague to join the European Conference on Mental Health (ECMH, http://www.ecmh.eu ). I had a good flight, and arrived around 8.40 AM in Prague. There I was supposed to be picked up from the airport (how rockstar-ish!!). However, I waited and waited, but nobody there with my name on a sign, and my attempts for making contact with the organizers failed (triggering some emotions). By the time it was 11 AM, I decided to stay at the airport, since at 11.30 a Dutch parliamentary debate on Dutch forced treatment laws took place, and I wanted to follow it online, and at the airport there was free wifi. After that, around 1 PM, I eventually took a taxi to the NH hotel Prague City, where I was immediately welcomed by the organizers. They had just received my messages, and apologized for the trouble. The hotel staff, who failed to pick me up, then brought me a plate with presents in my room (fruit, chocolate, water and wine). That really made me forget all the stress, and I felt lucky again :)
The hotel itself is also very nice and interesting. There are 2 buildings, which are connected by a cable-car of about 50 metres along the hillside. I am sleeping in the “executive building” (up the hill), so I have to take daily rides up and down. The view over Prague is great, both from the hotel as from the cable-car. It is really nice.
Around 14.15 we were expected down in the lobby again. The keynote-speakers and the conference staff were all invited to a reception at the Finnish Embassy. We got in a taxi, but the address had been mistaken, so we drove across the city centre of Prague, until we had found the right address, all the way up the hill, behind the castle. So in that way, I also enjoyed some sightseeing in Prague.
The reception was nice. The Finnish Ambassador welcomed us, and she told us how the Czech Republic had renamed the street of the Finnish Embassy (now with a Finnish name in it), and how Finland and Czech Republic have actually quite some similar backgrounds, such as gaining independence after WW1. Then also Lauri Kuosmanen of the Organizing Committee of the European Conference on Mental Health welcomed us, and spoke a few words about the upcoming conference.
And then there were snacks and drinks, and a lot of nice conversations.
Around 17.00 the reception ended, and we returned to the hotel by taxi (now going through a long tunnel, and the trip only lasted about 10 minutes). At the hotel, I met Lisa, a friend of Debra (my friend and ENUSP-colleague in Prague). That was really nice. Unfortunately Debra couldn’t come to join us due to other occupations, but Lisa and I spent all evening together, first in a coffeebar, and then on a boat in the river, with live music. Around 22.00 I decided to head back to the hotel, and here I am now, typing my blog.
It was a nice day after all. I have already forgotten about the waste of time at the airport in the morning. I am in Prague now, and I am fine.
Tomorrow the conference will start. There are a lot of professionals and a few service (ex) users/survivors. I will still need to give some more attention to my speech (on behalf of ENUSP), which is scheduled for Friday 14.00. But for today, I am done. I am going to enjoy the luxurious bed now :)
Good night!
The hotel itself is also very nice and interesting. There are 2 buildings, which are connected by a cable-car of about 50 metres along the hillside. I am sleeping in the “executive building” (up the hill), so I have to take daily rides up and down. The view over Prague is great, both from the hotel as from the cable-car. It is really nice.
Around 14.15 we were expected down in the lobby again. The keynote-speakers and the conference staff were all invited to a reception at the Finnish Embassy. We got in a taxi, but the address had been mistaken, so we drove across the city centre of Prague, until we had found the right address, all the way up the hill, behind the castle. So in that way, I also enjoyed some sightseeing in Prague.
The reception was nice. The Finnish Ambassador welcomed us, and she told us how the Czech Republic had renamed the street of the Finnish Embassy (now with a Finnish name in it), and how Finland and Czech Republic have actually quite some similar backgrounds, such as gaining independence after WW1. Then also Lauri Kuosmanen of the Organizing Committee of the European Conference on Mental Health welcomed us, and spoke a few words about the upcoming conference.
And then there were snacks and drinks, and a lot of nice conversations.
Around 17.00 the reception ended, and we returned to the hotel by taxi (now going through a long tunnel, and the trip only lasted about 10 minutes). At the hotel, I met Lisa, a friend of Debra (my friend and ENUSP-colleague in Prague). That was really nice. Unfortunately Debra couldn’t come to join us due to other occupations, but Lisa and I spent all evening together, first in a coffeebar, and then on a boat in the river, with live music. Around 22.00 I decided to head back to the hotel, and here I am now, typing my blog.
It was a nice day after all. I have already forgotten about the waste of time at the airport in the morning. I am in Prague now, and I am fine.
Tomorrow the conference will start. There are a lot of professionals and a few service (ex) users/survivors. I will still need to give some more attention to my speech (on behalf of ENUSP), which is scheduled for Friday 14.00. But for today, I am done. I am going to enjoy the luxurious bed now :)
Good night!
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
