December 2010

“Christmas time’s in all of us, sweets are being made...” says the popular Czech song that I have been hearing on the radio for quite some time now. What else can you do than agree. After a year full of experiences, the Christmas cycle has come again: making the sweets, waiting for the first snow, and above all, shopping for gifts for your nearest ones. Recently, I have heard my friends say how fed up they are with Christmas and how it is a shallow and pointless holiday. Yes, Christmas may be a short-lived illusion of everyone being happy and loving one another, but aren’t those few days in the year beautiful just for that?

Besides moments spent with my family and friends, what I most like about Christmas is the fact that you have some time for yourself amid all the bustle. I don’t think I’m the only one who has at least once gone to buy presents for friends and left with a bag full of stuff for themselves. Strolling from shop to shop, it may easily happen that you stop to have some baked chestnuts by a market stall, some mulled wine by another, to crown a day when you have done yourself good. Whether you feel good because of people or because of things, the important thing is that you enjoy Christmas the way you like it. That’s why I hope most of our readers will enjoy the holidays with a copy of this December issue of ESTATE, bringing a few treats about Christmas and New Year’s.

Wishing you a pleasant Christmas and New Year celebrations,