Serendipity saves the day

I have a theory about Prague. There’s something in the air in this city that seems to spark bizarre serendipitous moments, synchronicities and connections. I rarely experienced such situations when I lived in the UK; now I keep a diary of them because they are so frequent here. An incident forming the basis for the latest entry occurred about half an hour before I started writing this post. And in true coincidence style, it has also helped save me from writer’s block and get my revived blog off to a decent start.

For ages, I’ve been meaning to beef it up with new writing. So, full of good intentions, I started writing the first of – what I planned to be – a series of frequent posts. It was about London, inspired by a recent trip there, and was to be worthy and serious. After about five attempts, I gave up and consigned it to the electronic waste basket. All that was left was a blank space and the file itself, should I decide to have another attempt.

But a classic "Prague Synchronicity" provided the perfect replacement material. I had just got back from a walk around the neighbourhood to clear my head and escape from my computer screen for a few minutes. While tramping round leafy streets of ornate tenements and equally sumptuous villas in Prague’s Vinohrady district, I came across a warning notice in slightly wonky English. I collect such signs and don’t have to look hard to find them. One of these days, I keep telling myself, I’ll set up a website devoted to them.

I was pondering this item when I spotted yet another unintentionally amusing sign. The English was not wrong, but the name of the company “Nopal”, seemed rather unfortunate for an estate agency, given the unpopularity of this profession. And by strange (but not strange by Prague standards) coincidence, another inappropriately named estate agency, called “Sting”, is located only a few blocks away.

Such coincidences often happen in pairs. For example, a few years ago I bumped into a fellow Scot I’d heard about but had never actually met. Unsurprisingly enough, it turned out that Stewart is a friend of a former work colleague in Scotland. And he subscribes to my Prague coincidence/synchronicity theory. The conversation inevitably got round to synchronicities, and another occurred as we chatted. Sadly, I can’t remember what it was.

No doubt more weird incidents will occur before the day is out, and words like “Kafkaesque” and “surreal” will be bandied about. Fittingly appropriate, given that the man who gave his name to this adjective lies buried a few minutes’ walk away from where I’m writing this.