Sheila and I got back from Prague late on Thursday evening and after getting our family and domestic bits and pieces cleared were getting organised to go off on Saturday morning with friends to Portstewart to stay overnight

With Prague still vivid in my mind and the thought of writing something more meaningful about it I got a call from our Portstewart host to say it had to be postponed this weekend

Later in the day we had a call from Jeanette – wife of my business partner – to say that a couple they we to go out with that evening had cried off and invited us to join them for a casual dinner, which of course we accepted readily

However when we were collected there was a very plausible story as to why we should go back to the home of one of their daughters, where, very quickly the plot was revealed – it was a surprise post retirement family party for Wilson and I and I then realised the conspiracy that had been going on to get us there.....two major surprises in one week and I hadn’t an inkling about either, that of course made everyone’s day

As I write this update I’m still in a state of shock mixed with delight and gratitude for the thoughtfulness which prompted these two special events and to Sheila for keeping all this to herself – in fact she's told so many lies over the past couple of weeks that she went to confession this morning!

Thinking back to Prague, we arrived in time for a welcome dinner in a restaurant close to the apartment and on Tuesday had a full day which included a stroll through the Old Town Square, Charles Bridge and Prague Castle where we saw the changing of the guard, an interesting if not as formal a spectacle as we are used to in the British tradition

A highlight in the afternoon was to attend a recital in the Church of St Martin in the Wall close to Old Town Square

It was a Chamber Ensemble which played a lovely selection of classical music pieces most of which were known to us

Dinner at a Czech restaurant gave us a chance to reflect and prepare our thinking for the next day

This exciting adventure took us on an old Russian style train to Karlstejn to see one of the most visited and beautiful Castles in the Czech Republic. The walk through the local village was interesting although we were surprised that it was rather quiet......perhaps this was because the Castle was closed!. Undeterred we continued and from the grounds got a flavour of this 14^th century building

The Argentinean restaurant we used that evening was an excellent base in which to discuss what we had seen – and hadn’t seen – during the day

It was an interesting establishment and the live music and dancing combined with the noise from a packed house and excellent food contributed to the warm and relaxing atmosphere

After two action packed days we were ready for a more low key approach to Thursday and we enjoyed some retail therapy - Czech style

I of course thought that was the end of my surprises but as you can see there was more to come

All Tosh & Millar family members were there to meet us at the surprise party and I think the great moment for everyone was when they saw the looks of amazement which Wilson and I were displaying

It was a great evening of fun and chat and Sheila had produced our office ‘two Ronnie’s’ farewell speech which the families hadn’t heard before and we did it for the audience who I must say were less respectful than the previous one – it was family of course

Children, parents, in laws, special friends, champagne and retirement cake were all the ingredients of a memorable occasion

Thanks for the memories!