We decide to find warmer climes In early December with Prague being continually covered by new snow and the temperature dropping to very cold levels, we sat talking one evening about the upcoming Christmas holidays. The seminary was going to be closed for several weeks and we could do whatever we wanted to do. I knew that Spain was a destination on Nancy's 'bucket' list. In fact, she was at that time reading Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving. "Why don't we visit Spain?," I asked. "It will be warmer in Spain than Prague." She readily agreed. "If we go, I want to visit Granada and the Alhambra." We like to travel by train and decided that instead of flying we would go by train if I could find good connections. It took some ... read more

Our campus seems very subdued today and quiet tonight. Our own whirlwind who blew in here last August just blew out on the wings of British Air. She is headed back to the USA much to the sorrow of every student, faculty member and visitor on campus. We had a very happy/sad party last evening to say goodbye to a most interesting young woman who came here to help teach English to our young students who are just beginning their theological education. None of us knew her before she arrived but within a day (or perhaps less) it was impossible NOT to know Jodi. With her happy smile, infectious laugh, winning personality and general joy-to-be-alive attitude plus her fantastically curly red hair it was impossible to miss this fresh breeze on campus. I don't think any ... read more

We posted an entry several years ago about the Carpathian Church of St. Archangel Michael which is located on Petrin Hill. At that time the church was in rather poor condition on the outside. The church, except for the glass windows and metal bars over them, is totally made of wood with even the 'nails' being wooden. Since the building is hundreds of years old the wood was quite weathered and some of the overlapping shingles looked like they were going to come apart. We were able to peek through the windows at that time and the interior appeared to be filled with materials being stored there. We were sad to see such a treasure as this neglected and lonely. That has changed greatly. The parts of the steeple that are supposed to have paint ... read more

One day in 2008, a few days before we flew home, we were walking through the Wallenstein gardens here in Prague. Several booths were set up. One was from the city of Pilsen ... Plzeň in Czech. We picked up some literature. Upon reading the literature we said, "If we are ever here again we will visit Pilsen. This morning we caught the 10:05 train from Prague to Pilsen. It is less than a two hour trip. Riding on the bus takes only an hour, but we love riding trains and as we were in no hurry we opted for the train. A young Czech woman, a high school senior and a professor from Germany shared a compartment with us. The young woman was going to Pilsen to interview at an art school that she ... read more

Cemetery At Vyšehrad ... Located at Vyšehrad beside the Peter and Paul Church the cemetery is off the beaten path for most tourists and tourist groups. But the entire Vyšehrad area is well worth a visit. The cemetery located here is where the famous and the near famous from throughout modern Czech history are buried. It is here that the famous musical composers Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana are buried and the influential Czech writer Karel Čapek are buried. We have been very impressed at how carefully, tenderly and beautifully the people of the Czech Republic care for family grave plots. Often there are plants growing there and freshly cut flowers grace the grave. It has became obvious to us that family plots are visited often and with love. The flowers are not made of plastic ... read more