The Czechs call them Betlems, the French Creches and the Americans Manger Scenes In 2005 when we were going to Prague in January people we met who had lived in Prague for a year on a Fulbright teacher exchange told us they were so sorry we were going to miss Christmas in Prague since we would not, in all likelihood, be seeing any of the famous Betlehems (The Czech spelling of Bethlehem) which are such a traditional part of the Czech Christmas scene. They explained that in the past each family would devote a room or a part of a room to a scene called a Betlehem which was what we were used to calling a manger scene or a creche. We did some looking around but never found any still on display in January. ... read more

Tis the season in Prague. Christmas is coming and Prague is getting ready. The Christmas stalls are up and running in Old Town Square and at the end of Wenceslas Square. Actually there are stalls in other parts of Prague also. People are shopping. Street light posts are decorated and the temperature is falling ... but so far no snow. The food looks great and what we have sampled tasted great. Each time we have visited Old Town Square has been completely filled with people and everyone seems happy. Parents hoist children onto their shoulders so they can see better. Everyone walks around eating the Czech version of funnel cake, ham sandwiches, bratwursts, the wonderful baked dough rolled in cinnamon sugar and more types of candy than you can ever eat. Thirsty? No problem. Mulled wine, ... read more

Faces on the Wall In another entry we talked a bit about the faces on the outside wall of the train station. Because we had never previously walked around the outside of the station, we had not seen them. We hope you enjoy the photos. ... read more

Sunny Saturday Saturday started off gray, but gradually the sun burned away the fog. By noon the sun was shining brightly. Nancy had worked all morning editing a 176 page book on the early history of Baptists while I (Bill) worked in the library. I walked up the 'infamous' 47 steps to our room and said, "Let's go. It is beautiful outside." Nancy agreed. "What do you want for lunch? Pizza? Italian? Chinese?" Nancy thought a minute and exclaimed, "Afghan. Let's go to the Afghan restaurant." Several years ago we discovered an Afghan restaurant and had promised each other that someday we would eat there. Today was the day. Beautiful Doorways It does not matter how often we go downtown or how often we walk the same streets, we always see something new and beautiful. I ... read more

Nymburk -- Not in the Guidebooks Nymburk is a village that does not appear in any guidebook that I have read. There is information on the town on the Internet. That is how I found Nymburk completely by accident. I was checking the train schedule from Prague to Jicin where there are several very nice hiking tails. Last spring we enjoyed our hiking at Mala Skala and had planned on returning to the Cesky Raj for more hiking if we had the opportunity to do so. I saw there were hourly commuter trains to Jicin and that many stopped at Nymburk. “I wonder what Nymburk looks like,” I thought. I did a search and, wow, what a neat looking village came up on the screen and I decided at that moment, “I want to visit Nymburk.” ... read more