I must admit that I did not know much about Prague. I had read about it in some novels and knew that there was a cool bridge with lots of statues of saints on it. I even knew it was called the Charles Bridge. But that is about the extent of my knowledge. The only reason we chose Prague is we have friends living there. The Kenneys were sent out from our church as missionaries to Prague about 4 months before we moved to France. Their oldest daughter and her husband, David & Sarah Baker, are also living there where David is the reception manager of The Mosaic House, a hostel. We have been wanting to go see them and see what their life is like in Europe so this was the perfect time. We were greeted in the airport by the whole family, including the newest addition, Ingrid! We made lots of noise and hugged like Americans know how to do. We then began the best 3 days of our summer vacation!
Our first day began with a side trip to Young Life Camp, a couple hours south of Prague. Rachel, the Kenney's youngest daughter, had been working there for the week and needed to be picked up. It was fun to be able to see where she had been and meet some of the people she worked with.
That afternoon we got to meet some of the Kenney's friends as we attended church with them and then went out to dinner at the Strahov Monastic Brewery. We had some good Czech food and special time together.
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| The Kenney's church meets in a train station |
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| A real treat to get to spend this time together! |
The Strahov Monastic Brewery |
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| The Strahov Monastery |
Ingrid, David & Sarah's baby and the Kenney's first grandchild, slept through most of dinner. Since I was the first to finish eating, I got to take her outside when she woke up and have my "pretend to be a grandmother" moment. She is precious! After dinner, we all went outside to see a beautiful sunset over Prague.
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| Ingrid & Mimi |
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| Rost'a, the Kenney's "adopted Czech son", loving on Ingrid |
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| Precious mother and daughter |
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| Bob and Betsy in "their" city |
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| Prague |
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| Prague Castle |
The next day, after our first day of sightseeing alone, we met up with the Kenneys at The Mosaic House, David's hostel. We were served the best cappuccino by the cutest manager there! I highly recommend you plan a stay there when you are in Prague.
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| The Mosaic House |
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| Love the variety of people checking in |
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| Having a little fun with cameras |
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| David & Rost'a |
So back to the Kenney's apartment ... Here is their neighborhood. It was within walking distance to everything.
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| This is the view of Prague Castle from their balcony |
During dinner the second night, we had some excitement outside. Some of the facade started falling off the building across the street. The fire department came to take care of this and provide us with entertainment.
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| Bob checking things out |
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| Bob moving the van out of reach of falling facade |
On our last day in Prague, we went for a bike ride with Bob & Betsy. One of the great things about Prague is all the parks so close to the city. We rode through the park and along the river enjoying the sunshine.
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| A stop at Troja Palace |
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| The gardens at Troja Palace |
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| Watching practice for the Canoe World Cup that was held in Prague the weekend after we left |
We finished up our time in Prague with dinner at David & Sarah's home. They made a delicious dinner while we all visited and enjoyed playing with Ingrid. She was obviously the one who got the most attention! And why wouldn't she? Just look at this sweet baby!
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| Aunt Rachel & Ingrid both know how to blow bubbles! |
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| Who's more smitten? Grandpa or ... |
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| Ingrid? |
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| Here is Sarah, the beautiful mother of Ingrid! |
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| David & Sarah making dinner - yummy! |
As we were about to eat dinner, the brightest double rainbow I've ever seen appeared outside!
Our time to leave arrived the next morning and we were sad to go. Our two families have been through so many similar things in the past year - moving to a foreign country, leaving family and friends, dealing with a new culture, making new friends, learning to eat new foods, becoming grandparents (we're almost there), and seeing God at work all over the world. Sharing this piece of their lives was a blessing beyond our expectations and we are so thankful for it. Now we hope they can ALL come to France!
On our last day in Prague, we went for a bike ride with Bob & Betsy. One of the great things about Prague is all the parks so close to the city. We rode through the park and along the river enjoying the sunshine.
Our time to leave arrived the next morning and we were sad to go. Our two families have been through so many similar things in the past year - moving to a foreign country, leaving family and friends, dealing with a new culture, making new friends, learning to eat new foods, becoming grandparents (we're almost there), and seeing God at work all over the world. Sharing this piece of their lives was a blessing beyond our expectations and we are so thankful for it. Now we hope they can ALL come to France!
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