ADA compliant?

For all those who worry about providing handicapped access to buildings in the States, this is the Czech solution. It appears to be a 50-lb. slab of steel laid over the steps.

This is the main entrance to the maternity building of the hospital Laura was in. Oh, and it seems this hospital is close to a nature preserve, so that it is not uncommon to see deer and big-horned sheep wandering the grounds. We saw them one evening, and Laura said she heard them outside her window. !!

Out and About

The sun was shining yesterday, so we took a field trip to Andel, an area of Prague that has a major shopping center. Of course, we had to cross the river to get there....

And walk past a brewery..

It seems all trams go to Andel - this intersection appears to be a major crossroad for tram lines. Check out all those overhead electrical lines!

Our last stop of the day was to meet our agent in his office. It took some doing to find it- talk about low profile. There was no sign on the building other than the name next to the security buzzer, and a little handwritten "5" next to it. We took that to mean the office was on the 5th floor, so up we went. Again, no sign at the top - but we buzzed the only door and were ushered into the office. This was the view from the conference room - all the best of Prague!

Keep your fingers crossed, as we went there to pay a reservation fee for a flat. Nothing is definite yet, but if all goes well we may be able to sign a lease and secure a flat in a week or so!!

More Elliot

We paid a short visit to Elliot today (and of course Laura, Chris & Owen). So far, Elliot appears to be a very content baby, spending a lot of time sleeping! Grandpa caught him with his eyes open though!

Sleeping...

Sleeping on Grandpa....

Owen's outing

Owen, Daddy, and Grandpa headed out this afternoon to get haircuts. On the way, Owen met up with one of his friends from school (Santiago). Here they are solving the world's problems!


I think he lost about a pound of hair!

Elliot-day one

Our new grandson, Elliot Burr Syvertsen, was born on February 19, 2009. He weighed in at 6 lbs at birth, so we are very intimidated by how tiny he is.

We went to the hospital to visit him (and Laura, of course) Thursday evening, when Elliot was less than 8 hours old. He was sleeping quietly, at first in the nursery and then in his bassinet in the room with Laura. We all took turns just staring at him- he is so amazing!!

Here is Owen getting his first peek at his baby brother. If you look closely, you can see Elliot in the background.



Waiting to go see Mommie...

Here is our first close-up look at Elliot.

We are happy that we are here to be able to help with Owen while Laura is in the hospital. Czech hospitals have a maternity policy that Moms & babies stay in the hospital for a minimum of 3 days. They also have a larger room that became available today so that Dad can spend the night as well. Seems like these Czechs have it right- a little extra pampering and care for a few days before jumping back into life at home!!

Friday the 13th

yes, this date was a little scary - because I reached another milestone that day. 60!!! I used to think that being 60 was old- but certainly not now :-) Isn't 60 the new 40??

We marked this occasion with a quiet family dinner with Chris, Laura, & Owen. Good food, good wine, and the greatest gift of all time- being here in Prague!

Quiet night in the kavarna

Hi Towhee,

This one's for you :-)

We are sitting in the kavarna at the Czech Inn enjoying a beer and listening to Eric Clapton on the sound system. Heaven!!

Vienna Trip

On Tuesday, we took the train to Vienna to hand in our paperwork for a long-term visa at the Czech Embassy there. No one knows why you have to do this outside the country, but it is necessary, so Vienna is fairly close and is normally a nice place to visit.


This is the embassy building...


We had lots of very specific instructions for what to do when we got there, because we were warned that other folks who had been there had to deal with people who did not speak English. Our goal was to get through the yellow door in the left side of that archway.

We finally were able to let someone know that we were there, and we got through the door! Much to our surprise our contact spoke English quite well, and was very friendly to us. We escaped unscathed and all our paperwork seemed to be in order, thanks to Jana - Chris' employee who put everything together for us. Now we wait.


We went to the city center to do some sightseeing, but the weather was not cooperating. It was cold and very wet snow was falling, so we didn't want to spend a lot of time outside. Vienna is of course known for opera and other grand musical performances, and it appeared that everyone dresses up to attend such events as we passed several stores that specialized in women's long gowns. If you ever need an evening gown or prom dress, Vienna would be the place to go!

This is part of the Opera House....



We definitely loved the train trip back from Vienna. The train had the traditional European compartments, and we had one to ourselves, so we could stretch out and relax across all these seats.


The highlight for Tom was the dining car. Since the trip took about 4 hours, we were on the train at dinnertime, so we ate in the dining car. The food was actually quite good!


Just like in the movies!

Owen chilling out

Almost bedtime....

Suprise!

Tom needed to use the restroom....

he came back out and said for some strange reason he didn't have to go after all :-)

Walking around

Tram stop by the Czech Inn...

gotta watch those walls-you never know what might be sticking out of them..

There is a lot of graffitti here, but you get used to it and don't even notice it anymore. We take these stairs to go to Chris & Laura's flat, which is about a mile away.

Shower for the "Babe"

Yesterday I attended a shower for Laura and the "Babe". It was held at the Davis' house, which is a beautiful flat in a quiet residential area of Prague.


there was good food and fellowship, and lots of presents for the Babe!

I think there might be another shower soon- as you can see here, Joanna, one of the hostesses, is expecting in April.

We're Connected Again

Chris' computer guy was able to fix our computers so that we can connect to the Internet again- yeah! New posts are below. :-)

Finding the Globe Bookstore

Susan was very proud that she was able to provide us with a gift certificate to an English-language bookstore in Prague called the Globe.

Since our computers weren't working, we felt that we needed a few good books to have on hand, so we set off to find the bookstore.

We took the Green Line (part of the Metro system) to the downtown area to begin our search. Tom is fascinated by the depth of the train lines, and the steepness of the escalators in many of the stations.


We walked through Old Town trying to find the right street - this is the famous Astronomical Clock on Old Town Square.
and this is the Old Town Hall Tower...

The streets in Old Town are not straight, as you can see, which makes navigating through them a little difficult.

But, thanks to a map and a lot of walking, we found it!

Nothing could be better than a good book and a hot cup of coffee!!

Fun With Owen

Owen was a bit shy when we first arrived, but soon warmed up to the idea that he had some new adults who hadn't seen all his toys yet. Here he is wielding his light sabre...

Camping out in the tent with his new flashlight.....

And all tired out from his adventures.

On Our Way At Last

Our last week in the States was filled with lunches, dinners, and phone calls as we said good-by to friends and loved ones.



Our drive to the airport in New York City was very smooth, and we only had about an hour to wait before check in.



Tom is waiting patiently with a small part of our luggage. We checked 8 bags for the flight, and carried on two apiece. The airline folks were very helpful and accommodating. If I had known they were not going to weigh each bag, I would have tried to bring even more!







Our plane was waiting for us, and we left slightly ahead of schedule! How often does that happen at JFK?




We arrived in Dublin shortly after 5AM local time, and met up with Chris who was flying out of Dublin at 6:30 AM. After we had coffee with Chris, we went to a cafe and had a proper breakfast!