Guests

Our very first visitors to our home in Prague arrived on Sunday. Family members you might ask? No, our friends Sibyl and Paul from Pittsburgh came all the way to Prague to see us, after a 30-year hiatus in our friendship.

We got to know Sibyl and Paul when we were first married and living in Syracuse. We were good friends for about three years, before we all moved to different parts of the country. Although we have not seen each other in such a long time, we recognized them immediately as they came through the airport gate.


Doing the tourist thing....

On Sunday, as we were touring about the city, we went to the castle of course, and found that most of the grounds were closed because the Pope was visiting. On Monday, which I had off because it was a Czech holiday, we went to the Jewish Quarter and found the museums there were closed because it was also a Jewish holiday. Hmmm....

Then, as we were walking about in Old Town, I noticed quite a few people standing about on the street and many extra police officers in the mix. Thinking something might be afoot, I asked one of the officers what was happening, and he said the Pope was coming by. We immediately joined the crowd of onlookers, hoping for a glimpse.

My superior skills in observation and deduction allowed us to assume that the Pope was dining in a restaurant on this street, as that is the flag of the Vatican flying from the building.

After a short wait of 20 minutes or so, we were rewarded by the sight of the official motorcade, and the Pope in this car. Unfortunately, he was not in his Popemobile.

We then continued on our way, being blest tourists :-)

Here we are climbing the bell tower of the Church of St. Nicholas. Although we have climbed this tower before, on this trip we learned that the tower was used by the Communists to spy on the general populace and the British and American embassies which are nearby.

Posing by one of the most beautiful views of Prague.....

We have had a wonderful time catching up, and it is so hard to believe that so many years have flown by.