Last night after Kaleb went to bed, Kory and I sat in our little camping stools out in front of our cabin and watched an incredible light show. A huge storm system was moving in and the thunder was rolling and the lightening was flashing all around us. It took the longest time before rain actually came our way, but for a good hour anyway, we were in awe by it all. Once the rain started, we went to bed, but then the storm really kicked in with high winds, hard rain and lightning and thunder all night. I saw on the internet this storm was coming when I checked the weather report yesterday and they were expecting flooding in parts of Europe because it was such a huge system moving through. I was so thankful we had a cabin, as most people in this campground were in tents. This morning I noticed six people in sleeping bags, packed like sardines on a concrete slab in front of the washer and dryer – simply because there was a roof over that spot. I can’t imagine how miserable everyone must have been last night, but we were warm and cozy and for the most part, had a good night’s sleep. After all that heat yesterday, I was actually quite thankful for the rain, but once again, God abundantly blessed me with the desires of my heart.
The campground we’re at is very close to a bus line which connects with the subway system into the heart of Prague so we were able to leave the car behind (which is why I picked this place). The heart of the city is all do-able on foot, but today it was a challenge because the pouring down rain didn’t let up even once. Kaleb and I had umbrellas and rain coats – Kory had a rain poncho (see photo) and we were still all soaking wet within an hour. The rain was relentless. The sidewalks in some areas were so narrow only one umbrella at a time could make it through so it was a challenge with people coming and going with umbrellas all day. We got some cool photos of just the sea of umbrellas lining the streets, but the real photo worthy sights were the streets themselves.
Prague is probably the best persevered ancient city in Europe. One part of town is a thousand years old and “new town” has buildings mostly from the 1300s. There is every type of architecture imaginable and every building is a work of art. The gothic buildings are the most stunning as they look so mid-evil and ancient. The destruction of the Iron Curtain finally brought tourism to this town and they are making the most of it. All the streets downtown are lined with shops selling cut crystal (what Czech Republic is famous for), and every other tourist trinket imaginable. It’s a city to visit, for sure, but not without a camera. Kory and I just stood in awe of every building, wanting to take in all the details but it was just too much. (Kaleb wondered what the big deal was because, “You can see buildings in every city.") The rooflines on each street were so varied and impressive. I could have sat in one spot all day moving my eyes from one building to the next, but as it was, with all the rain, it was difficult to look up at times.
We opted out of going to any museums as we wanted as much time as possible to wander the streets. We saw all the famous sections of town and the few buildings and one bridge that are the most well known. One church clock tower has a little “show” on the hour as doors open up and the twelve apostles spin around so each one is visible before the clock begins to chime. There is also a soldier on one side whose sword goes up and down, and a skeleton on the other emptying his hourglass – all very mid-evil and quite impressive it still works after so many hundreds of years.
Kory got his hair cut at one mall while Kaleb was figuring out how to spend money he’s saved since his birthday last year. Kaleb has been waiting for this leg of our journey because he knew things here are cheap – and they are, so he was satisfied to buy some Pokemon cards for a fraction of their cost in Norway. (It doesn’t take much to be cheaper than Norway, however.) There was so much I would have loved to buy as bargains were everywhere - but figuring out how to get it home is my biggest challenge, so for now, I had to “just say no.”
All the food we’ve had so far in Czech Republic has been super good - almost gourmet – and really cheap if it’s not from some chain like Starbucks or Subway. My expectations of this place were way off. I guess because they were communist for so long somehow I thought time passed them by and I expected to be visiting a somewhat backwards place, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. They have super hip malls and everything large cities around the world have – including McDonald’s on every corner and American clothing stores (many clothing companies have their products made in Czech Republic). We bit the bullet today and sat in Starbucks drinking coffee for awhile as it was warm and cozy and we needed to dry out a little. I didn’t feel homesick one bit, although the rain seemed rather familiar.
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