Dobrư den!

Have you ever had a time in your life when you've done something crazy? Something spontaneous? Something unplanned? When you are living life to the fullest, those inevitable moments will happen, and sometimes they work out the best!

Amanda and I originally planned on visiting family during the four days we had off together. Unfortunately those plans fell through, so 5 days before our mini-vacation, we now had no idea where we were going. After searching for available flights and good hotel fares, we came up with Prague, of all places!

Czechoslovakia became an independent country in 1989 during the Velvet Revolution. They emerged from communism without ever firing a single shot. Then in 1994, they officially became the country they are today - the Czech Republic. It is now a thriving country still developing its identity after communism with 60% of their citizens calling themselves atheist.
 

Our spontaneous Prague Adventure [blog style]:
 

	Friday 01.23.2009
MLB Airport 10:30am	Amanda hops on a flight from Melbourne, Florida to Atlanta, Georgia to sit around for 5 hours hoping we can make the flight to Prague. All that is holding her back is Ryan possibly getting called in to work or not. God is in control.
ATL Airport 4:00pm	Ryan doesn't get called in to work. We make the hotel reservation and purchase the classical concert tickets online. We receive the necessary email receipts at 5:40pm, 20 minutes before we leave on the flight. That's cutting it a little close!
6:10pm	We depart for Prague. As the wheels leave the ground, we are still in disbelief that we are actually going. A week ago, we didn't even consider this, and now we are on our way. Bring on the adventure!
	Saturday 01.24.2009
Prague Airport 9:30am	We arrive at Prague International Airport. Learning from prior trips, we have no less than 3 different ways to access money, and even have some left-over Euros from our Ireland vacation. We see an ATM in the airport and are able to withdraw money without any problems. A first in our travel experiences. We also get metro tickets for our entire time in Prague. It is a lot easier to get them now than not have enough change later. Prague's metro system is extremely efficient and clean. We took a bus to the metro train, and then a second bus to get the hotel. It was a 15 mile trip, and we managed to arrive in about 45 minutes without any wrong turns. Another first for us. Even with only 5 days to plan, we managed to pull it off so far.
Prague Castle 12:00 pm	After changing clothes, we head over to Prague castle and just so happen to arrive when they are performing the changing of the guards 'deluxe edition', which happens once a day. Trumpets are proclaiming national freedom out of the window while a full orchestra and guard battalion marched in formation. What a sight. We then proceeded to explore the rest of the castle.
12:30pm	We arrived at St. Vitus Cathedral at just the right time to enjoy sunshine streaming through the stained glass window. The sight was breathtaking.
Lunch 1:30pm	We stopped in a local restaurant (not realizing it was a pricey local tourist trap restaurant!), and all we could afford was a cheese burger. When they brought it out, it was the meat patty with cheese and no bun. Mustard was on the side, and the water we ordered cost more than the beer (which we didn't order). There was also a cover charge. Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore!
3:00pm	Word to the wise - if you ever want to leave a European restaurant, you have to ask for the bill. They will not just bring it to you. We continued back inside the castle to Golden Lane. It is a very small village that was originally used to house the castle guards. When regular citizens started to live there, it got it's name from the chemistry experiments they conducted there. There were more than a few alchemists trying to make gold out of other metals. Needless to say, we still can't do that today.
St. George's Basilica 4:20pm	St. George's Basilica in the Prague castle is the second oldest church in the Czech republic. It's acoustics are unmatched, reverberating the sound of violins and violas, cellos, and a bass just as they did in the time of Mozart. Unfortunately, true to form, the heaters functioned as they did back around 1000 AD as well ... After waiting outside and shivering in the cold, we showed our email ticket to the concert personnel upon entering St. George's basilica. The Prague Royal Orchestra was attempting to tune their instruments in temperatures hovering right around freezing. The concert started promptly at 4:30pm, and continued to stream incredible music to our soul for the next hour. There are some things that can never be described on a page, and this is one of those times. It has been a lifelong dream for Amanda to listen to music from various composers in their home town. We were blessed to hear Vivaldi's Four Seasons in Venice, Italy. Now we are experiencing Tchaikovsky, Dvorak and Mozart in their inherent region by one of the best orchestral ensembles in Prague. The musicians had to tune their instruments after virtually every song due to the cold weather, we were just about falling asleep from jetlag, and our fingers were going numb, but it was an experience that we will remember for a lifetime.
Dinner 5:45pm	We are now on the hunt for Prague's first cafeteria called the 'Radecky' which was opened in 1874 located at the bottom of the hill from the castle. Today it is one of many bustling Starbucks coffee stores, which appear at all of the prime locations throughout the city. On our way, we dove into a local restaurant to sample their warm soup and dessert. Garlic soup and cabbage soup were the delicious items of choice. We followed that up with the local favorite, apple strudel. It was by far the best apple strudel we have ever had. Highly recommended!
Hotel 8:30pm	We hopped back on the tram that let us off just across from our hotel, the Jelini Dvur. What an incredible first day.
	Sunday 01.25.2009
Too early 6:30am	The alarm goes off as we wonder where in the world we are and what time is it really. Is this still just a fairy tale and we are imagining? Or are we really in Prague? The heat from the radiator under the window jerks our thoughts back into reality. The heat is stifling, so we open up the windows to cool the room off. Too cold! We close the windows just enough to mix the air for the perfect temperature. Ahhh.
Tesco 8:30am	After enjoying breakfast at the hotel, we traverse the downtown area on the metro, ending up in Tesco, a local equivalent to super Wal-Mart. We scavenge for lunch supplies, water and a few fun snacks-including a fresh croissant. The backpack is now a lot heavier!
Charles Bridge 10:00am	Charles Bridge is definitely worth the trip. We walked across the bridge admiring the statues and inhaling local construction dust. The bridge was originally used to link the two sides of the river for commerce (no kidding!) as well as the occasional jousting tournament. I think I was on the roster from one of those tournaments... The construction of the bridge was started by Master Otto and continued by King Charles’ favorite constructor and architect, Peter Parler.
Lunch 11:30am	We explored under the bridge and down the river to a local park where we enjoyed lunch. Trying to keep warm with limited body heat, our Tesco lunch was short lived, but provided fuel for the rest of the day. We also whipped out our old favorite...Fritos, straight from Melbourne!
Pinocchio 12:45pm	Strolling through the Old Towne district, we come across a Marionette store with Pinocchio getting his groove on... Is Geppetto inside? If you want to watch Pinocchio dance, go to 4th FLV movie clip at the very end of the photo gallery.
Starbucks 1:30pm	We happen upon the Old Town square with the world famous Astronomical Clock designed by Mikulas of Kadan, and Jan Ondrejuv in 1410. They were professors of mathematics and astronomy at the Prague Charles university. Across the street beckoned a Starbucks with its hot tea and free bathrooms, or toilets as they call them here. Mesmerized by the green beacon of warmth, we couldn't resist its powers. Inside, we found a delightful spot to park ourselves for an hour, send off an email to our family with their free wi-fi access, and accept free cheesecake and muffin samples from the hostess. Starbucks was a highlight that day.
Live Jazz Band 2:30pm	Just outside in the square, we were greeted by a live Jazz band. What an incredible atmosphere they provided!
Power Tower 3:15pm	Next is Powder tower, Municipal House and a local Czech shopping mall at Namesti Republiky rivaled any modern mall found in the USA. In fact, prices were very similar. We start hiking south to make sure we are at church on time.
PCF 4:15pm	The day before we left, we found an English contemporary church service in Prague that met on Sunday nights. When we get to visit believers in other parts of the world, it is always a highlight in our trip, and this time was no exception. We arrived at the Prague Christian Fellowship church and were greeted by John, their pastor. They were a great group of authentic Christ followers. After the service, we met John, their drummer, who was looking for a guitarist and keyboardist. If you are interested in playing for them, let us know and I can introduce you to John. Renata was another member we met, who is coming over to Florida in February. Maybe we will get to see her again soon! We were also introduced to Paul and Sherry who were part of the filming of a movie in Prague. Ironically, they live in Orlando, Florida, just an hour away from where we live.
Dinner 6:45pm	Paul and Sherry invited us to join them for dinner. We enjoyed an authentic Czech meal at Kolkovna. We were advised to order the Svitchkova and Goulash, which we did. The food was incredible, and so was the company and conversation. It never ceases to amaze me how God provides for us everywhere we go.
Tired Puppies 9:45pm	We head back to the hotel for 6 hours of sleep before going back home tomorrow.
	Monday 01.26.2009
Prague Airport 9:45am	We got to the airport 2.5 hours early and spent the rest of our crowns (Czech money) on a memorable souvenir since the crowns are worthless outside of the Czech republic.
10:15am	What's adventure without some suspense. The Czech airlines flight to JFK is delayed. We are wondering if they are going to transfer their passengers over to our flight. Only by God's grace do we make it back first class. Dekuji (thank you) Lord. What a gift.
Somewhere over Greenland 1:15pm EST	We are relishing in the Business Elite cabin on the way back home. Sometimes it pays to live on the wild side and be spontaneous. I do know one thing. Amanda and I love adventure, and we love God. There's no telling where HE will take us next. Until next time: Na shledanou!