Staying Put for a Change

This is a picture of Pilsen Gate built in the 14th century. It is part of the town Beroun. The translation of the Czech words are "All things fade in time, God alone is eternal" Here is a small example of the religious references found on a historical building.


Hi Everyone, It is nice to be home during a week-end for a change. Check out the pictures that I posted showing my previous two week-ends. The first week-end I went to a Spring Retreat offered by the Brno church that I attend. I had a great time in an area called the Highlands. It is a beautiful area and we had terrific weather. I enjoyed listening to the Czech that was being spoken and spending time with many of the familiar faces I know. We had a guest speaker lead several sessions on the Book of Acts. Olga helped translate some of what was being said for me plus I knew aspects of what was being studied in the Book of Acts so I could comprehend a lot of what was being talked about in Czech. It was encouraging to actually grasp what was spoken in Czech--I continue to take baby steps in my Czech language learning.

Then last week-end I ventured out on my own travelling by bus (2 1/2 hour trip) from Brno to Prague. I went to visit my friend Marcela. She lives outside of Prague in a town called Beroun. It is quite beautiful there. Not only did I manage to travel by bus but after getting into Prague I found the underground subway; bought my ticket and rode the correct line in the right direction to another bus area; there I found the correct bus to Beroun and my friend Marcela met up with me on that bus. It was a great challenge to travel by myself outside of Brno. I am quite comfortable taking public transportation in Brno but really hadn't had a chance to do much outside of Brno. It is interesting trying to catch the words I do know. Everything was spoken in Czech and I even managed to ask for the complimentary cup of tea that was offered on the ride to Prague and again asked for it on the ride back to Brno :)

Hope all is well with everyone. Take care until next time.

Blessings,
Colleen

Pictures of April 20th-22nd Week-end

Top Picture--My friend's rock garden
2nd Picture--A bear at the Beroun Bear Garden/in the town's park.
3rd Picture--My friend's view of her neighborhood from her backyard. Her neighbor has built a skateboarding ramp on top of their garage :)

Spring Retreat Week-end April 13-15th

Top Picture- a view of the land, it is referred to as the Highlands.
2nd Picture- The first white building is where we stayed at.
3rd Picture- another view of the Highlands--it was beautiful.

Pictures of Saturday's Hike in the Forest

Here are some pictures of my hike on Saturday with Eliska and Jirka. We found what they called a "new castle" which was actually quite old but the map we were using showed an area for an old castle. What we found there was just a small stone wall of what use to be a castle (see the 4th picture posted). The first 3 pictures listed are of the "new castle". It is privately owned and it is not open all the time. I am not sure when it was built.

A Protected Flower

Hi Everyone, Spring has been in the air for a couple weeks now. One of the first signs for Czechs to know that spring has sprung is when they catch a quick glimpse of a rare "praire flower". The proper English name is "pasque flower". This flower only blossoms once a year for only about two weeks. It is usually seen at the end of March or first part of April and is one of the first spring flowers to show itself. Here in the Czech Republic it is protected because it is a rare flower that only grows in a few areas mostly in the mountains. However, there is a small area in Brno where this flower blossoms each year. Several of the Czech families I know live near this place. The government has put a fence around the area and marked it as a national nature reservation area. People are not allowed to bring their dogs into this area and they have to be careful not to step on any of the flowers. It was quite a beautiful sight seeing the fields of violet all over. I did do some research on this flower and found out that it is part of the buttercup family of flowers and that it is quite popular in the State of South Dakota in fact it is their state flower.

It Has Been A While

Hi Everyone, Sorry, I haven't made any entries lately. Plenty of neat things have been going on--please forgive me for not taking the time to share. During the week-end of March 23rd thru the 25th, I was on a retreat that focused on conversational English. I went to listen to the Czech being spoken and to build relationships with Czechs. (Many Czechs understand some English, they need opportunities to practice speaking it.) Near the hotel we stayed at was this windmill. Over thirty of us went to visit the windmill and we found out that it was built in 1878. It was quite interesting going through it. The windmill is privately owned and during the warmer months it is rented out as a place for people to use for their vacation.