texans on the autobahn: May 2005

the experience of your dad putting the wrong fuel in the car. . . PRICELESS!

A priceless life lesson.

There are life lessons that come to us in the tasks of the ordinary day. These moments of grace will remain with us all the days of our lives with the constant reminder each time that task is again completed. Retuning from a wonderful vacation in Prague, we stopped for fuel just past the German – Czech border. In the ordinary task of re-fueling, I learned a wonderful life lesson. I learned that a diesel car will not run with unleaded gas. And now for the rest of my life, when I fill up the car with fuel, I too will be filled with the understanding of the difference between a black and a green pump handle. The cost of car repair: 200 euros. The cost of car rental: 60 euros. The cost of new fuel: 40 euros. The experience of grace : priceless.

Standing on the Charles Bridge, where centuries of Royalty have walked before. . .

Overlooking the Czech Republic, Prague. . .

Inside the cathedral

Preparing to climb all the steps through the Royal Gardens to reach Prague Castle.

Our "brain trust" at work. . .will they be directionally challenged today?

The Charles Bridge from atop another bell tower. . .

Prague castle, the oldest ancient castle in Europe!

Having lunch in the square with friends, Kate and Doug. . .

How many steps to the top?

Czech it out!

Prague is the place to be! Can you believe it? We can now add the Czech Republic to our list of European places we have visited! Last weekend we drove 4 hours in a small American convoy with our neighbors and their children. Never, ever, ever would I have imagined that any of us would visit the Czech Republic! Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic. We walked from our hotel through the Royal Gardens to spend the remainder of the day at Prague Castle, the largest ancient castle in Europe, which was constructed in the 9th century! There were so many parts to this enormous castle that visiting it all was impossible, especially with 5 boys in tow, though they all did quite well minus the occaisional brotherly bickering. Within the walls of Prague Castle is St. Vitus's Cathedral, the largest and the most important church in Prague. Apart from divine services the coronations of Czech kings and queens also took place in it. The remains of provincial patron saints, sovereigns, noblemen and archbishops are interred here. Within St. Vitus's Cathedral is a bell tower. To reach the top of the bell tower you must walk up 287 steps. . .we told Joe to count them, but he lost count along the way.

One evening during our brief holiday, the adults had dinner with a colleague of our neighbor. The food was incredible, but the best part was the moving sculpture of two men peeing in front of the restaurant. I know that doesn't sound very funny, maybe one of those "you have to see it to believe it" things. The man we had dinner with is personal friends with the restaurant owner. This is one of five restaraunts he owns in Prague and his idea is to have something to attract people to his restaurant. So for this particular restaurant, he has this sculpture which certainly draws many people in. . .the funniest part is that near the sculpture is a phone number which you can send a text message to in the form of someone's name - so if you're having a bad day, perhaps PISSED OFF at someone, simply text the person's name and one of the sculptures will then "piss" the name! You have to admit, that is pretty funny and original! Unfortunately none of us had our cameras and so we don't have a photo.

On our last night there, the Czech Republic National Hockey team was playing in the championship and the town square was set up with screens for watching the game, a stage with a band and thousands of people having a great time. The next morning in the local paper was a photo of the winning Czech team!

We would like to visit Prague again to see all we were unable to see!

Just a few of the beautiful flowers at Schloss Mirabell. . .

another view of Salzburg. . .

A view of the cathedral from high above the city.

Wearing our salt mine clothes before we go down into the mountain!

How much further is it?

The Hills are alive. . .

with the sound of music! This past Thursday, we drove to Salzburg in Austria. Salzburg is know as the birthplace of Mozart, the setting for "The Sound of Music", and from what we could tell, the home of chocolate too! The weather was terrible, wet and rainy while we were there, but Salzburg is an incredibly beautiful city even in the rain. We visited the salt mines right outside Salzburg. The discovery of the saltmines is the reason for the wealth of the city and the city's name; salz means salt. We climbed (hiked really) an incredibly steep mountain to reach a castle that overlooks the city. We had planned to visit Eagles Nest, or Hitler's Hideway - Hitler's vacation home, but there was still too much snow and it's impossible to reach in the snow. We plan to visit again when the sun is shining!

Joe's "new perspective" on Germany!

It's a different perspective...

Just the other day, without any prompting, Joe said that he liked living in Germany and would not mind staying longer. What had changed since those first few weeks when he cried at night and threatened to fly back to Dallas and live with his Grandmother? Could it be the recent success of his football team and his contributions to that team? Or, that his friends from his soccer team have even come to the house to visit? Perhaps it is that he has friends at school and has become more involved in school activities? These are all really good reasons, but I think there is a stronger force in this change of perspective. Joe has a new girl friend. A very cute young girl from England, who has lived in Germany for five years.

texans on the autobahn

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

A priceless life lesson.

Czech it out!

Monday, May 09, 2005

The Hills are alive. . .

It's a different perspective...

About Me

Links

Previous Posts

Archives