On Jun 12th we bade adieu
to Greece and flew to Prague via Istanbul. Anaturk airport was interesting.
Firstly, it is a modern airport with many shops. There were at least 4 very
large duty free stores selling every thing from chocolates to some very
expensive clothes, electronics, wines and spirits.
Secondly, the diverse
nationalities, from Belgium athletes on their way to the European games in Baku,
the many people from every Middle East country, African, European, South Asia
and the Americas. Also there were a few Canadians wandering around. We have been
at many foreign airports but Istanbul was by far the most diverse.
We arrived in Prague late
in the afternoon. For only the second time on our adventure did we get our
passports stamped. The Czech Republic is not a member of the European Union. We
spent Monday night and Tuesday touring this ancient city. We visited the Prague
castle built by Charles IV. The church he started, St Vitus, in the 12th century
was finally completed in the 20th century. The work done to complete the
building is seamless with the original work. Without being told one would never
know where the old ended and the new began. A picture of the stained glass is
below. Prague is a nice clean city with modern buildings mixed in with 14th to
18th century ones.
Our trip to Prague was
just a deviation on our quest to Slovakia, the home of Mary's parents. We
visited three of her first cousins and several second and third cousins. We
rented a Skoda Octavia and drove to Osikov. Osikov was founded in 974. Being
always prepared for something unexpected, we ended up driving through Poland and
the city of Kracow. Again another country with no customs at the border. Our GPS
was programmed for the fastest route and this is how we got to to our pensione
in the small town of Bardejov where we stayed. This was only a 15 minute drive
to meet Mary's cousins. If you want to know more about the family reunion you
will have to ask her.
On Monday we returned to
Prague, this time driving across Slovakia. We drove through many small villages
on this route. The Tatra mountains still had snow on their peaks. The scenery
was spectacular.
We arrived back in Prague
late Monday afternoon. We spent Tuesday in Prague visiting the Old Town and the
Prague Castle, the oldest castle in Europe.
Wednesday we fly to
Amsterdam and Thursday we return to Houston. We will post a postscript on the
last 5 weeks but only after we return home.
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