Currently I am under house-arrest in the Czech Republic…. BY MY OWN TEAM.
Due to a cough that has been lingering in my lungs for over a week now, they have said that I am not allowed to leave the house until I am better. That better be soon cause I don’t want to miss out on ministry! However, being stuck in our flat with nothing to do does give me the opportunity to regale all of you with the tales of our adventures in Prague this weekend, with all of the glory due to them. But be prepared for some crazy random happenstances, cause they happened indeed!
So the adventures began Friday night of this weekend. Brittany Letsinger, of Team Hinds’ Feet, decided to make her way home and onto the next step of this crazy walk that the Lord has called us all into. Britt, if you have ever doubted how much we love you and how far we are willing to go for you, our sister, your mind will be secure by the end of this story…. cause we did it all for YOU! 😀 Anyways, Britt had to be in the airport at Prague at 7 AM on Sunday, so Friday night we decided that our last day as a team would be spent seeing the sights and exploring Prague up until the wee hours of the morning, when we would get Britt to the airport, say goodbye and head back in time for church Sunday morning. Our brilliant plan was organized, our routes highlighted, our strategy perfected…. Wait, what am I saying? This is the World Race I’m talking about!
Anyways, we started the day off with a spring in our step, catching a bus at noon to take us to Rumbork, where we caught another bus to take us to Prague. Oh the joy of innocence was in our eyes as we found our way to the subway and arrived in one of the city squares of Prague itself. When I stepped out of the subway, I was blown away by the city…. I mean, in the US, a building is old if it’s over 50 years old. Here in Europe, that baby would be brand-spankin’-new! Hundreds of years of history peel off of the buildings like paint, the architecture, sculptures and archways caused me to drop my jaw and stare in awe. It was a bustling city that had taken residence in the middle of a museum.
We found our way to the river Vltava, that flows through the center of the city. Here, the cameras and sketchbooks were busted out and our team scattered to attempt to capture the fascination of this city (the resulting sketches will be provided at a later point). It was marvelous to realize that I was standing on the banks of the river Vltava that flows through the heart of Prague, sketching a castle, watching the lovers on the benches and seeing my team soak in the sights and sounds of this epic moment. It was pretty epic, you can’t argue with that. The lovey-dovey couples that surrounded us were kinda pushing it though.
We spent the rest of the late afternoon at a park there by the river, watching a hot air balloon floating in the sky as the sun set (I mean really, does it get any better than that??). When evening began to come, we headed out to find a restaurant for a bite to eat. We ended up at this little Italian restaurant, where we enjoyed some pasta and pizza, after which we wandered into a tiny cafe for some delicious desserts and coffee and FEEDBACK! For those of you that are unaware of this concept of feedback, it is something that teams on the World Race do every day. We pray for each other and share encouragements, challenges, conflicts, and words that Lord gives us for everybody on our team. Sometimes it is my favorite part of the day. On this particular day, we were kicked out of the cafe cause it was closing and found our way to the Old Town of Prague, where we finished our feedback and prayed for each other in the glow of a castle. Yep, a castle! How cool is that? Pretty darn cool.
At this point, it was drawing close to midnight, so we wandered back to the park near the river where we had spent the afternoon. The bridges and castles were lit up, and tiny fiery hot air balloons were being released into the sky across the river, making the view just magical. We decided to venture across the river to find the castle and explore some more before our group separated, some taking Brittany to the airport while the others headed back in time for church in the morning, when we were supposed to share. As we made our way across the bridge and up the winding streets of Prague, I couldn’t help but be drawn to every hidden archway and every mysterious door. You never know when you are passing a door that leads to the secret passageways of the castle, a door never unlocked but for this random night when a passing girl happens to grab the ancient handle and turn it just the right way, leading to treasures and histories never before found in this city of secrets. Yes, those really are the thoughts that pass through my mind, don’t make fun of me.
We paused at a city square to take a breath, but the shadow of the castle loomed above us, beckoning and inviting us to climb closer. While the others rested near a bubbling fountain, blue lights casting shadows on the statues of the saints, Lucas, Kayla, Christy and myself, continued the walk. The streets were lined with shops and embassies, dead to the world in the wee hours of the morning but free for our exploration. We climbed higher and higher towards the castle, pausing only when the cold air and exercise made me cough. We eventually made it to the Prague Castle, know as Prasky hrad in Czech. The square in front of the castle was dark and empty of the hundreds of tourists that had covered the premises during the day, leaving only their ghosts to fill the emptiness of the cobblestone streets. I wished we had more time, cause I wanted to try and capture the hallow royalty on my sketchpad, the silence of the streets at night after the shouting adoration of the day. This moment I can never forget, wandering in the courtyard of ancient royalty, overlooking a city of crying lost souls, searching for truth. So many look to human leaders, but histories of war, bloodshed, abusive and fallen governments harden the hearts of people that would otherwise welcome the good news of hope to a generation that is searching for identity.
We made our way back to the rest of our team, who was huddling by the fountain in a shivering, sleepy row. Little did we know, that was a glimpse at the rest of our night. This is where the story gets interesting, so go ahead and check out part 2 of “A night in Prague.”
