Good morning Pilgrims. Although the pilgrimage itself won’t start until Monday morning, we are en-route. In the Middle Ages the route was fraught with danger and the unknown. Delays and unexpected events were the norm and not the exception.

Our journey is starting with a stumble as well. Our flight from Raleigh to Charlotte was delayed and then delayed again. The second delay meant we would not make our trans-Atlantic flight. Have no fear we were able to re-route from Raleigh direct to London and then on to Prague.

The sad news is that we won’t have our private pilot that I mentioned in a previous post. Thanks to Captain Cochran for arranging his schedule to be our pilot. I’m bummed to have missed the flight.

The happy news is that our reschedule actually gets us to Prague two hours earlier than planned. Also we had a “small-world” moment. Our Raleigh-London flight attendant was the mother of our daughter Isabel’s good friend Lucy. Nadine was seated next to a lady from her hometown of Hillsborough. I know I’ve asked for prayers that I’d see miracles on this trip…have they already begun!!

We stopped at Heathrow and split a full English -just because

– and quickly hopped on the BA flight to Prague, a Uber to the castle (to pick up our credentials) and then strolled steeply downhill to our apartment (which shared space with a Vegetarian restaurant).

And with that, we have arrived. Already, I am impressed with the charm of the castle area and the little street where we will live for three nights. It is crowded with tourists, but for two full days, that’s what we will be as well, so it fits.

Our first orders of business were to get some cash and then find a place to get some appetizers to hold us over until dinner. That turned out to be easy except for being overwhelmed with choices.

We ended up at U Glaubicu where we opted for a crackling spread, a pretzel and a couple tapas. Of course we were all eager to try the local beer that is of much acclaim.

Ahoj (sounds like “ahoy” there matey and is Czech for “bye” and “hey” incidentally)

Nadine Here

Thanks to Mark who rearranged all that flight chaos.  I know it won’t be the first time I say it but I’m so glad he’s on the trip with us!!  So grateful to God for working everything out!

One of the things I find endearing about other countries is just slowing down sitting at a table and watching people go by. I know this is a little stereotypical but you can almost spot an American.  T-shirts and jeans… Some even with the UNC emblem.  Europeans and Asians on the other hand tend to dress more stylishly.  We did a little grocery shopping for breakfast tomorrow eggs and tomatoes tea and coffee, milk and butter.  It’s a beautiful evening here with temperature in the low 70’s and clear skies. I have to admit I lost a little bit of steam after dinner tonight!