'On the Road Again..."

English to the Church - alias 'Church Camp'
For the seventh year straight the FirstPres presenters arrived in Letohrad to conduct the Czech version

The Animals and their Handlers

of Vacation Bible School, or Church Camp as the event is called here. As we understand it, the camp was its usual roaring success with the excited parents already asking the dates for next year. ('We understand...' because B.J. and I were not here for most of the week because of discussions in Brandýs nad Labem, a town just outside of Prague -- more later.)  We did return for the final day of presentations to the assembled parents and witnessed the dynamite animal costumes the kids made and saw the expert choreography of the 'energizers'.  The new members of the team, to a person, quoted all previous 'first-timers', saying they were quite apprehensive before coming but left with the realization that this experience will register as one of the most significant in their lives.  This place just sucks you

Letohrad Mayor, Petr Fiala, with
Steve, Veronika and Miss

into its hospitality, its compassion....and yes, its LOVE!  However, the most fun comment came from Aleš Pomikálk as three cars pulled away from the church ferrying the team (minus one) to the train station for the return home trip.  One detail is that Russ, Miss Good's husband, arrived late in the Church Camp week.  So, with the eight for Church Camp, Russ and then B.J. and I, there were eleven Americans here at the end of the week.  Aleš' comment.... "I was just thinking that after three carloads of Americans pulled out of the parking lot, there were still four left!" (Russ and Miss held back since they had separate travel plans and of course we were/are still here!)  This has been a very active year for the partnership, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Králíky Hike

No, it was not that bad...

Kraliky has appeared many times in correspondence and conversations from FirstPres'ers visiting Letohrad; it is a must for every group to visit.  This time, even though we did quickly swing by the impressive monastery site, we concentrated on the surrounding hills and hiked up and back from a wonderful restaurant complex, Northern Moravian Cabin... trust me, more of a mansion than a cabin.  The trip was short but challenging... not challenging enough to stop the kids!  This was on the Saturday after Church Camp so the 'camp staff' and many church members joined in the venture which took several cars to get everyone there.  The weather cooperated with only a brief rain shower.  The

The Source of the Orlici River

hike was defined by mountain bicycle racers constantly passing us on the narrow and steep trail and by our visit to a race rest stop which went overboard offering us refreshments and other 'stimulants' (it seems there was a wedding in a nearby chapel and the wedding party was gracious enough to share part of their 'supplies' with the rest stop attendees).  But by far the crowning experience came when we spent some time by the headwaters of the Orlici river -- a river very much integrated into the local environment and psyche.  The spring that feeds the river was covered by a small wooden shed with complementary cups to share the bounty of the cool, fresh water.  This was my first visit here - I had heard about it before - and was delighted to see the four inch wide beginning of the

The Mighty Orlici

impressive river we ride alongside on the bicycle trail from

Damming the Orlici

Letohrad to Ústi nad Orlici (Usti on the Orlici River).  Kids being kids, and I DON'T mean only the eleven year old Ondre, the decision was made to dam the Orlici and create an alternate stream.  The next hour was consumed with the engineering feat as others opted to sprawl in the wonderful natural paradise.  
Success!!... but we all knew the next intense rainfall would move the flow back to its original route--- mother nature is like that; if you mess with her enough, eventually she will cancel your efforts and return to her 'normal'.  All was great until we received the inevitable call from B.J. and Veronika who had opted for iced coffee and an alternate route to the cars--- up and at 'em, ya'll.

Wedding Directions

'What's that?'  'I don't know, maybe some new city road markings."  As B.J. and I got closer to the subject of our discussion we soon realized it was not any kind of official action.  Someone had obviously broken out the can of white spray paint and went at it.  The Route 66 iconic marking was immediately evident but we could not figure out the HK-- Hong Kong??  We ruminated on it a few days until we got the explanation.  This was a typical joke by friends of soon-to-be newlyweds who helpfully provided the couple with alternative routes for their lives... either bail out and head for Route 66 or continue on to Hradec Králové and the wedding ceremony.

Biking in Brandýs nad Labem
Back to Brandýs.  Nope, not ready to come clean yet...you will have to wait until the next post.  But I

did want to follow the 'On the Road Again' theme with this.  We were in town for a four days and led off the visit with a bicycle ride around the locale with Mary, the daughter of our host.  Labe (Labem is a grammatical declination), the river, is the venerable Elbe river which flows from the Czech Republic through Germany to the North Sea.  Mary took us through an architectural tour of the twin cities of Brandýs and  Stará Boleslav -- she just graduated with a degree in architecture -- and then a memorable trip alongside the Elbe followed by a soothing ride through the local forest.  It was the beginning of a wonderful experience.