Sharing Prague

If you've visited my blog before you know that Prague is at the top of my list for favorite places to visit in the world. Even though it's in Czech, the country I live in, it honestly feels special to be there every time.

And spending the day in that magical city with long-time friends makes it even better.

I met Lewis during the year I lived in Rota, Spain teaching school as a single girl back in 1984.

He was a young naval officer stationed at the American base, and took part in the Christian servicemen's center that I attended (one of my students was the son of the directors). We hung out together a lot that year and developed a brother/sister friendship that has now spanned thirty one years.

What a delight to meet up with he and his family, who came from South Carolina, to spend a day in Prague with us!

It was not exactly a warm April day (that's an understatement!), as you can tell from how bundled up we all were. But that didn't stop us from taking in as many sites as possible, despite rain, wind, hail and even snow throughout the day.

Thankfully by afternoon the sun came out for an hour as we toured the castle grounds.

We definitely made the most of it!

And for just a few minutes, it even felt like spring had arrived as the warm sun kissed our wind-chapped cheeks and we were treated to an incredibly beautiful, even sunshiny, view out over Prague.

But after a leisurely walk down through the budding castle gardens, the weather began to change once again. A cold, gusting wind hit us out of nowhere.

And just five minutes after making it back into Mala Strana, it was snow-hailing! I've honestly never seen anything like it...truly a mix between snow and hail.

We were too busy inside Starbucks trying to warm up so no photos of the strange phenomenon. Guess you had to have been there to believe me!

But you know what they say about odd spring weather? Wait a few minutes and it will be something different.

The sun didn't exactly show its face again as we walked back across the Charles Bridge, but at least it wasn't snowing like it it was on our first walk across the bridge earlier in the day!

Yet still, even with crazy weather, Prague was beautiful as always. Maybe even more so with the views constantly changing thanks to the strange weather.

Despite it all, Prague showed off her beauty, and we loved sharing it with our dear, long-time friends.