Old and New

 Dave and I took a little drive down memory lane a few evenings ago.

We'd been invited to dinner with some new friends, and it happened to be in Havířov, the city we first moved to nearly 26 years ago.

So we drove down to U Zborůvky 18b, our first home in the Czech Republic!

It's changed hands several times since we moved from here in 2001, so we no longer know the owners.

But oh the memories, driving down this lane and remembering what it was like first driving here in November 1993.

As we drove through the city to find the restaurant where we were meeting our friends, we were both amazed at what is the same, and yet what has changed!

When I saw the address of this restaurant, I knew it was near a grocery store that I used to go to. It's been there a long time, so I wondered if it had been replaced by the restaurant.

But no, the grocery store is still next door; and yet here is a restaurant like I've never seen before. Certainly different than what we encountered when we first moved to this city twenty six years ago!

It's interesting though; I certainly loved being here and enjoying all the attention to detail. And the food was excellent too!

But I also loved remembering what was here in the beginning days, and how we learned to love a place that at first felt so foreign. We loved it before there was anything cool, hip or classy here!

I'd definitely like to come back to this restaurant sometime - and for those of you reading who are "local" it's called "Pasta Romana".

I was reminded tonight that old and new are meaningful in life. And I enjoy both!