IBTS
Nad Habrovkou 3
Jeneralka, CZ – 16400 Prague 6
Czech Republic
28 January 2008
Dear friends and family,
This week, which began in a very ordinary way with daily lessons and classes, ended extraordinarily with our trip on Thursday and Friday to Dresden, Germany.
Because most of the central European nations have entered into an agreement called “Shengen” (named after the city in which the agreement was signed), people from these nations can travel without papers from one to the other. They travel in much the same way that we in the U.S. can travel from one state to another sometimes without realizing that we have crossed a border. But, of course, America is not a part of this agreement, so the time has come for us to have a proper visa to reside in the Czech Republic. Russia is also not a part of the Shengen agreement, so the Russian students here have had no end of trouble trying to get visas.
Our IBTS business manager, Tomash, has been very good to keep us aware of the situation, and he arranged our visit to the Czech immigration office in Dresden (with the appropriate papers and Euros) to apply for a proper visa. Our American colleagues, Bill and Nancy Lively, were in the same boat – I should say on the same train, for that is how we traveled north together. It was an adventure. Tomash had made our appointment for 9 a.m. on Friday morning, so it was necessary for us to go on Thursday and spend the night, turn in our papers, and return to Prague on Friday evening. We have simply to apply for the visa. In two months we have to return to Dresden to pick them up. We deliberately went early on Thursday to allow ourselves some time to see the beautiful city – a city that has only in the last decade been restored to a semblance of its pre-war grandeur. Actually, I should say it has begun to be restored; there is construction everywhere, most especially in the old historical district.
After we found the immigration department and walked around for some time carrying our backpacks, we finally settled on a more expensive hotel than we wanted. Everything in Germany is more expensive than we wanted – the public toilet in the railway station cost 1 Euro (nearly $1.50)! But the very famous Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden – an amazing art gallery full of old masters—was worth the 7 Euros. How they managed to preserve these masterpieces through the war (getting many pieces back from Russia where they had been “taken care of,”) and through fire and flood (such as the one in 2002) is amazing. We were fortunate that the museum remained open until 6 p.m. We took in the palace surroundings and the very famous Frauenkirche on Friday. This church was completely bombed and utterly destroyed by allied airpower, but has been lovingly reconstructed only over the last ten years. Actually, the bits of the original burned-black stone that remained were placed back into the building with the newer whiter stone. So the entire façade has a somewhat checkered effect. Roger had read on the Internet about this church. It was rebuilt at a cost of $200,000,000. Started as a citizens’ project, there have been hefty donations from individuals in England and America as well as other parts of the world.
On Friday afternoon, the Livelys treated us for a visit to the Dresden porcelain museum. I suppose this is one of the reasons I had ever heard of Dresden. My mother used to describe a child with a lovely complexion as a “Dresden doll.” There was more porcelain than I have ever seen in one place. The collection of Chinese porcelain alone takes up several large rooms. The Emperor August was quite a collector. But he wanted his artisans to reproduce equally exquisite porcelain. I think they succeeded. We took lots of pictures, not in the galleries, of course.
So we returned easily by train to Prague on Friday evening, were escorted by our Lithuanian friend on a tour of Prague on Saturday, and today Roger preached at our church here on campus. His sermon was based on the passage from John 21 when Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him. It is wonderful to know that even though Peter had fallen away, and now knew his limitations, Christ could commission him with a task and could use him. “You, follow me,” Jesus said. For Peter, following Christ meant a life of great service and dedication, but it also meant his eventual death as a martyr.
This afternoon and evening we are enjoying our Sabbath rest.
May you rest as well.
With our love,
Janice and Roger
