In July 2005 I went to Prague, Czech Republic. I attended a one month Beginning Czech Language course at Charles University right in the heart of Prague. I stayed in a fine rental apartment, also located in the central area, five minute's walk from the classroom. My classmates were all young college students or those recently graduated. This 70 year old brain of mine did alright, although the learning capacity of youth was very apparent! However, as a favorite hero of mine once said, I did not " exploit ... my opponent's youth and inexperience." I passed the course with a grade of "B" .... not bad considering I had not sat in a classroom in earnest in 50 years! While attending school I also visited with my Pechousek cousins, Zdenek, Svetlana and their young daughter Tereza, in Prague.

Carole came to Prague after the course. I showed her the sights of Prague for a week. We then spent a wonderful week in Jindrichuv Hradec, southern Bohemia. Here, my 3rd cousin Charles lives. With my newly acquired Czech language knowledge (very little) and Charles' English, German and Czech skills, we had a marvelous time. Charles arranged a visit to our common ancestral village of Lhota u Kestran. We travelled to the Castle towns of Cesky Krumlov, Landstejn, as well as several others.

We were joined in Prague in mid-September by a group of friends from our home town in Florida.... the Larkins, Wines, and Webbs. I played tour guide in Prague for a few days, then we travelled by train to Vienna for a few more days followed by Budapest. Carole and I returned home from Budapest at the end of September.

The photographs below are a distillation of over 2700 pictures I took over two months. Most of the originals have been cropped and enhanced in one way or another. Additionally, I've REDUCED THE SIZE considerably in order to speed up download time. I will happily share my photos with anyone interested. I'll be glad to send you the full sized originals or any modification thereof.

Each page below has "thumbnail" images. You may click on the thumbnail to see a larger view, although this is not the full high resolution image I have for most. Additionally, if you are interested, you may right-click on the enlarged view, then save a copy to your computer by clicking on "Save Picture As..". Alternatively, you may describe the photo to me and I will send you an e-mail of the high-resolution original.

Enjoy your viewing..... let me know your thoughts...