Monday, April 30, 2012

Birthday in Kiev

Tim is celebrating his Birthday in The Ukraine. Following Dublin and Prague, he went on Kiev to make an accreditation visit at Kiev Christian Academy. His days are packed with meetings, observing, and taking notes. This is what he loves to do! I think that every school he visits makes him miss BFA though!
Here are a few pictures from around the school and driving in the city.






Friday, April 27, 2012

Prague, Czech Republic

Tim is in the Czech Republic in the beautiful city of Prague. He is on an accreditation visit to an ACSI school. The school is the brown and tan building in the pictures below.




An unusual looking church. It is a Catholic church, but Tim was told that everyone calls it the Timex building.
I think these are a type of doughnut, typical to Prague.

Old Town Square.


Tim was able to spend some time with Vicky and her family. Vicky formerly taught at BFA and now is teaching at the school in Prague. 


Spring in Dublin!










Random Dublin

Some random shots from Dublin.......
Before crossing the street we had to look the opposite direction of what we are used to for oncoming traffic. These signs are everywhere by crosswalks to remind foreigners like us who have to think twice about which direction traffic is coming from!

The tradition of attaching padlocks to public structures as a symbol of love is a recent one in Ireland, but has mushroomed in many cities in Europe over the past decade. In some cases couples inscribe their names onto the padlock or throw the keys into the nearby water as a symbol of their ‘everlasting’ love. We found some of these padlocks on the Ha'penny Bridge. But now the city is removing these "lovelocks" and asking couples to refrain from adding any more.
If you look closely on the bridge, you can see some padlocks that still remain.


Our favorite place to eat in Dublin was Queen of Tarts. A truly authentic Irish experience! Lots of dessert tarts but also delightful warm meals which included quiche "tarts".


On our last day in Ireland we took the DART, a train that runs within Dublin and in the port towns immediately surrounding Dublin. Very efficient and also inexpensive. A day pass cost approximately $10.






A few snapshots from the administrators conference.......Tim lead the conference and did an amazing job. He is very good at this kind of thing, and I am so proud of him!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

St Patrick's Cathedral

This afternoon we spent a long time in St Patrick's cathedral, the largest church in Dublin, in fact in Ireland. What a fascinating and majestic place! I was amazed by the seat cushions hanging on the back of the chairs. I am quite sure that these were all hand stitched. Very intricate detail. And they are all different! The tile on the floor throughout the church is also very impressive.
One picture shows some school boys doing their homework before their choir performs tonight.