On Our Way Back Home

By

Our luggage packed to go to Europe

 More than four years ago, we packed up all these bags and started our adventure of life in Europe. Some of you may have followed allowed with me by reading these posts over the last four years. 



I tried to share with you my experiences of how life is different living in Europe and our adventures in the many countries we've lived in and visited. 


We've met so many wonderful people and seen so many amazing and beautiful things during these four years. These will be years that we will always remember and cherish. 

View of Prague 


It's hard for me to think that we started this adventure with our move to Prague in May 2017. Living without a car and adjusting to the European lifestyle filled our life that year. The beauty of Prague, filled with tourists, was a wonder to me, who hadn't lived in Europe before.


Famous Russian Church





By June 2018, we were on our way to St. Petersburg, Russia. That meant another adjustment to our lifestyle. My husband was now a full time professor at a seminary so he worked most of the week at home and commuted to the seminary to teach once or twice a week. 


I found myself on my own more and making friends with international women who were trying to learn Russian along with me. Because of my husband's work with the seminary, we lived in the "suburbs" in high rise housing with only Russian speakers surrounding us. Daily life was a very interesting experience. 




Famous Riga skyline
After only eighteen months, we were asked to relocate to Riga, Latvia in February 2020. We truly love Riga and easily adapted to life here until Covid hit - only one month later. Unfortunately, the pandemic has dampened our experience here. 


We love living here, but we haven't gotten to meet people or see places that we could have if we weren't in the lockdown situation that continues here. Because of this we're closing out our European adventure.


Now we are in the process of once again packing all our bags and returning to the United States soon. Life there will be normal again to all my readers, so my blogging days are coming to an end. Thanks for being such faithful readers! 

Comments

  1. Mary GJune 16, 2021 at 6:06 AM

    Thanks for sharing your adventures. Best wishes to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. connie cortright.comJune 19, 2021 at 11:36 PM

      You're welcome. I enjoyed sharing them with you. Thanks for following with me on my adventures.

      Delete
  2. Barbara WJune 22, 2021 at 1:10 PM

    Your blog has been a joy Connie!! Thanks so much for the great descriptions; it's felt as if we have participated. :) :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. connie cortright.comJune 23, 2021 at 1:48 AM

      It was fun for me to share my experiences with all my friends while I was in Europe. I wanted to tell everyone what I was living through. Thanks for reading.

      Delete
  3. Author Rebecca McLaffertyJune 23, 2021 at 12:48 PM

    Praying for your safe journey home and a positive readjustment to life in the U.S.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Golden Domes of Riga

By
Image
Orthodox Cathedral - Riga  The golden domes of the Nativity of Christ Cathedral stand out above the trees near Old Town Riga. We walk past this large building in the park not far from our apartment.  The domes shine out to the citizens on sunny days. Surrounded by the trees in the park, the walls of the cathedral are not easy to see in summer, but the size is undeniable. Of course, the golden domes tell everyone that this is a Russian Orthodox Church. After living in St. Petersburg, that is easy for us to define with the Russian style architecture. This cathedral was built between 1876 and 1883 when Latvia was a part of the Russian Empire under the reign of Tsar Alexander II.  Main Door This is the largest Orthodox Church in the entire Baltic area. A massive tower rises toward the sky when a visitor approaches the front door.  Entryway painting I visited several orthodox churches during my years in Europe. The thing that they have in common is that the interiors are covered with images
Read more

"Home Sweet Home" - Not American Version

By
Image
Older apartment buildings We've lived in St. Petersburg for close to two months and have yet to see "the American dream" - a single family house. Here, everyone lives in an apartment, located either in an old building in the historic city center or in a new high-rise farther out. The high-rise buildings are everywhere you look--in the center of everything, or at the edge of one of the many rivers. We keep hearing about the communist era cement buildings, but we haven't seen many that look too old and dilapidated. They are probably replaced by the new high-rises built since freedom came in the 1990s. We live in one of these new high-rise complexes. Our third-floor apartment is in a 21 story building in a complex of five other buildings (called korpus in Russia). We live in Korpus 3. This complex includes several modern, colorful play areas for the children. It also includes an underground parking garage for the many cars that people own. In fact, the pl
Read more

Why Roosters?

By
Image
Rooster on top of Dom Cathedral  Last week I wrote about cats being on the roof of a building, but today I'm going to share the reason that we have roosters sitting on the tip of churches in Riga. When we first moved to Riga, we noticed that some churches have the usual crosses on the top of them, but others have roosters sitting on top of the steeple. I couldn't recall ever seeing a rooster on top of a steeple. On doing more research, I was wrong to think that other countries don't have these on steeples. I found out that's it's common in European countries to see roosters on top of Lutheran churches. Our Lady of Sorrows Church The more common cross on the top of a steeple is found on Catholic churches in Europe. We have a couple of them in Old Town Riga as well. And, some Catholic churches in Europe have roosters sitting on top of crosses. So, the question popping into my head is why a rooster? After looking at several sources, it seems like ther
Read more