Prague #2of7

On our first visit one Prague campsite was filled, so we found the Hotel Transit — $20 for a room with a hot bath. Since the water was not so hot, they refunded part of money. We parked the RV on the street, and I asked if the camper might be broken into during the night. They were amazed we would even ask such a question, and said, “No chance.” We took a walk around the community before settling in for the night. In this neighborhood there are very nice small houses, with grassy yards, fruit trees, and cars parked in the driveways.

While visiting countries where there is less than complete friendliness with the US, the State Department advises tourists to let the Embassy know they are in the country, just in case. The lady we talked to was a citizen of Czechoslovakia, had worked in the US Embassy in Prague for 23 years, and recently visited the US. She was so happy to hear we had no problems crossing the border. She gets tired hearing about all the problems, real and imagined, tourists have in her country.

She said they hear of all kinds of troubles. Recently an American travel office booked 20 young people to stay at a Spa in Czechoslovakia. They expected a Palm Springs type Spa, with tennis courts and all those good things. But a Czechoslovakian Spa is a place with generally old, sick people, covered with mud, who are there to soak in very smelly water.

Prague was overflowing with people this day (August 19, 1985), but as far as we knew, it was not a holiday. Sidewalks were jammed, and stores were filled with nicely dressed people who did not look to be hungry. Neither the police nor anyone else seem to be making anyone do anything they don’t want to do. We were sure this would continue as long as they didn’t try to do much of anything. (In spite of that, a few years later, in 1989, they did overthrow their Communist Government, during the Velvet Revolution.)

As we drove slowly past a group of Czechoslovakians repairing a street, they saw our US flag bumper-sticker, they smiled, waved and one man hollered, “American!” Some people are going to break their neck looking out of streetcar windows at our camper. They don’t have to see the US flag to know we are from somewhere else, since there aren’t many dark brown Dodge Camper Transvans in this part of the world.