Czech Tales of Communism

Prague is a beautiful, historic, and delightful-to-visit city. And if you, like me, are forever fascinated by slice-of-life stories from people who had to live through the Cold War in the Warsaw Pact, it’s even more engaging. Throughout Eastern Europe, guides like my friends who lead me around Prague know how to weave their personal memories of communism into their time with you.

One of my guides talked of the generation gap in the Czech Republic. When she traveled recently to the Grand Canyon National Park in the USA, her older friends asked her excitedly, “What did you bring home?” In the old days, people just fantasized about being able to leave the country to bring home a boom box or a Western camera. To travel just for the experience didn’t make any sense to them…and, in some cases, still doesn’t.

Another guide reminisced about 1989 and how, with the arrival of freedom and the fall of the Iron Curtain, Russian language teachers suddenly had to teach English. There were no textbooks, and Russian teachers took cram courses in English so they could teach their students sentences like “Deez eez my bruder” (“This is my brother”). The fun thing for schoolkids those first few years was that they knew more English from watching Rambo movies than their teachers did from taking the cram courses.

Another guide talked of how, in her youth, she could only dream of drinking a nice cold Coca-Cola. She said, “We couldn’t drink Coke, but we could collect the cans tourists threw away. I had five cans. My friend had ten.”

One of our most popular and impactful tours in our Best of Eastern Europe tour. And many of our Eastern Europe guides — like Honza and Katka, shown here — come from Prague and are beloved by our groups. Honza Vihan is the co-author of my Prague guidebook, and I’m thankful to collaborate with him. With Honza’s on-the-ground, local insights, I’m confident that our book is the best available on the Czech capital.
One of our most popular and impactful tours in our Best of Eastern Europe tour. And many of our Eastern Europe guides — like Honza and Katka, shown here — come from Prague and are beloved by our groups. Honza Vihan is the co-author of my Prague guidebook, and I’m thankful to collaborate with him. With Honza’s on-the-ground, local insights, I’m confident that our book is the best available on the Czech capital.
Comments

5 Replies to “Czech Tales of Communism”

  1. Rick, I had just flipped over the last page of your “Postcards” Kindle book when this blog post popped up. Warm thanks for the generous ride & personal armchair tour! And from this closely trailing contemporary who has seen his own chin a mere two weeks of the past few decades, I’ll say a man deserves a beard more each year – so I encourage your whiskers! Much appreciation for sharing your recent Scottish fun, and enthusiastic greetings from this new reader to all your friends inhabiting the mythical lands of “Chuckleslovakia”!

  2. We were in Praque in 2006. Took a driving trip from Germany, Austria and on to Praque. What a great city. At that time we did notice that the people of Praque had a sort of sober look to them and their personality. Also the car rental company would only let us take a couple different types of cars into Praque. We used a Rick Steves suggested hotel, but we did pay extra to park the car in a garage. The landscape is so different from Germany and Austria. We took off for a day on a drive in the country and it definitely looked poorer than other parts of Europe.

    Hey no more beard?????

  3. Prague is much different in 2012. Beautiful city! Fun place to visit. Exciting vistas! Wonderful subway and train system. Great restaurants. Don’t miss the National Technical Museum. Wonderful exhibits of cars, motorcycles and trains. Don’t miss the Tatras! Only problem is they don’t speak English at the museum! But we had a fun time… Wonderful to visit. Gem of Central Europe. If you want a European vacation Prague is a must! Great Beer! Don’t miss the Dvorak Museum. Wonderful performance of classical opera and music! Dvorak spent a couple of years as a Classical Chair in New York and did a wonderful piece based on our national anthem. A exotic paradise that can’t be missed!

  4. Rick, you are certainly favored by Americam tourists who travel the Czech Republic. When I was in Prague, last year, I met three people who consulted your travel guide. An elderly couple showed me how to get from the train station to downtown, citing info from your book; another couple had torn pages from your guide and helped me find a spot behind the clock tower. A third person, a man by himself, just stood in the middle of the crowd, reading without ever looking up. I was impressed.
    Gisela

  5. After the collapse of the Iron Curtain, there was a secret police facility of the communist era that was converted into a pension. In 1995, I managed to book the room that once held Vaclav Havel for a while. There, I “locked myself in” and read his Letters to Olga (the compilation of Havel’s letters from prison). While Prague continues as a unique and remarkable place, that little undertaking was unsurpassed as a valuable travel experience.

Comments are closed.