Storyline: Virtual Itinerary
Episodes from: Adventures of Topsi, Bobsi, Buku & Navigator
Once upon a time there were countries and people living under communism. Travel then wasn’t freely allowed. Curtains were down and walls were up. The only permitted travel was from one city to another within our country. The big, exciting trip was to the Black Sea, but this is for a different story – perhaps some other time.
The first and only time Metsi (aka Navigator) was in Prague was in the fall of 1990, just after all the curtains lifted and a year after the big wall (Berlin Wall, that is) fell. Things in Bulgaria were still very unsettled. In Sofia the grocery stores were empty and food was scarce, restaurants as we know them didn’t exist, and stray dogs roamed the streets. Topsi, who at that time worked at the Bulgarian Academy of Science, had landed a six-month contract with the University of Prague (now Charles University). In late October 1990 our four characters flew to Prague. It was much better there than in the dire circumstances of Sofia. There was plenty of food in the grocery stores. Restaurants and pubs were full, beer was cheap and the saying at the time was (and probably still is) that any government to dare raise the price of beer would fall.
Every morning the school bus would take Bobsi and Buku to the school of the Bulgarian embassy. Buku had just a month of grade one in Bulgaria, but she was good at school changes then. Bobsi was very happy to be reunited with his neighbour friend and a class mate from the Bulgarian school, whose father had just been posted to the Bulgarian embassy in Prague. He was also very happy to explore Prague alone, eh not completely, but with his sister. He had always taken good care of his little sister.
The four of them enjoyed life there. Metsi relished the fact that everything she needed, and she didn’t need much, to make a decent meal was available just around the corner. Every afternoon when the kids were back from school, the four of them would explore the city. They’d stroll on the cobbled streets of the old city, often cross Charles bridge and walk up to the castle and the area there full of small restaurants. They’d visit many pubs and Topsi would have a few beers (once one finished a pint the waiter would immediately bring another one).
Bobsi would order a huge meal, such as Vienna schnitzel that comes with an egg or two on the top and happily finish it. He’d be happily dancing on the streets after dinner while walking home. They’d visit the famous pub of Jaroslav Hašek, the author of the even more famous classic comedy “The Good Soldier Švejk”. The pub known as U Kalicha” (“By the Chalice”) on Na Bojišti street, is where Švejk – one of the pub’s regulars – would spend his time. (As a side note: if you haven’t read the book, we highly recommend it especially now in the midst of pandemic. It will brighten your day. See “Why Every Progressive Should Read The Good Soldier Švejk” or Paul Goldberg on “How to Stay Sane in a World Besieged by Idiocy”). The beer at this pub was overpriced as was the menu, but both beer and food were good. There is a small glass souvenir in Metsi’s collection, and Bobsi probably still keeps a cork head of the soldier Švejk.
The happy times for our protagonists lasted for about a month. Then came news of hyperinflation in Bulgaria. They didn’t know at the time the exact rate, but it was huge. All their savings that had been enough to buy a house were diminished to an amount that would not have been enough to buy a small fridge. They were told that the three of them should fly back to Bulgaria before the end of the year or else they’d have to buy their own their tickets, which you guessed it, would have been impossibly expensive. They’d fly back after the school semester ended on December 23. And so the flight for Bobsi, Buku and Metsi was rescheduled for after Xmas, just before the new and scary 1991 arose. Topsi was allowed to stay until February or March but his flight back was canceled and replaced by a train back to Sofia. Much later they’d read that inflation would peak at a monthly rate of 242% in Feb. 1991.
Since there was not much time left, they tried to enjoy every moment of Prague. The kids were fascinated by the huge Xmas tree and Xmas setting on Staré Mesto (Old Town Square). One evening, they enjoyed a farewell dinner at the Indian restaurant nearby. And then it was time to go back to the grim reality of having nothing on the table. This, from today’s viewpoint, is a distant time. However, the vivid images of Prague in the 90s are still alive in Metsi’s head. It would have been nice in 2020 to have revisited what is now said to be an overcrowded city, reimagined the quiet cobble-stoned streets of the 90s, and once again lifted a glass to the Good Soldier Švejk.
If you are new to the “Virtual Itinerary” storyline: All the stories here are real, although from the past, some from a quite distant past. It covers travels to countries and places we had in our real Spring 2020 itinerary. If not for Covid-19 we’d be traveling right now.
Join the conversation around our e-Table