This morning, I begin the long three-stage plane ride to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. If you saw the first Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise, then you already know all about Prague. One of the good guys is killed standing on the Charles Bridge, then falls into the frigid waters of the Vltava River, which divides the city in two. Cruise spends a lot of time running from people around the cobblestone streets of Old Town. He meets an operative who's following him in a fancy restaurant with fishtanks. Etc.
The population of Prague is approximately 1.2 million, so if anyone tries to follow me, I'll have no trouble throwing him off my trail. As mentioned in this weblog last week, my traveling companion is another lawyer, Lanny Darr. We purchased the trip at a March of Dimes fundraising dinner we attended with our wives, who apparently wanted to get us out of the country for a week. My children, who played no part in the evil scheme, told me just this morning that they'll miss me.
The last time I traveled to Europe was circa 1983, when I quit college for a year to backpack around the continent with a friend. The year was broken down roughly like this: nine months of earning money by cutting people's grass in the suburbs of St. Louis, and three months of seeing the sites of Europe by train on $7 a day. Just before I left, my friend backed out, so I traveled alone. It was hard to stay in touch in those days. I didn't phone home once; it was nearly impossible. My reports were limited to letters and occasional mailed-in reports for the college newspaper.
I'm hoping this trip will be different. Lanny is supposed to meet me in the airport bar in just a couple of hours, and I'm taking a small laptop with me so that I can post to this weblog for the benefit of family, friends, and anyone else who wants to play along. I can afford to eat in actual restaurants, as opposed to eating the bread-margarine-jelly combination that sustained me during my last trip. I have a suitcase rather than a backpack.
If it turns out that I can't hook up to the Internet once I arrive in Prague, this post will remain at the top of the weblog all week. But I feel pretty confident I'll find a way to hook up. Which brings me to the one thing that's the same as my last trip to Europe: I have absolutely no plans for what to do when I arrive. When I travel, I favor spontaneity. Here's hoping that that's a good plan.
So, did Tom Cruise throw you off the Charles Bridge?
Prague is a great city. Looking forward to visiting her again.
Posted by: Jeff | July 08, 2005 at 05:19 PM