One day during our vacation in the Czech Republic Jitka and I were wandering around Prague. We stopped in at the Charles University Faculty of Arts, where Jitka had studied, toured the Old Town square, grabbed a bite at Country Life, walked across the Charles bridge, then ascended to the Prague Castle. On the way back into town we stopped to rest in a small garden at the foot of the castle. The place immediately evoked a strong memory - it was where Jitka and I had sat during a tour of Prague she had taken me on twenty years ago. I had been attending a meeting in Vienna and had rented a car in preparation for a drive to Germany that would follow. While visiting the site of some Roman ruins outside Vienna I had picked up two hitchhikers, Jitka and a friend, who were going to Bratislava. I drove them there and we wound up having dinner together and touring the city. Over dinner I remarked on how interesting the city was, This evoked from Jitka the comment that I should see Prague, which was much more beautiful and interesting. I replied that I would like to and she said that if I did decide to visit she'd be glad to show me around. I thought, well, why not? I have a car and I could come on the weekend between my meetings. So, I said I would try to come next Saturday. We made an arrangement to meet at a certain metro stop in the city at 10 am in the morning.
We did meet up and Jitka took me on a tour. This was not long after Czechoslovakia had gained its independence from the Soviet Union and there were still many vestiges of communist rule. After touring the city Jitka asked me to drop her at the train station because she was going home for the weekend. Since I was very much enjoying her company I offered to drive the 100 km to her town. We arrived in the evening and I needed to get gas for the car, a VW Golf that took only lead-free fuel. Unfortunately (or not), the only station in her town that sold lead-free fuel was closed and wouldn't open until the next morning. So I stayed, in a hotel, and that evening we walked through a hillside meadow above the town. And again, this summer, on hike into the Cesky Raj (Czech Paradise) we passed this place where we had walked 20 years earlier, leading me to reflect on the remarkable circumstances that had brought us together (we didn't see each other again for 5 years) and how amazing our time together has been.
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