Uh-oh, only 5 days to go. I think I should be scared (“what will I do after?” and stuff), but then again, I do not devote too many thoughts to that. I travel, travel, travel. Till the last day. “Live the moment!” - every second Hollywood star claims this to be his most important personal insight in the last 20 years – and, you know what? – for once they are not all that wrong (they usually are when you ask about world-politics).

Enjoying life is art. And one person, who is an advanced artist, is David, my former co-pilot through Central America. I am staying at his place in Prague. Or, correction: I am staying and his and his girl-friend’s place. Stephanie is here!

I have seen Stephanie once before – for about 30 minutes in a fancy discotheque on the beach in Veracruz, Mexico. David talked with her a bit longer – maybe some 5 or 6 hours until the disco closed and people started having breakfast in the merciless Mexican sun. Then we hit the road, rode through all Central American countries and down to South-America. From there, David flew back to Mexico and ever since…

David is a bohemian. He manages his apartments, rents them to American Embassy staff, organizes the renovation of some of his flats which were run-down by the Soviets and is friends with about 25 craftsmen here in Prague. They work for him, but when you watch them with their client, the bunch seems to me like a big family. The kitchen builder tells amazing stories of his ostrich-breeding project (how to catch an escaped ostrich with a Mitsubishi Pajero, that sort of tales), his lawyer takes off his jacket and helps getting a tree trunk out of the villa’s garden… And there is always time for a beer. 
For me, that is a life like it should be (ok, travelling is nice, too). It’s your day, you plan it, you decide whether today is your sudden “day off”… There is enough time to spend hours reading the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” (international edition) or to travel leisurely through Europe in order to show Stephanie some of our best sights.

For me, this has some advantages, too. David has time to guide me through the Czech Republic from one workshop to the next one. My Land-Cruiser needs some renovation – new windshield (goodbye stone-chips from Labrador, Alaska, Patagonia and Siberia), new exhaust pipe, and an alignment job, to mention some of them. Payback time comes when I have to help cleaning one of the apartments – but even this was fun. 

After work is done, we visit Prague’s vast Old Town, climb Emperor Karl’s castle and check out some of Prague’s fantastic cocktail bars (I recommend “Treter’s” and “Bugsy’s”). I love Prague – it is one of the most beautiful cities (if not “the” most beautiful) in the world. I could come here again and again.

Do you wait for something? Maybe you wait for a “…but…”? And, yes, indeed there is one. The Italian Plague.  Here we go:
I have been working in Prague for three months as an intern for Swissair (the bankrupt Swiss Airline which of course has nothing to do with German “Swiss Airlines”). This was in 2000 or 2001. And I loved it. Work was interesting, streets in the morning were peaceful, Czech people were happy to see a foreigner in their stores, prices were very low and life was good. Towards Christmas I at that time noticed that the Old Town got a bit crowded with tour-groups. Some of them were quite loud. Of this sub-group, all were Italian. However, Prague was a big city, Italian tour groups got up late and they seemed to have not idea where the good bars were. Life was good (did I mention it?).

Now it is all different. 70% of all tourists in Prague come from Italy (source: Tobias’ Estimate). They find their way here round the year – non-stop. In contradiction from what I expect from a decent Italian, they get up early and block streets starting from 9AM till late in the night. The Italian Plague only occurs in swarms of at least 10 and tends to gather at neuralgic points (entry doors, the head of Charles Bridge, in front of my car, and similar). The Italian Plague is easy to spot (and even easier to hear) – watch out for guys with glossy hair, too big dark sunglasses (even in the evening!) and upholstered jackets. Their female counterparts tend to be wearing fur-boots and the same sunglasses and jackets. They are not interested in anything but themselves and steal in souvenir shops.
The Czechs are aware of the Plague but cannot do much against. The only hope is that with time they will move further east (as the English stag-nights already did: poor Krakow!). 

However, they have not yet found David’s villa and therefore I hope for some quite days here in Prague! Into the old town I still dare go – for something I have installed that bull-bar!

C U in Switzerland!

Ps: No offence Italy. I like you, your kitchen and your people. Every one of them, but not in groups of more than 3.