4th August 1970

Branik

4/08/70

Dear Mum and Dad,

Yesterday we saw the Tony’s parents and aunties off on their travels across Europe. At present I am busy preparing for our holiday in Corsica which we start on Friday so I am writing this at work as I am not too busy at the moment.

We had a good time with Tony’s family. Auntie Pat and Auntie Kath were thrilled about everything. It was Aunties Pat’s first trip abroad. She had planned to travel with her husband when he retired but of course never had the chance. The Fs travelled slowly across Germany stopping at Coblenz, Bonn, Mainz and Nuremburg and arrived in Prague Friday evening. Lucky I was home. Auntie Kath thought to bring a jar of instant coffee which was very kind of her. The aunties said they were quite willing to stay at a hotel but we fitted them quite easily, I had fun cooking for my large family and I don’t think I washed up once as they were all very helpful.

The Bohemian cut glass was very much appreciated and they went home laden with vases, glasses and ash trays. It is much cheaper in the Tuzex shop than in England. Auntie Kath and Tony’s Mum bought some Czech garnets- auntie a ring and Mrs. F. a broach for her sister and a cross for herself. Mrs F also bought a modern glass fish which had been incorrectly priced- it said £2 instead of £20 so she was very pleased with her bargain,

The first Sunday it rained all day and they were all very tired from travelling so we stayed in and played cards while Tony’s Mum read ‘Devil Dr- Fu Man Chu’.

On Saturday we had looked around the castle and Belvedere summer palace and in the evening we went to Slapy Dam. Like you they were impressed with the Slapy area.

On Tuesday we travelled to the mountains stopping at Zelezny Brod where there was an exhibition of modern glass at the School of Glass. Mr. F. bought Tony a piece of modern glass sculpture for his birthday. It is a large smooth Art Deco sculptured block of dark blue glass that looks lovely with the light behind it.

The Hotel we stayed at (Alpski Hotel) was only small, built like a mountain chalet with about 30 rooms. It was not as luxurious as the Panorama we stayed at in Slovakia but the food and service were very good. We were not sure how the Fifields would react to mountain walking but they enjoyed every minute. Mrs F. was very game and did not grumble in spite of slipping twice. Auntie Kath was very pleased with herself as a year ago, when she had the cancer she could not walk any distance at all, so to go on a ten mile hike including climbing 1,400 feet was quite an achievement. We were lucky as the weather changed for the better the day we arrived. It was ideal for walking hot with a cool breeze. We walked up the valley where the hotel is situated, following the river all the way and climbing through the pine woods. I recorded a very amusing scene on the cine camera of Mr F., Tony, and Auntie Kath climbing up the river from stone to stone and Tony and Auntie Kath falling in the water. I hope the film comes out OK.

We were pleased to find at the top of the mountain a route centre with a restaurant where we could have a pint of lemonade. On the mountainside there were lots of flowers including marsh orchids, alpine pansies, hare bells, knapweed and cotton grass. On the way down the mountain we had the new experience of being caught in a thunderstorm. The forest went really dark and we could not see where we were walking. Then the rain just poured down with thunder and lightning. We tried to shelter but decided it was better to carry on and as a result got soaked. None of us had a Mac with us as the weather had been so perfect all day. (All the Czech walkers had handy pocket Macs and plastic hoods). When we got back to the hotel we had a bath and were none the worse for the experience. The next day we visited a large cirque valley with two waterfalls. We all felt a little stiff except for Mr F and Tony and Auntie Pat who did very well for her 60 yrs.

On the way home we stopped at Kutna Hora which they liked very much. The last few days were spent visiting Karlstein castle, Slappy and doing last minute shopping at the Tuzex shop in Prague. We were all prepared to go boating at Slapy on Sunday. I had lent my spare swimming costumes to the two aunties. We went to Zverhost to the hotel Sport and had a meal. After the meal we were preparing to inflate the boat when a thunderstorm arrived and it has been raining ever since so Auntie Kath and Auntie Pat did not get their swim.

The aunties insisted on buying a record of a Dvorjak concert and giving me £5 to buy some shoes and bringing Tony a jumper from England. Auntie Kath is also going to finish knitting the blue jumper for me so I may have a chance to wear it before Christmas. Mr and Mrs F. bought us a nice Japanese style vase so I can do some Ikebana flower arrangements.

I am looking forward to coming to England to see your films of the holiday in Czechoslovakia. Ours are not too bad and I have some nice shots of you and Dad in the mountains. We gave Mr and Mrs F a couple of films to develop in England and we hope to take some more in Corsica.

The boat tickets only had one mistake in that it had our car as a Vauxhall instead of a VW but I don’t expect it will matter. We are planning to travel via Saltsburg and the Austrian Tyrol then via Lake Como to Milan, arriving at Genoa on the third day. Tony has all the equipment ready so I have to do the ironing and packing. We are greatly looking forward to this break. The VW is a good size and can comfortably transport six people on short journeys.

I said you would always be pleased to see Tony’s parents & aunties if they have time to visit. They all thanked you and sent you their love. Auntie Pat said you must visit her in Folkestone next year when her house has been decorated. Mr F’s chest is still bad but he is still smoking. I think the holiday has done him good. We did all the driving while they were here so he had a rest.

I hope Paula and David have a good holiday in Yorkshire- I keep thinking how they would like the countryside here, especially the mountain walks. I sent Christopher and Nicky a post card so they don’t forget who we are.

The plant you bought me is shooting out new leaves so I am hoping it may flower again- it will probably suffer when we are away on holiday. I have a few scrubby marigolds in my window box and some wilting nasturtiums but the standard is not good at all.

I hope Auntie Dorothy enjoys her holiday with you. Thank her for her letter and give her my love.

Have you heard any news from Pat S? I have not heard from her for a long time but I guess she is busy preparing to go to S Africa. Remind her to write to me when she arrives, I shall be interested to hear her impressions.

I had better close now and look as if I’m working. I don’t expect I shall have time to write in the next couple of weeks but I shall send you some post cards. I never have time to write to all the people I should, like Auntie Edna. What did she think of your drift wood from Slovakia?

By the way the driftwood in the giant mountains was very good, polished smooth and white by the mountain streams. We would have been stopping all the time if you were with us. I did bring one piece back as a souvenir, shaped like the head of a dog- psohlavcu- very appropriate.

My Czech has not made much progress or Tony’s German- we don’t get a spare minute. Perhaps we will have more time in the long winter evenings.

The grass outside our flat is full of beautiful blue chickory, knapweed and cow parsley; blue, mauve and white.

Give nanny my love. I hope she enjoys Wales this year

I must say bye bye now. I will write a long letter when we get back from holiday and tell you all about it.

Lots of love

Tony and Gillian

I remember on the journey to Kutna Hora as we met a huge convoy of Russian lorries and tanks. We were travelling in two cars both with Dutch export plates. The road was narrow and winding and we tried to hop past the lorries one by one but they were driving so close together it was almost impossible to get back into the right hand lane. I was in front and came to a straight piece of road and put my foot down and sped past the convoy. Tony followed more slowly partly because the road started to bend again. When he reached the front of the convoy a local police officer stepped out in front of him and told him he had been speeding and had to pay a fine. He tried to explain it was not him that exceeded the speed limit it was another Dutch registered car. In the end he paid the fine. I was sitting in Kutna Hora wondering where the other car had got to and imagining they had broken down or crashed.

Tony later explained the delay, and as usual, noted that the speeding ‘fine’ went straight into the Police Officers pocket. No receipt was offered.  The pocketing of money incident, not unlike the similar experience in Prague earlier in the year involving Tony’s ‘prang’ with the Russian General’s car, was (we later experienced) to be found from time to time in similar guises throughout the Eastern European communist countries. It was said (not sure how true it was but the phrase was well known at the time), that Lenin had said that to take a tip or a bribe was an affront to socialist dignity. Often we found that government officials all the way down to waiters were delighted to have their socialist dignity affronted, most frequently by request.