Tuesday April 8, 1997
Awoke at what seemed like the crack of dawn to catch our tour of Prague. Ate the hotel’s complementary breakfast and then headed out. We had to stand around Old Town Square for around 15 minutes or so in the nippy morning air before our tour started. It was at this point that I realized I needed to get a book that explains what each building is. There is no way I am going to remember them all. The tour was in German and English which started to give me a headache because I kept trying to translate what she was saying, and not having any luck. The tour was definitely the best way to see everything. On the tour we stopped and hiked around the castle. It was here, just a few short steps away from Vladec Havel’s office that one of the steps proved disastrous for Mom.
She tried to get a perfect picture and for her effort, fell off of a particularly steep curb and sprained her ankle badly. We did not realize how bad it was, and Mom was a trooper and finished the castle tour limping. (She didn’t really have a choice. The bus dropped us off at the top of the castle, and we had to hike down about 150 steps to greet the bus again.) A kindly man helped mom most of the way back to the bus. After the tour, we went to get her a bandage at a pharmacy.
We walked all through Old Town and took pics of the St. Charles Bridge, the castle, and the spot where they filmed Mission: Impossible. We walked back to Wenceslaus Square and I found a Czech Soccer Jersey – way cool. We ate at the Czech McDonald’s (Quite good actually – Weird that it is better in Prague than in Davis). Mom, ever the trooper and still hobbling (If I don’t see it now, I am never going to see it!) bought some crystal at a shop where the lady behind the counter spoke Czech and German. While Gary and Mom tried there best to buy stuff and have it shipped back home, I gave up translating (where’s Joe when I need him??) and wandered among some of the shops. I had plans to sample the local club scene, but Mom’s ankle was hurting worse and worse.
After getting back to the hotel and realizing just how big Mom’s ankle had expanded, we decided to take her to the Diplomatic Hospital. (Apparently it caters to Americans and other foreigners that trip at the castle). The hospital was something that was a cross between “Gigantomania Soviet Era” craftsmanship and the movie Coma. The taxi driver introduced us to the front desk lady (Now mind you this is a fairly large size hospital on a cliff – we did not see another patient the whole time we were there.). We sat down and waited for a bit and finally the lady took us down a long hallway. Several turns and a dinky elevator ride down one floor, we arrived a HUGE steel door with that friendly radiation symbol on it. After pounding like someone at Frankenstein’s castle, the door swung open and another nurse came out, gave us a once over, and mentioned us inside. We were led down some more empty dark hallways until we came to a waiting area. Gary and I sat down as the nurse led Mom into the X-Ray room. The nurse motions mom towards this platform that she leans against. She grabs on some handles and the platform tilts horizontal and Mom’s leg is put up against the machine. After all the lights in the hospital dim, they release her. The doctor confirms the good news: “No Break!” He exclaims in broken English. We are then led back upstairs to the original waiting room (mind you Mom has been walking the whole time). After a few minutes we hear a large clatter. A door swings open and the nurse pushes out a wheel chair. Mom gets excited until the nurse says “Not for You, Come here.” Mom then proceeds to be examined by another doctor. They giver her a prescription and some numbing topical cream, and then they re-wrap mom’s ankle.
Finally, we are led back out to the front, and we call a cab. The cab takes us to a 24 hour pharmacy, where the lady behind the window tells me “Three times daily.” The box of drugs is in Czech, so we have no idea what they are, but mom confirms that they indeed work. One final note, I found out that my grandmother had to be rushed to the hospital for internal bleeding. Apparently it was a result of an angioplasty that left something to be desired. She is doing fine now, but since my grandfather died as a result of complications from heart surgery, it was quite a scare. I also tried calling Roger to see how things were in his neck of the woods, but he was not home. Bagged the idea of going out that night because it was past midnight, and we were off to Rome tomorrow.
