Waking up early this morning we felt something abuzz: 'there's something happening around the corner and we should go an check it out', we thought.
So we walked down the road and bumped into Barack and Michelle Obama...
Not exactly how it happened, but we feel privileged all the same.
The Obamas flew into Prague for a 24 hour dash of meet the Czech President (who has the distinguished honour of representing a country who recently sacked its government), have a gossip with the leaders of the EU states (even more ironic because the Cz Rep currently holds the presidency of the EU) and to chat with 20,000 fans and spectators who turned out on a hazy but bright Sunday morning to hear his message of hope and future change.
Even though we queued from before 7am and stood and waited til he appeared after 10am, we left feeling inspired and that we'd witnessed something great and powerful in the making. This one guy had come to Prague and lifted everyone's spirits by the message that he and his government are going to tackle the nuclear renegades: states and terrorists who put the public at risk and don't play by the rules; and that it's time to get tough on climate change and energy reform.
The fact that he paid homage to a statue of Tomas Masaryk, founding father of (then) Czechoslovakia, which looked over Obama's podium outside Prague Castle - and the diaspora of Czechs living in Obama's Philadelphia / Chicago - touched the crowd by its sentimentality and the way that Obama 'gets it', that he knew the crowd he was addressing and he would not forget the Czech people. They only hope he's true to his word.
