>>From: Dick Harris ('49)

Re: Our Latest Travels 
    We're Back! Yes, we've been traveling again! I recommend
to all parents that they have at least one child in the
airline industry. Fortunately for us, our son, Scott is 
an airline flight attendant out of Dallas and so, we have
parental privileges. Coupling this capability with our 
Rotary International connections around the world gives 
us opportunities that can't be turned down!
    Last winter, we received an email from Tomas, the husband 
of a Rotary Group Study Exchange Team member from the 
Czech Republic, whom we had hosted in our home in 1995. He
suggested that we fly to Prague, where he would meet us and
take us to their city of Liberec, near the Polish and German
borders, in northern Bohemia (Czech Republic). Here we 
would join him in surprising Katerina, his wife on her 38th
birthday on May 13th. We had been planning to attend the
International Convention of Rotary International in Osaka,
but this opportunity sounded too good!
    Katerina is a pediatrician and she and Tomas have two 
little girls, Anna (6) and Marie (4) (whom we call them our 
Czech granddaughters, since we have none of our own), who 
have been born, since Katja (Czech nickname for Katerina) was 
our guest in '95. Anna and Marie also have their birthdays in 
May, so the opportunity for lots of partying was evident!
    When we let a Rotary friend in Germany know that we were
coming to the Czech Republic in May, he insisted that we 
stop in the Black Forest area to meet his wife and see that
portion of Germany. So, we flew to Frankfurt, where we took
the wonderful German train to Frieberg, near the Rhine in
southwest Germany. We spent several wonderful days in Umkirch
(around the church) and the Freiburg area with great food,
scenery, and friendship! Another member of the German Rotary
Group Study Exchange, who had been here in 2001, insisted
that we spend a few days with her family, nearby, only 400
meters from the Swiss border. Of course she took us to the
Alps and we got to meet her wonderful family.
    After leaving Freiburg, we headed to East Germany on the 
fast train and arrived in Dresden. Here our Czech friend 
met us and drove us to the Polish border and 1 Km. through 
Poland, to the Czech border and into the Bohemian area of the 
Czech Republic. Beautiful yellow fields of kanola (also known 
as rapeseed and used for vegetable oil and as an ingredient 
for their petrol) were mixed with wonderful woods and farm 
lands, with typical Czech and German influence homes and 
farms. Much of this part of the Czech Republic included 
Sudetanland, formerly mostly German towns, prior to WWII. 
Many of these German people became displaced persons and one 
of our Canadian Rotary friends is of German heritage from
Sudetanland. He was a displaced person after the War and
joined the French Foreign Legion, where he served in 
Viet Nam and spent 5 years in the Hanoi Hilton.
    Tomas had a dozen roses, each for Bonnie, me, and himself 
to present to Katerina, upon entering their home. Suffice to 
say Katerina was overwhelmed and the two daughters didn't 
know what to think about these two strangers arriving, out 
of the blue, with a strange language. It took a few days 
for Anna and Marie to warm up to two Americans, but the 
childrens' tea sets we took for their birthdays, probably 
helped! Tomas had arranged for Katerina's schedule at a 
clinic, where she practices with her father to be covered by 
him, and she took us to Prague for a few days, which gave her 
a bit of time from job and kids and home responsibilities. 
She showed us many sights and how to use the trams and
wonderful Metro systems and then left us for a few days on
our own. We took in concerts of classical, wonderful jazz,
and gospel and spiritual music, museums, castles, the scenic
Vltava (Moldau) River, the Palace, etc. One day we took an
all-day tour to Karlsbad, a famous spa city, west of Prague.
Here we joined the natives in the tasting the mineral waters,
famed for their healing qualities, in the traditional special
ceramic cups with spouts for sipping the waters. We saw many
hectares of hops growing for the beer industry, growing along
the way and one could have thought we were in the Yakima
Valley, or in southern Tasmania, in Australia.
    Tomas retrieved us from Prague and we stopped to see his
parents' summer place between Prague and Liberec, that has
been wonderfully preserved in the typical Czech tradition
from the 1600s. What a treat to sit in their kitchen and
around the wood stove and have coffee and Czech coffee cake!
We returned to Liberec, which was known as Reichenberg, prior
to the surrender to the Russians by the Nazis. The father of
a former Rotary International Youth Exchange Student, whom
we hosted in 1974, had been in Reichenberg (now Liberec) in
the former Czechoslovakia (now countries of Czech Republic
and Slovakia), as a German soldier, when the Russians were
invading this area. He was in Prague when the Russians
entered that city and the Czechs, with great hatred for he
Nazi era, shot all of his outfit, except for him and another
survivor, who escaped into Germany by traveling on foot at
night. Reichenburg had been originally founded by Jews in the
16th century. Approximately 1,500 Jews lived here before the
Holocaust. Before the German invasion, all but 30 Jews left
the city.
    Tomas and I share an interest in owning and restoring 
older automobiles and he took us for a ride in his 
wonderfully restored Skoda cabriolet of 1958 vintage.
    After a wonderful visit with Tomas, Katerina, and their
families, we were taken back to Dresden, where we took the
train to Frankfurt and our flight to Chicago, Seattle, and
home. So, we've had another wonderful adventure in traveling.
    Fortunately, we continue to experience good health and 
the combination of this asset, willingness to explore
opportunity, and flying privileges, continues to give us
wonderful enjoyment of retirement! 

Cheers to all Bombers!
-Dick ('49) and Bonnie Harris