As a lover of food, I am member of the international gastronomic society, the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs. This involves the arduous task of attending monthly dinners is lovely restaurants throughout Prague.
Tonight’s dinner was at an informal French restaurant called La Gare. As it turned out, neither the food nor the wine were particularly exceptional on this occasion, but there were some interesting people there, as usual.
Eva Wold is an impressive 62 year-old woman who was visiting Prague from Norway, together with her daughter and granddaughter, who all came to the dinner. Eva was born in Czechoslovakia and was brought up in Prague. She explained to me that she found it hard to accept the 1968 Soviet invasion and so decided at the age of 20 to escape to Norway as a refugee the following year, leaving her parents and sister behind.
Sadly, it was not until her mother, also called Eva -- a professor of German launguage -- was diagnosed with breast cancer that the communist authorities allowed her to leave Czechoslovakia and visit her daughter in Oslo. She returned home and died later that year at the age of 54.
In 1978, Eva made a visit to Czechoslovakia with her two-and-a-half year old daughter, Hedda, to visit her father, Zdeněk Spisar. Much to her surprise, in spite of her Norwegian citizenship, she had her passport confiscated and her daughter was taken away. The authorities told her that she would not be allowed to return to Norway and that her daughter would be sent back by the Red Cross.
Her father, a medical doctor who had always refused to join the communist party, didn’t have any influential contacts that could help. Thankfully, her uncle was able to persuade the authorities to allow both Eva and Hedda to fly back to Norway. Her father died in Czechoslovakia a year later.
Eva has since bought an apartment in Prague and makes regular visits here from Norway, where she describes her life as “wonderful”.
It occurred to me that I am just a year younger than her mother was when she visited her daughter in Norway. It is so hard for me to imagine what it would be like to be deprived of the opportunity of seeing my children.
I am happy to have met Eva and I am happy to be back in Prague, even if it only for three days.
Let me take the opportunity of letting you know that my first cousin, Michael Sandelson, lives in Stravanger, Norway, with his wife and two children. He is a pianist and composer. I remember going to their Norweigan wedding about 15 years ago, which was very enjoyable.
On a lighter note, when we left the restaurant, somber Scottish football fans were to be seen on Prague's streets. While we in the restaurant, the Czech Republic beat Scotland 1-0. Their dissapointment was evident.
Grandpa Jonathan
Prague, Czech Republic
