Chex Mix to the Czech Republic? Check✅

Believe it or not, Archduchess Maria Theresa never crossed my mind on the flight to Prague.

I became intrigued by the Holy Roman Empress from the 18th Century over the course of our voyage through Central Europe, where her shadow seemed to touch everywhere we went during the 300th anniversary of her birth.

The long flights for me had been consumed primarily by sleeping and eating.

Flying out mid-afternoon proved to be an advantageous schedule, as we had plenty of time to unwind before our normal bed time and managed to catch quite a bit of sleep on our Austrian Airlines transatlantic flight.

We were also able to enjoy a gourmet lunch --- KFC --- at a food court dining table during the break between a breeze through security and our section being called to board the plane at the gate.

Upon boarding, Julie handed me a large Baggie of Chex Mix, my portion from the larger bag we had purchased in preparation for the flight, just in case we needed to barter with Czechs using something they obviously must love.

Yes, that's the type of dumb pun connections firing off in my brain almost constantly, which explains why I'm so quiet in a crowd most of the time (better to remain silent and be thought a fool than ...).

That's the same type of significant mental activity that blocked Maria Theresa  from entering my consciousness even after we arrived in the Vienna Airport twelve hours later to change planes.

There must have been enormous posters hanging around the Austrian capital's airport sporting larger-than-life images of Maria Theresa, but we were rushing through, concerned about our tight connection time for our flight to Prague.

Charles Bridge from Riverboat

We had been concerned enough weeks before the flights to call the airline to be sure the terminal change would not be too difficult for the time allotted.

As it turned out, our second flight was delayed, and then delayed again, so we had nothing to worry about except how the airport had taken an hour and a half away from our time in Prague with their delays, an unnecessary time lag which our tight connection should have avoided.

That's another insanity of the human brain: we often won't be satisfied even when reality bends to meet what we thought we wanted a short time earlier.

Austrian Air's food wasn't too bad, and it seems flight attendants came by with drinks and cracker packs or full meals about every hour, giving me time to nod off briefly between having the trash removed and more snack arrivals.

St.Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle

And despite all those airline snacks, I still managed to eat most of my Baggie full of Chex Mix.

We had arranged in advance for a private shuttle to pick us up in Prague, and we found him shortly after our arrival.

As we drove to our hotel on the modern highway, our amiable driver, a Czech native who spoke perfect English, asked what we thought of Prague and how it compared to the US, even though our frame of reference was somewhat limited at that point.

Plaza in Prague's Old Town

In retrospect, perhaps he was asking me what it was like in America.

As I thought about how to respond, he directed me to the more specific subject of cars on the road compared to America, and I said we have a lot more trucks and SUVs back home.

Prague has primarily small, fuel-efficient vehicles, predominantly European brands, but they were for the most part new and shiny, as opposed to any images you might carry of beat-up Soviet-era Yugos held together with bungee cords and puffing black exhaust.

25 years of freedom from communist central planning has obviously performed miracles for the Czech economy.

When he asked about the buildings in America, I told him they were taller than in my beach town in California, but not so tall and glossy as cities like New York.

I summarized saying the US is a big, diverse country.

Along our drive, apartments along the road were for the most part rather nondescript, possibly Soviet era housing, but pretty well maintained.

When we reached the Old Town, we would find beautiful, restored historic buildings from eras before communism.

I said something about construction from the Habsburg era, because while Maria Theresa wasn't a primary reason for taking this vacation, a fascination with the Habsburg empire in general certainly was, and our driver smiled proudly and said, "Yes, and before that too."

He spoke glowingly of Charles IV, the greatest Czech of all, who in the 14th Century was King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor.

Emperor Charles IV was the eldest son of Queen Elisabeth of Bohemia and heroic John the Blind of Luxembourg.

King John's adventuresome nature and diminishing eyesight resulted in Charles IV assuming administration of the kingdom fourteen years before his father died in battle.

A statue of Charles IV stands majestically at the foot of the impressive Charles Bridge where we returned regularly.

Also near his stature are older buildings of Charles University, which he founded in 1348.  It is one of the oldest continually operating universities in Europe.

Emperor Charles IV himself was highly educated and cultured, fluent in five languages and a patron of the arts.

He fostered early Renaissance humanism during his reign.

Charles IV expanded the kingdom and certainly the influence of Bohemia during his reign but never in a megalomaniacal way.

He took a practical, pragmatic approach to arrive at the best outcomes rather than constantly seeking to expand his empire by military force.

Charles IV steered the Holy Roman Empire away from the elevated ideal of uniting all of Christendom under one monarchy.

Building next to clock tower

Charles IV made Prague the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, resisting efforts of Italians like Petrarch to have the capital returned to its original base in Rome.

Interestingly, without any prompting by me, our driver went on to testify that he loved our new President Donald Trump, and he said 90% of Czech people felt the same as him.

He seemed to think President Trump could be the present day equivalent of their Emperor Charles IV.

Now as to how much that affection for our new President is based on Trump's pro-capitalist and pro-western but nationalist populism, and how much is based on Donald's oldest three children being able to speak Czech fluently (Donald's first wife Ivana is Czech),  I couldn't say, but our driver definitely thinks we picked an excellent leader for the free world.

Statues of Saints Norbert, Wenceslas and Sigismund on the Charles Bridge

Our driver left us at our hotel, where we checked in and took a short nap before a beautiful late afternoon and evening walk through the Old Town to the Charles Bridge and back.

We were tempted by half-price tickets to a Mozart concert starting just as we walked past a ticket vendor, but decided we'd rather just walk.

Illuminated Old Town Prague

Along the way, we checked out restaurant menus, finally deciding on the patio of a jazz club.  Julie had wiener schnitzel with wine, and I had goulash with Czech beer.

The Czech Republic is justifiably proud of their beer culture that includes the Original Budweiser Budvar and Pilsner Urquell, both of which are quite refreshing on a hot day.  While it wasn't the best meal of the trip, my two half-liter beers were just what the doctor ordered for jetlag, and the total price with tip came to about $25.