Walking with Hillary

Window Reykjavik Restaurant, Praha

The photo was taken from inside Reykjavik Seafood Restaurant in Old Town Prague. In 1996 it was among Prague’s top restaurants. I had dinner there the night I walked across the Charles Bridge with Hillary Clinton.

After dinner, I was walking across the Charles Bridge on my way home to my apartment in Smichov (with a stop first at U Maleho Glena). Hillary Clinton joined me on the walk. Sort of.

It was a day or so before the fourth of July. Hillary Clinton was on a European tour with a stop in Prague. As I walked, east to west, across Prague’s landmark pedestrian bridge, Hillary and entourage were crossing west to east.

The Charles Bridge is always crowded but never more so than on a warm summer evening. As I started across the bridge, there was the normal heavy evening press. As I neared the center of the bridge, the crowd moving toward me became increasingly dense with something of an urgent press forward. I was clearly going against the flow when I encountered a flying wedge of secret service and security shouldering the crowd out of the way so that Hillary and company had a wide swath of un-crowded bridge to casually stroll across. I was one of the folks elbowed aside to create that space.

I’ve walked across the Charles Bridge with Hillary.