tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8472241.post7233080911500566946..comments2024-01-09T00:41:17.570+01:00Comments on Kolo kolo mlynsky :::: More than the sum of its partsJuliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02381204473168533313noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8472241.post-45536931543617488732009-11-15T07:51:14.010+01:002009-11-15T07:51:14.010+01:00I'd been in Germany some years before, and the...I'd been in Germany some years before, and the family took me to Lubeck mostly to see the border (OK, to eat marzipan too...), and impress on me their feelings aobut it. Whatever it meant overall in the Cold War it was certainly important for Germany, and I think in general both sides there set about re-making things with a will and good grace.<br /><br />Autumn leaf James is adorable as ever.Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09764296105901909328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8472241.post-79356686719207366642009-11-12T13:23:57.586+01:002009-11-12T13:23:57.586+01:00Julia: I didn't make myself clear, I'm afr...Julia: I didn't make myself clear, I'm afraid. I'm delighted by the way the ex-Iron Curtain countries benefited, especially where the transition was painless. CZ was the home of the Velvet Revolution, after all. And had a poet, for goodness sake, as president. Jane Fonda said Vaclav was the only smoker she was prepared to share a room with.<br /><br />What was depressing was that the end of the Cold War didn't bring about less bellicose attitudes in the USA or GB. We had arms manufacturers to keep in business and so we looked around and, gosh, thank goodness for the muslims.Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8472241.post-22922173859670804892009-11-11T19:15:43.496+01:002009-11-11T19:15:43.496+01:00It is a fundamentally different place. Happily, po...It is a fundamentally different place. Happily, polls suggest that most Czechs feel they are better off now, which is a pretty decent accord considering the human tendency to nostalgia.<br /><a href="http://www.workfromhomeindia.biz" rel="nofollow"> Work from home India </a>prashanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04583385332262124749noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8472241.post-84378735311720384462009-11-10T19:56:30.665+01:002009-11-10T19:56:30.665+01:00I can't get over what a big boy James is! I l...I can't get over what a big boy James is! I love how his hair has come in...he looks like a tiny little man :) What a great expression on his face, too.Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06945084566888667782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8472241.post-82323269006712949302009-11-10T19:45:31.261+01:002009-11-10T19:45:31.261+01:00How incredible. I've been listening to people...How incredible. I've been listening to people's accounts and it's so fascinating.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8472241.post-3075827870097425612009-11-10T12:21:06.447+01:002009-11-10T12:21:06.447+01:00It was fascinating whilst I was away to talk to a ...It was fascinating whilst I was away to talk to a 48 year old German woman who had such clear memories of this exceptional event..Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08578720378832806483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8472241.post-35270035494121594152009-11-10T11:54:05.472+01:002009-11-10T11:54:05.472+01:00We watched the dominos come down last night and tr...We watched the dominos come down last night and tried to explain to the girls about what that represented.deedeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10278468497564430383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8472241.post-75840168156097239862009-11-10T11:32:09.652+01:002009-11-10T11:32:09.652+01:00Living here, it's hard for me to be bitter abo...Living here, it's hard for me to be bitter about the changes that swept across the region. In the US there is a lot of talk about how things really didn't change much, but all you have to do is to come to Prague and stand at the top of Vaclavske namesti, where the crowds gathered 8 days after the Berlin Wall fell, and look. It is a fundamentally different place. Happily, polls suggest that most Czechs feel they are better off now, which is a pretty decent accord considering the human tendency to nostalgia.Juliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02381204473168533313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8472241.post-15728139437334415042009-11-10T10:56:53.055+01:002009-11-10T10:56:53.055+01:00Yes it seemed the Cold War was over, but then our ...Yes it seemed the Cold War was over, but then our respective governments found other targets for the products of our arms manufacturers. OK I'm bitter but I wasn't bitter then. It was a magic moment. Perhaps the most telling detail were the faces of the GDR border guards, standing around (suddenly much younger) doing nothing, seeing their ordered world literally falling apart. Unable by profession and upbringing to join in the gaiety; waiting for orders that would never come; having to get used to <em>Befehl ist nicht Befehl.</em> I almost felt sorry for them but then reminded myself that only three weeks previously they'd shot some young lad keen to leave their authoritarian nirvana.Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.com