Mission accomplished; we met Vaclav Klaus!! (Part one) / Ukol splnen – poznali jsme Vaclav Klause!!! (Cast prvni)

So we are back (well, back…I am still sitting on a turbulence-driven airplane)! Since there is so much to tell I am going to start with the hottest topic which is the Embassy visit. Many of you wonder if I met the president in person. Well, I DID! Not only that, I managed to take a picture with him! And talk to him!!!!

But first things first. First I have to tell you about the stressful journey to the embassy. When we flew into DC my husband and I decided to rent a car. The presidential reception was starting at 6 pm so we thought that leaving at 5:15 would be enough time since the destination was only 5 miles away from our hotel. Well, we ran into ‘some’ traffic. I mean the colony of cars in D.C. was NOT moving. I became so nervous thinking we won’t be able to make it that I was getting myself physically and emotionally ready to just throw off my high heels and start sprinting – direction Czech embassy. But my husband managed to calm me down a bit and we finally arrived…half an hour late. Were they going to let us in that late? Did we miss the president?? All these frightening questions were running through my mind. We ran into one of the many police men that were guarding the embassy that night and I rolled down the window (notice that I said I “rolled” the window down – our rental economy car was not ready for any kind of valet parking that’s for sure) and said: “Hi, we are going to the reception at the Czech Embassy”, I smiled, hoping he would say something helpful but he just wearily responded with ” Yeah, you and 700 other people”. And he was right – the the Embassy Row was crowded with people in fancy black suits and dresses. We did find a parking spot on the bottom of the hill and then we proceeded for a nice hike upwards. As we were walking my responsible husband asked me if I had my ID  with me (forgetfulness is my weakness) and guess what? I realized that my driving license was left at the hotel room!!!!!! “How am I going to get through if they won’t be able to identify me? Terror was engulfing us both. We flew here all the way from San Diego and now we are going to miss probably the only chance to meet the Czech president just because of my stupidity??

Nevertheless, we got in a loooooooong line of people waiting for a security check up and started working on a plan B. First, I wanted to call my  friend’s husband who happened to be the president’s pilot during his visit to the US and see if he could confirm my identity. We tried to call but the phone did not recognize the number. We tried it several times but as the line was getting shorter my fight-or-flight reactions started acting up. I started to sweat profusely and bite my nails. The blood drained from my limbs and I my stomach felt queasy. ‘WHAT THE HECK ARE WE GOING TO DO?’ The ID check was going quickly now, there were probably about 15 people in front of us. ‘Let’s pray they will let us in”, said my husband – “that’s the only thing that can help us now”. So we said a little prayer and wearily continued approaching the security booth. As I was moving forward I started imagining in my head what am I going to tell people if they don’t let us in. “Yeah, so we stood in the line to meet the president, we even saw the embassy but we never got to go in because I am a loser…”.

The next thing that happened could not be called anything else but a miracle. As I was waiting for the humiliation of a lifetime all of a sudden the line was going really fast, no one wanted us to show IDs, take our shoes off or go through detectors. Right there was standing one of the embassy ladies apologizing about the time delay we  had to endure and led us right into the embassy hall. What can I tell you; my husband and I were ecstatic!!!! We made it in!!!!!!

There is so much more to tell so stay tuned for part 2, 3, 4…..n!!!

Be sure sure to check out my husband’s blog about the event.

CZ: Tak jsme pratele s manzelem konecne zpatky (no, po technicke strance jsem vlastne porad jeste v letadle) a mam pro vas spoustu stavnatych novinek. Zacneme s tim nejzajimavejsim a to je otazkou, zda-li se mi podarilo osobne poznat Vaclava Klause. A odpoved je pozitivni. Nejen ze jsem si s nim potrasla rukou a prohodila par slov, take jsem se s nim vyfotila!!

Rada bych vam take ale zprvu vylicila, jak jsme se na ambasadu vubec dostali. Reknu vam to asi takhle: nebyla to prochazka ruzovou zahradou. Nejdriv jsme se zasekli v PRISERNE dopravni zacpe, coz me skoro donutilo odhodit me princeznovske strevicky, vystoupit z auta a zoufale bezet bosa – smer ambasada. Nastesti me manzel dokazal pomerne uklidnit, tak jsem ten blaznivy skutek nakonec nevykonala. Na ambasadu jsme dojeli autem, ale o pul hodiny pozdeji. Hrozne jsem se bala, ze nas tam uz nepusti, nebo ze tam Klaus uz nebude. Predstavte si ten trapas!!! Nastesti nam ale mistni policie, ktera obklopovala v tu dobu celou ceskou ambasadu, sdelila, ze party zdaleka jeste nezacala a ze jsme soucasti 700 ucastniku a nekteri z nich jeste ani nedorazili. Misto na parkovani se nam najit podarilo, ale asi tak 10 kilometru od samotne ambasady, tak jsme pred sebou meli pekny vyslap…v lodickach (tedy alespon ja). Zatimco jsme zadychane splhali do kopce, se me manzel s podezrenim zeptal, jestli jsem nahodou nezapomnela svou ID (ridicak). Jakmile to dorekl, po tele se mi rozlil studeny pot. Vzpomnela jsem si totiz, ze muj zlaty ridicak lezi na stole v nasem hotelu. Jak me ted pusti dovnitr, kdyz se nebudu moci identifikovat??

Bylo na case vymyslet plan B. Schodou nahod byl presidentuv pilot byl manzel jedne me kamaradky a jelikoz se mel na recepci take dostavit, doufali jsme, ze by me mohl u security identifikovat on. Jeho telefonni cislo jsem mela, ale problem byl v tom, ze nefungovalo. Nervozita ve mne vzrustala kazdou minutou – zacala jsem se opet potit jak o zavod, ruce a nohy jsem mela jako led a chtelo se mi zvrtacet. “CO BUDEME TED DELAT?” Mezitim na nas uz malem byla rada, tak jsme se s manzelem ze zoufalstvi pomodlili a pokorne jsme cekali na ‘smrt’. Jak se tak pomalu posunujeme k mistu exekuce, zacala jsem si v hlave predstavovat, co vubec lidem po navratu reknu. “No ja jsem slavna protoze jsem stala ve fronte na presidentskou recepci!!….Ne, nevidela jsem presidenta, protoze jsem idiot…”

Nase motlitba byla vyslisena. Jak tam tak cekame, jako jedni z poslednich, najednou se fronta zacne pohybovat podezrele rychle. Nez bys rekl svec, uz jsme byli u kontroly, nikdo se nas neptal na ID, nemuseli jsme si sundavat boty a vyprazdnovat kabelky….nic takoveho! Misto toho se nam jedna z pritomnych slecen omluvila za to, ze jsou casove pozadu. V nemem uzasu jsme a s idiotskym usmevem na obliceji jsme pomalu prosli kontrolou a venku na travniku jsme si radosti dali par hi-fives. Povedlo se nam to!!!

Prihoda neni zdaleka u konce tak se pripravte na brzke pokracovani!!

Nezapomente zi take precist co o teto akci napsal muj manzel.