Around Town: Cruising the party circuit

It's the fat season for national day parties at the embassies, and despite the sweltering tropical weather, two of the most popular attracted capacity crowds last week.

The Canada Day celebration July 1 was also a going-away party for Ambassador Michael Calcott, who is wrapping up a three-year stay in the Czech Republic. A jazz combo welcomed guests, most of whom were huddled under trees and tents - not because of rain, but to escape the blazing sun. The crowd buzzed like a swarm of insects, talking their way through speeches by Czech Senate President Přemysl Sobotka and Papal Nuncio Diego Causero and, truth be told, not paying much attention to what Calcott had to say, either.

Otherwise, it was a golden moment for the ambassador, who shook hands and traded kisses with a steady stream of sweaty well-wishers. He seemed momentarily startled when a reporter approached him with a notebook, blurting out, "Oh, he's working! Cut off his liquor!"

Asked what he'll miss, Calcott said, "I hate to sound like a tourist, but Český Krumlov - I just love it there." A history buff, Calcott took full advantage of his posting in Central Europe. "I didn't really know Czech history before I got here, so living in Prague has been a dream," he said. "I've seen and learned a lot."

In August, Calcott heads to Ottawa to become dean of Canada's Diplomatic Academy, a position that should suit him well. "I'll be a queer old dean!" he said with a boisterous laugh.

It's been refreshing to have an openly gay ambassador, though it's a bit disconcerting to be at his party and have a Hungarian attaché sidle up and purr, in his best Marlene Dietrich voice, "I vant to talk with you, because you are tall and have such positive energy." No thanks, Charlie.

Just as the Canadians deftly avoided any mention of the ongoing visa imbroglio with the Czechs, American Chargé d'Affaires Mary Thompson-Jones managed to tiptoe around missile defense in her speech the next day at the U.S. Independence Day party. Instead, she rolled out a long and impressive list of other Czech-American efforts, which included visits to Prague over the past year by 70-plus U.S. Congressmen, five cabinet secretaries, 24 generals, two governors, three special envoys and, "oh yes, one president."

She was followed by Czech President Václav Klaus, conspicuous in his absence last year but a regular guy this year, mingling with the crowd and joking in his speech about the "Florida-like weather." Except for a brief digression into the necessity of letting the current economic crisis "run its course" (read: free-market economics), Klaus behaved himself, even acting happy that the Czechs joined the EU and NATO.

There's a reason the American party draws about 2,000 people every year, and it reads something like this: McDonald's, KFC, T.G.I. Friday's, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Starbucks. If you're willing to wait in line, you can get seriously good food from the Marriott, Hilton, InterContinental and Alcron hotel booths. And the taps were going nonstop at two generous Staropramen stands.

For this reporter, nothing beat the Maryland crab cakes the Marriott was dishing up. That, and a couple visits to the Jack Daniel's stand - on ice, please - will get you through a steamy summer afternoon.

Frank Kuznik can be reached at
fkuznik@praguepost.com