Miloš Kvapil

"It was very much used by the democratic force that still existed in Bohemia at that time, although it was suppressed by the communists. But the atmosphere at the rally was fantastic, an incredibly pro-Benes atmosphere. It's interesting that President Benes was dying sometime around that time, around that summer of 1948. That exercise was with great vigor and we came home and we were thrilled with what a wonderful atmosphere it was in that Prague. Unfortunately, then it all ended quickly. I would even say that up until that summer the Communists were still, perhaps, treating the nation somewhat decently. But after the rally, it got pretty cruel."

"Besides that, we cycled, skied, swam, climbed rocks, went to the Krkonoše Mountains, hiked all the hills here, there is still a scout hut in Babí, there is one when you go to Babí, so you go down to the Jizera, and the Jizera makes a kind of shoulder there, and then it flows down to the raft. Under the Mosnovsky, actually, the Benesovsky. So the hut is still there now, we used to go there on holidays, but also on weekends, because we used to spend there really... Scouting was fantastic, because it brought us closer to nature, and built friendships that are unforgettable."

"Do you know what a battledress is? Have you heard it anywhere? It was an English uniform, a very smart one. Tight trousers, and here it was like a button-down jacket, and it was very tight and it was very nice. So I know I got one of those jackets from him and then I walked around in it for an awful long time. So it was nice."

"But the funny or amusing thing about it was that this one girl, the stewardess who flew there with us, she knew a parish priest, and the parish priest said, yeah, John Paul, I know him, he's really into scrambled eggs! And so, of course these people always have the catering terribly judged and checked, however, she took scrambled eggs from home and the Pope ate scrambled eggs on the way."