The perambulating PM

21.01.2008 - EB

Prague is a village, and if you're a frequent visitor to one of its main promenades, you have a good chance of running into the occasional celebrity. They usually have big men packing guns watching over them. If you happen to be walking down D**** St. at the right hour, you might see two dark sedans come screeching around the corner, block the path of any would-be assassins, and deposit PM Mirek Topolánek on his doorstep. But if you take your stroll on Fri. or Sun. afternoon, you might also see the same PM pushing a baby carriage through the same streets, with no bodyguards in sight. It's great news if Prague is now so safe that the PM can perambulate and window-shop alone with his baby just meters from where a hand grenade went off three years ago. Surely it must mean his gun-toting gorillas can be assigned more-dangerous work, such as helping little old ladies cross the street.

Glossary of difficult words

to perambulate - (formal) to walk about for pleasure in a leisurely way;

promenade - a paved public walkway;

to pack a gun - to carry, tote a gun;

D**** St. - although it has been all over the tabloids, we don't want to reveal the location of the PM's residence;

would-be - desiring or aspiring to be something;

to screech around the corner - to speed around the corner while emitting loud sounds from the tires or brakes;

to deposit - to put or set something down in a specific place;

to window-shop - to look at goods displayed in shop windows, esp. without intending to buy anything;

gorilla - a heavily built, aggressive-looking man.



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