Driving along an Autobahn in Austria in 1990, I saw two lads hitching. "Somebody had better pick them up before they get run over," I thought. I picked them up and drove them into Linz. They were in their early twenties and both from Czechoslovakia. One spoke rudimentary English and the other rudimentary German. We got on just fine. They were making for Prague. "I've got a couple of days," I thought, so I made them an offer. "If you show me where I can do a busking show and then where I can get a shower afterwards, I'll take you to Prague," I said. Off we went. The drive in my old VW bus took a few hours and the suburbs of Prague looked very unpromising. Anyone who has seen the centre of that fair city will tell you it is best to reserve judgement until you have seen the centre. I did one of the best busking shows I have ever done in my life on that beautiful, warm August night. The show ended with the crowd singing "Back in the USSR" - doing both the harmonies and making the aircraft noises for me. You have to see a good busking show to appreciate just how daft it can be! After the set, I drove the lads another fifty or so kilometres out of town to their homes in Mlada Boleslav. I was welcomed with open arms by one of the families and got my shower, some supper and a very comfortable bed. (Nice when you've been sleeping in your bus for a few weeks). The next day I spent in Prague again and the excitement was tangible. Then an English newspaper headline proclaimed,"Coup Attempt Fails". I had been quite unaware of the cataclysmic events in Russia. Of course, the final fall of Communism in the Soviet Union had effectively made Czechoslovakia safe. The atmosphere was unforgettable - as was my extraordinary luck at being there at such a historic time.