My wife Bonita and I were in Czechoslovakia with the Lingermans, including Norman.  We were in a big palace-type building whose rooms were arranged in a spiral, becoming increasingly important the closer they got to the center.  When we got to the center room, we expected to see someone important, and sure enough, Gustav Husak walked in.  He was a cheerful man with a huge mane of white hair.  He greeted us in Czech, and it sounded very much like the Russian greeting, and I responded somehow.  He was surprised that I spoke Russian, and began to question me in Russian.  We spoke for a short time that way, and then I had to switch to English.  He was very friendly, and poured us all some wine.  Another official raised his glass for a toast, and when he had given it, he flipped his glass sharply with a deft motion, to Husak, who was several feet away.  Although it was still full of wine, Husak caught it, and not a drop was spilled.  The mouth of the glass was even toward his white shirt when he caught it, but he didn't get any on him.  It was an old Czech custom, and they tried to show me how to hold the glass, with two fingers at the top and the little finger at the bottom.  But I couldn't get the knack of the grip.  When we got ready to go, we looked outside and someone decided it was very cold-7° F.  So we bundled up, but it didn't really seem that cold.  We all piled into a VW.  I asked Dr. Lingerman how he planned to go, and he said through Graz and Klagenfurt.  I was very excited and said we could possibly spend the night at Tarvisio, Italy, if we made it that far before night.