Mayor presents Klaus with Everest ice-axe

Prague Lord Mayor Pavel Bem, who returned from a successful expedition to the Himalayas recently, has met with President Vaclav Klaus. During their meeting on Friday at Prague Castle the mayor presented Mr Klaus with an ice-axe he had used to successfully scale Mt Everest. On May 18th Mr Bem became only the tenth Czech ever to reach the top of the world's highest mountain. The 43-year-old mayor took two months of unpaid leave to go on the expedition, something he was criticised for by members of the opposition as well as the Czech president. But, Mr Klaus, himself a keen sportsman, was among the first to send congratulations.

Author: Jan Velinger