Czechs rebrand communist holidays-for people nostalgic for the trade union perks of old communist

Czechoslovakia.

A Czech travel agency is offering package holidays for people nostalgic for the trade union perks of communist Czechoslovakia, when factory workers were bussed off to recuperate from the daily grind. For a modest sum, guests can stay at a grim-looking hotel in Slovakia's Tatra Mountains, to relive the sights, sounds, and smells of pre-1989 holidays...

The hotel rooms are gloomy and claustrophobic. There is a weird smell in the bathroom. Ugly 1950s chairs sit empty at the end of silent corridors. It is a bit like the hotel in Stephen King's The Shining, only with Lenin and Stalin playing the ghosts. And for some guests the authentic communist ambience is all part of the hotel's charm. But surly communist-style service is no longer a feature.

The fun continues with a train ride to a neighbouring resort, where a mock May Day parade awaits. Even Lenin is on hand to greet the marchers; clearly he was the only local man with a goatee and a flat cap. I also don't remember anything in the history books about Lenin wowing revolutionary crowds with jokes.

"Look, you have to laugh at communism," says Petr Krc, when I ask him whether if it is really appropriate to make light of a brutal totalitarian dictatorship. "Back then, we had to whisper, you couldn't make jokes about the regime. Now all of us are laughing - and this time we're laughing out loud."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8659518.stm

...great way to learn some history, although a vacation about it doesn't seem like fun.