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Day 9 - July 1st
We began our morning in Cesky Krumlov having breakfast, picking up the car and starting our trip to Prague. Well it didn’t go that way. Our Avis rental company in Germany didn’t understand our travel plans and said we couldn’t travel any further into the Czech Republic with the car that we had. They actually shut off our car via satellite so we couldn’t drive it anymore. We thought it was a Mercedes thing, not a security thing. It’s a Mercedes Class E. I guess this class of car is not allowed into the CZ from Germany because it gets stolen often. We many sure when we rented, that Avis knew what our plans were, but we had to return to Germany anway, so we did. It’s funny, but when we were in Krumlov, many people pointed to our car or stopped to look at it in the Square when we were leaving. I guess it was a rarity to see a Mercedes.
About 1.5 hours from Krumlov we hit the border of Germany and just started driving, wondering where we were going to head next. We just wanted to get out of CZ as
fast as we could. I was a little freaked out as were the girls. Okay, so we finally made it to the border. I breathed a sigh of relief. We started heading toward Nürnberg. Well, they are fixing some of the highways so we had to take a detour. The girls had to use the WC (water closet) so we searched through some of the small cites for one. We came across Spiegelau in the Bohemian Mountains. This is an international glass making city. We stopped at a Bistro to have lunch to realize that there was a festival of music and glass making that evening. We decided to stay here for the evening to enjoy the festival. The girls were a little burnt out on the festival thing so Ted and I went alone.
We stayed across the street from the Spiegelau glass factory in this Bavarian hotel that just screams “the Alps”. It was great deal for a room for us and a room for the girls for about $170 USD total with breakfast. They wanted to watch the World Cup so we went downstairs to get info about the festival. We got a beer and a
glass of wine in the lounge below hoping to speak with the hostess. Lucky for us, a couple in the booth next to us heard us speaking English and offered their help, they were Rolf and Connie. They were also going to the Festival and asked if we would like to go with them? Heck yes! So we finished our wine and crossed the street to the festival.
The owner of the hotel had a reserved table for his customers and since the couple was a regular there, we joined the fun. I would have to say this was one of the most enjoyable evenings yet. Connie spoke some English so we chatted as much as we could. The evening went on showing many of the glass blowers and their skills as well as the folk music of the area. All their works this evening were going to be up for sale all evening. From what I could see, they would be beautiful. As the evening wore on, they bought us shots and beers like we were used to that! Anyway, Rolf, Connie’s husband, bought me a gift, a beautiful green vase with many colorful spots. It was blown
just a few hours before. I was overwhelmed to say the least. It was such a kind gesture from someone we just meet. We ended up closing the place after purchasing many glass pieces that are one-of-a-kind. I exchanged addresses with Connie and Rolf and hope to write often. They don’t have email so we’ll do it the old fashioned way. We’ve invited them to the States whenever they can, to enjoy our culture and surroundings. I look forward to seeing them again someday.
I’ll have to say, for missing Prague and the Mozart Concert, this tops what we could have possibly never experienced just hitting the major tourist spots. Immerse yourself, where ever you go. Enjoy the locals and experience the culture as much as you can. Bye for now, I’m tired and have had too much wine! Talk to you soon.
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