May 15, 2000

"We had breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and took our luggage downstairs early, so we could leave Munich by 8:30 a.m. We had a brief delay before leaving while we looked for a lost room key, paid for all of our faxes, and the driver matched up passports with the list of travelers.

It was interesting to watch the countryside change from flat farmland to a mountainous area. We drove across the Danube River and the smaller highway we turned off on took us on a winding tour of rolling hills and barns and houses. About two hours later, we stopped for the driver's break at a gas station and food store. There was a long line at the one restroom for women. The others shopped for drinks, bottled water, and snacks for later. We were heading to a lodge in the mountains and knew we would be hungry later.

We had the usual delay at the Czech Republic border as they inspected everyone's passport and made sure we had the proper visa's for anyone that needed them. We exchanged a small amount of money from a traveler's check to Czech Kronen. We were now going to experience our second type of currency on the trip.

This part of the drive took us through many small and poor villages. We wound through the mountains and strained our necks to see every sight. We saw the most beautiful bright yellow fields of flowers.

The girls laughed when the bus driver had to stop and ask final directions to the lodge and got the universal signal of shoulders raised and outspread arms, meaning "I don't know!" Some things are the same no matter where you are around the world.

We pulled up the final mountain to a gorgeous new ski lodge. We unloaded the luggage, had a delicious dinner buffet, rode bikes on a trail to Ice Lake, took lots of pictures, played volleyball in the parking lot and retired to our rooms. Tomorrow, we drive to Prague."