August 16 - 17…Last full day in Horni Poubny and, finally, on to the next country!

We woke up to another beautiful day and to the last full day we would spend in our wonderful Mountain exchange . After breakfast, Pam and Miles decided to take a long hike and Rod, Priscilla and Bill and I went into Harrachov to ride in the Gondola up to the top of the ski runs to see the spectacular view of the valley below. I'd never been on a ski lift before, and the rapid exit at the top was a little unexpected and jarring. The view was, indeed, breathtaking and, looking down at the tiny little houses so far away….not being a skier… it was terrifying for me to imagine skiing down those very steep and long slopes.

The hike down was quite a bit trickier and longer than we had anticipated which called for a cold beer, once we reached the bottom. After we quenched our thirst and had a bite to eat, we roamed the main street of Harrachov, looking for last minute things to buy before returning to the cabin.

Pavel and Marina were planning on driving over from Prague for our last night and invited us to have a cookout with them as they were bringng some really good sausages and bread from Prague along with, of course, an abundant supply of Urquell beer . They had a fire pit on the upper portion of the property and it was a perfect evening for roasting our sausages, sharing tall tales and even singing some classic campfire songs. To top off the evening, we were treated to a magnificent sunset. What a perfect way to end the busy but, also, relaxing week we shared together in this very special place.

The next morning, after getting packed, we caravanned back to Prague to return the cars at the train station and take the train to Vienna. We had been in the Czech Republic for two weeks and, after our mountain retreat, were rested up and ready to tackle another big city….Vienna.

The Prague train station felt more like an airport, with lots of places to eat and many attractive shops. We arrived a few hours before our departure time so, went in shifts to check out the shops while some of us hung out at Burger King (in Prague, no less) to watch the luggage. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of something I saw in one of the book and magazine shops and wondered if something like this was available in the States . It was pretty unbelievable and I simply had to include it in the photo gallery of this blog.

We had a very comfortable four-hour train ride to Vienna. Upon our arrival, both Miles and Rod were anxious to try out their "Uber" applications to order a van that would accommodate all six of us and our luggage. This turned into a big, but sort of funny, fiasco and I’ve included a few photos that depict this crazy comedy of errors. After about an hour of Rod and Miles making repeated calls to the Uber guy, conferring with each other and then with Bill about where this guy could possibly be, Bill going into the station to see if there was, perhaps, another exit where the Uber guy might be, they finally were able to determine that he was waiting at the address they had given him for our destination instead of our arrival.  So, we ended up having to cancel the Uber guy altogether and take two taxis to our home exchange, where four of us would be staying, and to the nearby hotel for the remaining two .

We had met the hosts of our home exchange, Bruno and Beatrice, two years ago when they had spent a few weeks at our home in Mexico. The flat was lovely and in a great location, just a few blocks from the Schonbrunn Castle and the metro station. Unfortunately, it could only accommodate four of us but we had arranged for an adequate hotel about six blocks away where Rod and Priscilla ended up staying. Bruno and Beatrice were away on holiday but left us tons of information of places to visit, things to do and places to eat.

After everyone got settled in, we went to eat at a fabulous Greek restaurant, only two blocks away, that Bruno had recommended. It had been a long day and we had a walking tour scheduled for the morning so, we all retired to our respective new abodes to get a good night’s sleep so we would be rested for the next phase of our travel adventure.