Return Journey from Germany

The last post left off after our wonderful time in Eisenach Germany last week.  On Saturday morning, almost a week ago, we waited for our train which was 35 minutes late.  No big deal, since the connections I booked had an hour to change trains in Dresden.  Except after we got going, the train stopped.  For an hour and a half.  Good-bye connections to Bratislava!!  They made several announcements about our delay, and it seems a freight train ahead of us hit a horse on the tracks.  Really????  Yes, really.  The Germans on the train had never heard of that happening before.  A kind gentlemen we had connected with contacted a train employee and translated for us to find alternate trains back to Bratislava. 

So by the time we finally arrived in Dresden, our tickets were rebooked.  The tracks were being repaired, so we took a bus to a town across the border into the Czech Republic, where we had to wait about 4 hours for another train.  We only had Euros, which aren't accepted there, and no place would take a VISA card, so we ended up at McDonald's - the only place where we could buy food!!  We settled in at a table upstairs for a few hours, sipping on Coke Light, writing postcards, and playing some cribbage!  We finally boarded our train after 10:00 p.m. - which should have been our original arrival time in Bratislava, to spend the night at Katie's flat again.  The train trip was interesting too - very crowded and loud, and not enough seats for everyone because of the holiday weekend.  In Prague, we picked up a bunch of rowdy and happy hockey fans bound back to Bratislava after their team won a big game.  Needless to say, we didn't get a lot of sleep, but finally did snooze a while in the wee hours when things quieted down a little.  

This was the sign for the ticket booth in the station in the Czech Republic.
I'd surely rather say "Tickets" than either Jizdenky or Fahrkarten.
(Just say those two out loud a few times and see if you don't agree!! )
Or maybe I was just a little slap-happy and sleep deprived when I
got the giggles reading this sign.   LOL!!  

We arrived in Bratislava about 7:30 a.m., which was just in time to walk to Katie's flat, change clothes, have breakfast (we had brought some sweet rolls from Germany to share!), and get to church for the English service.  :-)   The service was such a blessing, as understanding every word is nothing to be taken for granted any more!!  Afterwards, there was a fellowship time at the little coffee shop around the corner, so we got to visit with the other American teachers.  After changing into travel clothes again, we went out to lunch with Katie for some Slovak halušky, then headed to catch our train for Liptovsky Mikuláš.  

When we got back, we made a quick trip to pick up some groceries to fill our empty fridge, did a load of laundry, unpacked, and got to bed early.  After missing a night's sleep on the train, we needed to get rested up for Monday morning at school!!  

And that wraps up the report on our Germany - Reformation - Martin Luther - Wartburg Castle adventure over Fall Break!!  Tomorrow I'll fill you in on this past week.   :-)   
Good night all!!