After Prague, we said goodbye to Morgan & Reimer and loaded up our trusty Renault Megane for a trip to scenic Austria.

[Editor's Note: Never rent a Renault Megane. Just get a LeCar instead. First of all, what the hell is a Megane anyways? At least we know where Tacoma is and we could come to an Accord if we had to. But a Megane? That just sounds dumb. Second, it's actually is just a terrible car to drive. Our little beauty seemed to believe that it should only be in two positions: 50 kph or stopped. The engine had no get-up to go anywhere and the brakes were so crappy that slowing down gracefully was impossible. I felt like an overcaffinated teenager on his driving test. "I'm just going to gingerly stop us at this red light and...[SCREEEEEEEEECH!] OK, great. Remember, please keep all hands and feet inside the ride at all times..."]

Off we went to Austria in our Megane for better or worse. Archer was taking us to the place where she and her husband met -- Lech, Austria, a small ski village high in the Alps.


Before we made it to Lech, we spent a night in scenic Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart. It's pretty much impossible to be in Salzburg without knowing that Mozart was born there. He's featured almost everywhere -- shop windows, giant statues, tourist pamphlets, T-shirts, coffee cups and various other places. I'm pretty sure if you're from Salzburg you have to get a mandatory Mozart tattoo at birth. Funny how Mozart is so famous, yet none of you out there know even ONE song of his, right? Well, here's your chance to brush up on Wolfgang's 600+ compositions. As for favorites, I'm torn between "Concerto in D for Piano, No. 16" and "Quartet in A for Strings" myself.


Salzburg was nice enough, but after a good night's sleep we quickly headed off to Lech to see the sights. Unfortunately the weather wasn't cooperating, but we still had a chance to really experience Austria...


With a few cold beers, of course. It's funny -- in Austria (and Germany and much of Europe in general) beer isn't really even considered alcohol. It's just a staple of human existence. Everyone drinks it from morning until night, in cafes, on park benches, at home or in bars. And there's no such thing as light beer (for instance, "Amstel Light" here is just called "Amstel"). I'm just not sure if beer is that bad for you -- everyone here seems pretty healthy. I think the key to their health isn't what they drink, it's how much they have. In our time here, we've never seen Europeans have too much -- they just come in and have a few half liters, then head home. Much like drinking coffee in a cafe. I think these Euros would view some of the drunken overindulgence of many Americans much like we'd view someone doing backflips in the Starbucks after pounding tweleve venti lattes. It's just strange.

In any case, these beers were in the actual place, Cafe Gotthard, where Archer met Milo, Dana's father. He had defected from Czech Republic into Vienna and eventually made his way to Lech for work. Archer was backpacking across Europe with friends and had ran out of money so she started working in the hotels around Lech. He approached her in the bar and spoke German to her (the only language they had in common) and they started hanging out with a tight-knit group of ex-pats and traveler regulars in Lech. And the rest, as they say, is history...


The next day, we rose early and caught the cable car to the top of the mountain to do some hiking. We headed up even though the tourist information office informed us there was 100% chance of rain (I think this means "it's raining") so it wasn't optimal conditions. Still, once you got past the large amounts of water falling from the sky, it was quite nice and beautiful.


We hiked up and over many passes to the small chapel at Burstegg, then made our way back down to Lech. The rain helped make the waterfalls that much bigger and dramatic. Not Niagra Falls but close!


Seriously, it was a very nice hike despite the weather. Besides, it gave Dana the chance to get up close and personal with some of the other Lech locals, which she obviously enjoyed.


After we caught a bus back into Lech, we spent one last night, then headed off for Munich Germany drop Archer off at the airport. Of course, after a few days of straight rain, the drive to the airport was in bright sunshine. D'oh! No matter, it was still great to see Archer and walk in her old footsteps in Lech. Thanks again for everything Archer!


Having to drive the Megane back to Prague (or risk a huge drop-off fee) and not yet sick of beer, Dana and I drove straight from Munich Airport to Plzen, Czech Republic, home of the world's first pilsner beer, Pilsner Urquell. Plzen was a great little town off the beaten tourist track. We ate authentic Czech cuisine (pork with cabbage and dumplings) for pennies then drank a few half liters of Pilsner Urquell at the free jazz concert in the main square. It was perfect.


Less than perfect was our creepy old accomodations, the Hotel Slovan. A former Communist office building, the place just reeked of old Soviet backroom dealings. It was basically one Jack Nicholson short of The Shining. Besides the overall creepiness of the place, the layout was just plain ridiculous for a hotel. The floors were huge, probably 50-100 rooms in a ring set around a gigantic staircase, and since it used to be an office building, the rooms were all boxy large office types with no bathrooms, just a makeshift sink. So there was exactly ONE toliet and shower for each sex for the entire floor. We've shared bathrooms before, but this was ridiculous. My bathroom was close to our door, but I think Dana had to trek like 2 or 3 kilometers to take a shower. Not optimal. Still it was cheap and in a good location, so that's all that matters right? I'm not even going to ask why every room had not one but two doors to unlock before you got inside.


The next morning, Dana and I headed over to the actual Pilser Urquell brewery (the real reason for our visit). "Urquell" is German for "original source" and Pilsner Urquell is the world's first pilsener (those "golden beers" we know and love) and most lagers produced in the rest of the world are based upon this original beer. Basically, any beer that calls itself a pilsner is referring to being made in the style of Pilser Urquell! Dana and I got to tour the catacomb of tunnels the brewers dug to make their beer way back in 1842. Then we even got to drink fresh not-fully-filtered murky pilsner straight out of the barrels! Delicious!

Unfortunately Pilsner Urquell is now actually brewed by SABMiller (the second-largest brewing company in the world formed in 2002 when South African Breweries merged with Miller Brewing Company). And it's brewed in Poland, not even Czech Republic. So as much as I like it, I can't recommend it. Try some of your hometown local brews instead. But definitely get to Plzen if you can.


Later in the day, Dana and I made the drive back to Prague and Penzion Louda. The next morning, we woke early and headed to the airport. (Thank god we were still full from some of Jana's amazing cooking so we didn't have to grab a "foot sandwich" for the plane. Nasty.)

We were on our way to catch a plane and begin the next stage of our round-the-world adventure. We'd already (1) driven across the entire United States and (2) traveled throughout Western Europe with friends and family. For the third stage of our journey, Dana and I would trek overland through Eastern Europe from Helsinki all the way to Athens. All total, we have since traveled south on foot, bus or boat through Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and Greece. So stay tuned loyal TUP readers, there's much to come!

And not to spoil the suspense, but the stage was completed yesterday as we arrived in Athens by bus and ferry from Corfu. Today we hiked the Acropolis to see the Parthenon and all the rest of Athens all around us. Tomorrow we'll fly off to Delhi to start the fourth stage of our trip: India and Nepal. On Tuesday in Agra staring at the Taj Mahal. There's no time to lose!