Today we had to be flexible with our plans when Jacob discovered that we couldn’t drive into Prague without an International Drivers Permit. We had looked into getting one of these before we left but since Germany, Austria and Switzerland didn’t need one, we didn’t bother. Unfortunately that means Lichtenstein and Czech Republic are off our list of visiting via vehicle.

Since we built in some flexibility to our travel plans we are discussing a way to get to Prague via train instead.

Because we could no longer drive through the Czech Republic we had to drive all the way around, a 7.5 hour drive through Austria and Germany. Since we’ve had a few very full days we thought a road trip would do us some good.

As a rule, on the weekends I don’t get out of bed until 8 a.m. so I decided that should be my rule for vacation as well. Instead today I slept in until 9:20, giving us about 1.5 hours to get packed, clean the apartment and go.

Our AirBnB provides a parking pass to a nearby garage but you have to return the pass when you leave, but you also need the pass to leave the parking garage. So Jacob and I went to the parking garage, hauling all our luggage. Both of us were sure that we had parked on either the second or third floor. Nope. After walking the entirety of both the second and third floors, we walk out the door on the first floor and our car is literally right there. Sweaty and exhausted, we still have to return the parking pass before we hit the road.

After all that we still were driving out of Vienna by 11 a.m. We both agreed that Vienna was amazing and we hope to return there someday.

The drive west and north was beautiful. It is amazing how many castles you can see from the roadway and each tiny town seems to have some beautiful historic treasure.

We also saw numerous wind farms and solar panels. There would be rows and rows of solar panels and then whole neighborhoods with homes that have solar panels. It was incredible!

We also enjoyed a character we are now calling, “Coney.” Coney is a cartoon traffic cone that Austrians use to share information about road construction. When you approach an area of road construction, you’ll see a sign with Coney looking sad and something like “800 meters” posted below. This signifies 800 meters more of road construction. As you drive farther along, Coney gets happier and happier. By 200 meters left you have a smiling Coney and at the end of the construction he wishes you, “Gute Fahrt” which is similar to us saying Safe Travels!

Other than that, a pretty uneventful drive. Jacob learned the car starts to shutter a bit when you hit 160 km/h. The autobahn has been an easy drive. Not nearly as much traffic as we experience at home and people don’t clog down the fast lane. People simply pass then move over which keeps traffic moving.

The rest stops are awesome along the autobahn. Many of them include a gas station and restaurant. We stopped at one for lunch today. We both noticed while we were there, among the shop there was a little towel for sale with a picture of a cat on it that said in German, “Home is where the cats are.” We both regretted not purchasing that after we left…

We arrived in Dresden about 7:30 p.m. We checked into the hotel and have a spectacular view of the Kreuzkirche right outside our window.

I’m excited to announce that this hotel provides breakfast and I shall feast! After breakfast we are going to walk around Dresden then hit the road and visit Bastei. Then we are going to take the long way to Berlin so we can stop in Wittenberg and see the church that Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses. We will end our day in Berlin where we will stay for three nights.