Petra shows me around Wurzburg a bit. For a town that was firebombed during the war and hence one of the most destroyed, it doesn't look too bad. Of course it has the German city problem of too many unemployed youths hanging around but overall it is a nice place.

Actually, before we all converge on Prague we meet in the tiny German village where Han's parents live in an idyllic house with a fabulous garden. Amazingly, everyone shows up without a hitch and we're off! We take small roads into the Czech Republic to avoid the sometimes lengthy delays at the main border crossings. Once over the border, the small winding roads are delightfully rural. We pass fields of hops, sunflowers, corn and barley. The villages are small with plenty of woods between them. The signs are few and misleading and we're quickly lost.

Not for long though. Petra spots a place she recognizes and calls for an unscheduled stop. This is the Chodovar brewery restaurant, located in former lagering cellars cut out of granite rocks in the 16th century. It's like having drinking halls inside of a mine. This place is large and rollocking, with accordions playing and drinking songs warbling in some of the private cellars. The beer is great and the food isn't bad either.

Welcome to the Czech Republic! I'm liking it already, especially the contrast in prices with Switzerland. We reach Prague, stand around at the bus depot feeling lost, and eventually make our way to our host Pavel's house. We're quickly out again at the local watering hole, a tiny, bizarre dive decorated with American military paraphernalia that serves petrified sausages (we're the only people to order food here in years) and good Czech beer.

I wound up returning to Prague later in my trip, so I will consolidate the Prague travel experience to a later chapter. I will say that aside from a few minor glitches, we did amazingly well for a group of eleven -- no blood was spilled and we all seem to be friendly to each other afterwards. Kudos to everyone, especially Tony and Hans, for pulling this off.

As for the Stones Concert, it was a very special night. First off, it was Mick's 60th birthday so they had all kinds of fireworks and well wishing. We got extraordinarily good vantage points and it started to pour, just before the concert. Former president Vaclav Havel came on to say a few words in Czech. Then the rain stopped and the Stones performed admirably well for such old geezers. Very well in fact. I had a great time and I think everyone else did too.