5/6/15 day 18: Vienna, AU

Up before 9 for breakfast. Had a good little sleep on my single bed. Breakfast was decent; had nice breads, yogurt, coffee... The meats were a little grey, so I bagged that idea and took my breakfast outside on the sunny, warm patio. My view was OK too...

That's the "new" castle up on that hill.

We threw the luggage in the car and walked around the town which has a lot going for it; old mining town, built on a volcano, prefectly preserved for the ages. Cobblestone streets like a Hollywood set.... Dig.

View from the bell tower of the "old" castle... This joint...

Look! They had windows back then! And doors?!

Sat outside and enjoyed the sun and a beer and the good company one last time. Gonna miss this country. My waistline won't, but I will.

Hopped in the car around 1:30 for the 2 hr trip to Brativslava which we made without international incident. Had a little time to scope out the scene. Dig, Bratislava.

All of these places and buildings have names, I'm sure, and historical significance... I just have no idea what they are. Oh and the castle.. Cue Steely Dan "up on a hill..."

Oh and this little snack attack was perfect....

Oh don't worry, it's low fat mayo...

That castle kind of pales in comparison to the old castle we saw earlier today, but whatever, it's still cool as hell and there is nothing like it in Phoenix... Except that little dinky thing on the hill just west of the I-10 at the curve past Priest. Phoenix! Ha! Suck it...

We met Olga's friends Hayden and Patricia at the Tesco (it's the Target of Europe) downtown and then walked to a restaurant just down the street. It was called like "Bratislava Restaurant" or something dumb like that. I would never have walked in without prompting, no real signage and when you looked in it was just a hallway, but Hayden had been before and had a good feeling it was the perfect spot... And it was. We got there shortly before the puck dropped (apparently I'm a huge hockey fan now) for the Slovakia vs Norway game. Dig.

Very vibey joint baby with good foods, friends and beers to enjoy. Slovakia lost this match. They are now 3 and 1. But still advance. And I finally got some goulash. Dig.

It doesn't look like much but it was slamming! Oh and then these.

Buchti? Bukty? Not sure the spelling, but they were little fig filled boiled pastries with poppy seeds and some butter? Hey. Look. Listen. They were tasty and that's all you need to know... Well, and the name, so u can order them later...

One last taste (for digestion only) and we said goodbye to our new friends Patricia and Hayden.

Olga drove us to our hotel near the Vienna airport and we said our goodbyes to our favorite Slovak. She was a great hostess and took very good care that we were well fed, watered, and safe.

This tour had its ups and downs as every tour does but we all agreed back in the hotel for the post tour debrief that it was more good than anything else. We are lucky to be able to do what we do and for that we are all grateful and humbled . Until next tour my friends, thanks for following along at home, Love Brian and The Sweet Remains Trio.