Last Days Sunday, November 7 and Monday, November 8

Sunday was a glorious warm fall day in Bratislava.  We attended church with Bill Bagatela, our new friend who teaches at the University and lives in our dorm/hotel.  He had been investigating the church a few years ago and was happy to come along.  We went for a nice lunch afterward at the Tulip Hotel.  We spent the rest of the afternoon packing and getting ready to leave for the states and home.  We had decided to drive into Vienna and stay at the NH airport hotel overnight.  It was my idea, and after we got there Stan thought I was brilliant, as the hotel was literally right across the street from the terminal.  We were able to check in our car and bags and go back to the hotel to relax before the flight.
As we were leaving Stan decided to evade the police (it seems like we were always stopped on the border by the Slovakian police) by going the "back way" into Austria and then getting on the freeway.  Success.....we slipped across the border undetected and made it to the Vienna airport without incident.   We did encounter a problem at a gas station near the airport that evening, however.  We filled the car with gas and then parked the car in the gas station parking lot while we ran across the street to the grocery store to get some snacks (just one more package of butter cookies, chocolate, salami and cheese).  We were shocked to go back to our car and discover a tow truck ready to tow our car!!  There were other cars on each side of us, but he was going to tow us, saying (in German) that we could not park there.  Stan shocked him by telling him in German that we were customers who had bought gasoline there and to get the tow truck out of the way so we could leave.  They did comply.  I think that they were circling and looking for tourists with rented cars to tow and increase their revenue.  Our flight home was long, but smooth.  We flew to London, had a 2 hour layover and then took an11 hour flight straight to Las Vegas.  There were only about a dozen Americans on the flight so our line at customs was short.  The rest were Europeans headed here for holiday.
It was a wonderful experience living in Slovakia for the time we were there.  We have fond memories of the students, the Druzba Hotel, the food, the autumn landscape, the Danube River, the history, and our daily walks though town.  Farewell Bratislava!