Wrong Turn in Czech Republic, Missed Poland...

I had already been thinking that I should have done more preparation for driving in Europe, and then I got pulled over by the police in Czech Republic.  Between their and my broken German, it took me a while to figure out what the problem was.  I was driving on the Czech Autobahn without an Autobahn pass.  So that cost me about $60 US (1,000 Czech Crowns) but then I had to get off the Autobahn (freeway).  So for a while, I was stuck way over on the far east edge (away from Germany) of Czech Republic, trying to figure out what to do next.  Finally I found a gas station with an attendant who spoke English, and was able to buy a Czech Autobahn pass (10 days for $30).  But she told me it wouldn't be good in Poland.  By this time, I had lost enough time that I decided it would be best to reschedule Poland for a future trip, and just try to get to Weissensee (Germany).

I made it in in time for a delicious dinner (photo below), got a tour of Weissensee by Jenny and her boyfriend, Danny, then escorted to the "cottage" of Jenny's grandparents where I will be staying (I'll write more about that later).  Today I met other grandparents and relatives, and then Jenny and Danny and I walked around Erfurt.  

Jenny's grandfather was 8 years old in 1945 and he was willing to answer some of my questions.  Since he lived in a small village, he was unaffected by any bombing, but he remembers seeing the large formations of American planes flying overhead.  The American ground troops arrived at the village peacefully, with no opposition at this location.  They were African-American and he had never seen people of this race before, so he was quite fascinated by them.  He said the troops were respectful to the villagers, interacted with them peacefully, and stayed about 2 weeks before moving on.  After that the Russian troops came (we are in a part of Germany of the former East German / Soviet block).

From Slovkia into the Czech Republic.  Started out fine.

I happened to pass an Air Museum in Czech Republic, so I pulled off and found it.
They had a pile of aircraft remains from WWII they had dug up and identified.
In some cases, they had the name/info of the pilot.  Plus a pile of Soviet-era hardware.

Arrived at Jenny's around 7pm for a delicious German dinner!!