I’m at Bratislava airport with pen and paper because, not through lack of trying, we were unable to find a UK to Europe power adapter. My poor laptop has been asleep for days.
Had an awesome extra-long weekend. Arriving on Thursday night after a stressful train, tube, train, queue, check-in, queue, bag search, run, queue, boarding-journey from work to the plane, I took a car trip from Bratislava to Trnava for a sleep(-in) in a beautiful in-the-roof apartment.
The first day saw us strolling through Trnava’s centre, which is surrounded by a decaying, 5m thick fort with cavities for pointing guns through at on-coming attacks. I now refer to the bit inside as ‘the safe part of Trnava’. There are many old buildings inside, which seemed to be the norm for the town which was founded in 1238 (before I was born). For lunch we went to an underground restaurant with a room with walls/ceiling which formed a continuous brick arch. I asked Peter to ask the waitress what the building was originally used for, and I paraphrase ‘I don’t know, I’ve only been here for 2 years’. Later, on our way out I saw a plaque (in Slovak) that looked suspiciously like it had the buildings history written it and Peter soon revealed that yes, it did, and the building has been a wine cellar for hundreds of years. Lunch, at Peter’s whim, was Slovakia’s national dish. I’m told it’s mashed potatoe mixed with flour (and maybe egg) broken into pieces, boiled and served with a thick parmesan-tasting cream and usually bacon. It was yummy but too strong, too filling and too much, but I’d eat it again. We accompanied it with a cinnamon-flavoured Czech liquor called Becherovka. On the way home I was introduced to the wonder that is Kofola: Eastern Europe’s answer to Coke. A non-alcoholic herb-based drink that reminds me of Jagermeister and comes on tap. I can’t find any here at the airport L
As planned, Friday evening we were driven (via Tesco’s) to Peter’s friend’s cottage for the weekend with about 10 of their friends. We drank, ate, drank, slept, picked apples, visited a castle, dined for lunch (potatoe omellette and deep-friend cheese with Kofola), found blackberries, drank, listened to a lot of Slovak, played cards, slept and went home. A short description of what was a really awesome time.
At the apartment, Peter’s brother and his new wife were preparing for a celebration of their wedding with friends as they’d had their wedding in seclusion on a Greek island. We ate and drank and chatted (sometimes in English) and I found out that I really like the taste of Martini (the liquor, not the cocktail). In the evening we went on foot through the town on an ill-planned journey to get a kofola from a fav pub of Peter’s and maybe buy some wine and find a power adaptor from a Tesco’s that was maybe open. Through luck of coming across Peter’s friends who offered to drive us to Tesco’s (which was open) we got the wine, but no power adaptor, before walking our way home via the pub…and that was my last drink of Kofola :(
Now I’m watching my hour-late plane board. Love watching people board for free-seating planes. Especially the English.
Highlights:
Had an awesome extra-long weekend. Arriving on Thursday night after a stressful train, tube, train, queue, check-in, queue, bag search, run, queue, boarding-journey from work to the plane, I took a car trip from Bratislava to Trnava for a sleep(-in) in a beautiful in-the-roof apartment.
The first day saw us strolling through Trnava’s centre, which is surrounded by a decaying, 5m thick fort with cavities for pointing guns through at on-coming attacks. I now refer to the bit inside as ‘the safe part of Trnava’. There are many old buildings inside, which seemed to be the norm for the town which was founded in 1238 (before I was born). For lunch we went to an underground restaurant with a room with walls/ceiling which formed a continuous brick arch. I asked Peter to ask the waitress what the building was originally used for, and I paraphrase ‘I don’t know, I’ve only been here for 2 years’. Later, on our way out I saw a plaque (in Slovak) that looked suspiciously like it had the buildings history written it and Peter soon revealed that yes, it did, and the building has been a wine cellar for hundreds of years. Lunch, at Peter’s whim, was Slovakia’s national dish. I’m told it’s mashed potatoe mixed with flour (and maybe egg) broken into pieces, boiled and served with a thick parmesan-tasting cream and usually bacon. It was yummy but too strong, too filling and too much, but I’d eat it again. We accompanied it with a cinnamon-flavoured Czech liquor called Becherovka. On the way home I was introduced to the wonder that is Kofola: Eastern Europe’s answer to Coke. A non-alcoholic herb-based drink that reminds me of Jagermeister and comes on tap. I can’t find any here at the airport L
As planned, Friday evening we were driven (via Tesco’s) to Peter’s friend’s cottage for the weekend with about 10 of their friends. We drank, ate, drank, slept, picked apples, visited a castle, dined for lunch (potatoe omellette and deep-friend cheese with Kofola), found blackberries, drank, listened to a lot of Slovak, played cards, slept and went home. A short description of what was a really awesome time.
At the apartment, Peter’s brother and his new wife were preparing for a celebration of their wedding with friends as they’d had their wedding in seclusion on a Greek island. We ate and drank and chatted (sometimes in English) and I found out that I really like the taste of Martini (the liquor, not the cocktail). In the evening we went on foot through the town on an ill-planned journey to get a kofola from a fav pub of Peter’s and maybe buy some wine and find a power adaptor from a Tesco’s that was maybe open. Through luck of coming across Peter’s friends who offered to drive us to Tesco’s (which was open) we got the wine, but no power adaptor, before walking our way home via the pub…and that was my last drink of Kofola :(
Now I’m watching my hour-late plane board. Love watching people board for free-seating planes. Especially the English.
Highlights:
- Picking Blackberries from the side of the road
- Kofola
- The Communist Slovak Cottage
- Deepfriend Cheese
- Cheap alcohol
- Finding a new type of fruit on the side of the road (like a plum, but not; one orange, one purple)
- Picking apples
- Becherovka
- The apartment I stayed in (it had a bidet!)
- Light switches that make ours look like dolls-house ones (nothing better than turning a light on with your whole palm)
Lowlights:
- Not understanding what everyone was always laughing at because my Slovak is limited to a handful of words
- The Skinheads/Neo-Nazis
- Forgetting my camera
- Not being able to use my new computer
- Being considered rude because I don’t put my hand over my mouth when a yawn (culture thing) :P
