Now for the Bratislava post.
Oh yes, I finally arrived. Oh man, was it hectic (understatement of the...)
Let's start at the beginning, even though my Internet time is running by quickly here. This is my third computer and I've had to switch keyboards too. They don't like me much here, but it's not my fault I type too quickly and all the keys get stuck together...is it?
Saturday morning I woke up bright and early at 5:30 a.m. after having gone to sleep at 3 a.m. (hey, it was my last night in Brussels). At about 6:30 a.m. I made my trip over to Brussels airport (for more on that, read below). When I finally arrived in Bratislava (after delicious cheese sandwiches on the flights)...I realized I had about 1.5 hours to get from the airport to my hostel, on the outskirts of town, check into it, change into my clothes and get back into the center of town for the wedding ceremony (and we all know how quick those are...
As any good tourist/arriver person in a foreign country I searched out the information desk, the ATM and a kind lady who told me how to get into town, my hostel, changed my money into small bills and drew everything out nicely on a map. She wished me luck on my "adventure" and rushed me out of the station, warning me that it would take 45 minutes to get to my hostel alone, and that I'd possibly miss five minutes of the ceremony...if all went smoothly and things worked out fine at the hostel (right).
I left the map at the station (oops), and went outside to wait for the bus. T=3 p.m., ceremony at 4:15 p.m.
I frantically looked around for a bus or any possible ride. It was a day of good samaritans and guardian angels...as it has been said...I either have the best of luck or the worst luck. I am nothing if not extreme!
Anyway, I got on the bus finally and settled in for my journey. I had no clue where I was supposed to get off because of the lack of map situation, and I asked some people on the bus, but no one seemed to speak English or French (that came in handy later). Finally, I see a nice family of a mother, her daughter (and as I later discover), the daughter's neice. The three are having a reunion of sorts on the bus since the daughter and neice had just gotten back from a vacation in Bulgaria. Sadly, I disrupt this happy get together with my questions and pretty soon they're intently planning out my way. As luck would have it, the older daughter spoke English and the mother had (fortunately) worked seven years in that part of town, so she remembered how to get to my hostel. The daughter said she would come with me on my journey. Did I mention it was pouring rain? Yes, it was.
So while her mom and neice take all her stuff with them to go to the train station, where she will have to catch a train out at 5 p.m., me and the daughter get off the bus at the proper stop and she ushers me onto the right tram. I was very very lucky. T= 3: 25 p.m. The tram arrives at 3:35 p.m. and things are looking up. We dash into the hostel and get to the front desk. I must admit the place is not looking very impressive, and not a single person speaks English. The daughter, thankfully, translates the entire situation. The people there say I need to pay them for the room first but they do not have change nor do they take credit card. Lovely.
I leave my stuff with them at the desk (somewhat hesitantly) and run outside with the daughter to the bankomat and then to the gas station to get change--luckily both are within running distance--and we are both pretty wet by now. T=3:45 p.m. I finally get showed to my room...showed because the maze of rooms in this student dormitory is so confusing that the lady who works there gets lost. We finally get into my room and I start to frantically change, I bring a bag for my shoes and put on flips flops. In the bathroom I lose one of my contacts. So now, the girl is searching around on the ground for my contact while I'm hopping about trying to get ready and not get in her way, while searching for my contact with one hand over my bad eye.
Eventually I just pull out a new contact lens, grab my stuff and we dash out and around the building searching for the exit. We fumble with the handful of keys (3) that are for the numerous doors in the building, and finally get out. T=4 p.m.
The girl's mom called her while I was changing and they are waiting for her at the train station, not too happily. We catch the proper tram finally (I bless the airport lady's foresight in telling me to buy an extra ticket beforehand)...and we both get onto the proper tram. The girl has to get off earlier, but she asks an old lady about where I should get off the tram. The lady says she is going the same way and will point me in the right direction to get to the Primatial Palace (where the wedding is)...
I sit on a bench and bumble about trying to get my shoes on--I'm not that good with heels. The old lady hands me kleenex to wipe off my bag and a bag for my flip flops. All the old ladies on the tram seem quite taken in by my predicament--it might have also been the red dress I was wearing (borrowed from the bride back in Brussels). At the proper stop we get off the tram and the old lady shields me from the rain under her umbrella. We start hobbling over to the palace which is right in front of us, and I start walking a little quicker trying to tell her that I can make it (despite the treacherous cobblestones!). She seems to misunderstand and starts running next to me. We go on like that for about a minute before I stop cold and turn to her, put my hands on her shoulder to stop her and thank her profusely--djakuyem--or some variation of that in my malformed, twisted Slovak single-word vocabulary way...
I run on to the wedding, past a tourist group and up the stairs to the chapel after asking around...I leave my umbrella outside (I'd opened one up after leaving the old lady), and, as flashbacks of "Four Weddings and a Funeral," which I watched again last week continued to haunt me...I slipped into the hall of mirrors right as the music stops and the bride and groom are standing next to each other at the front.
Whew. All I can say is thankfully I didn't have to deal with Heathrow. A couple people, including the groom's sister and witness did...and let's just say her 48 hour journey was filled with near-peril.
The wedding was absolutely positively spectacular. I was very thankful to have made it. After a very regal ceremony, we all made our way over to the reception and I finally had a chance to relax. A short synopsis at least for now--the food was excellent (I've never eaten more in my life!)...and the music/dancing was tons of fun. I crawled into bed at about 4 a.m...ahh yes.
More on the wedding, the boat trip along the Danube and Devin Castle...plus Tiger Balm and a motorcycle ride home...hopefully later. Intrigued? You should be.
Now I must check on my flights into and out of Heathrow. Today and tomorrow, Bratislava-->Prague-->Heathrow & Heathrow-->Marrakesh, respectively. Yesterday all flights into and out of Heathrow were cancelled, crossing my fingers today. Wish me luck...
Let's start at the beginning, even though my Internet time is running by quickly here. This is my third computer and I've had to switch keyboards too. They don't like me much here, but it's not my fault I type too quickly and all the keys get stuck together...is it?
Saturday morning I woke up bright and early at 5:30 a.m. after having gone to sleep at 3 a.m. (hey, it was my last night in Brussels). At about 6:30 a.m. I made my trip over to Brussels airport (for more on that, read below). When I finally arrived in Bratislava (after delicious cheese sandwiches on the flights)...I realized I had about 1.5 hours to get from the airport to my hostel, on the outskirts of town, check into it, change into my clothes and get back into the center of town for the wedding ceremony (and we all know how quick those are...
As any good tourist/arriver person in a foreign country I searched out the information desk, the ATM and a kind lady who told me how to get into town, my hostel, changed my money into small bills and drew everything out nicely on a map. She wished me luck on my "adventure" and rushed me out of the station, warning me that it would take 45 minutes to get to my hostel alone, and that I'd possibly miss five minutes of the ceremony...if all went smoothly and things worked out fine at the hostel (right).
I left the map at the station (oops), and went outside to wait for the bus. T=3 p.m., ceremony at 4:15 p.m.
I frantically looked around for a bus or any possible ride. It was a day of good samaritans and guardian angels...as it has been said...I either have the best of luck or the worst luck. I am nothing if not extreme!
Anyway, I got on the bus finally and settled in for my journey. I had no clue where I was supposed to get off because of the lack of map situation, and I asked some people on the bus, but no one seemed to speak English or French (that came in handy later). Finally, I see a nice family of a mother, her daughter (and as I later discover), the daughter's neice. The three are having a reunion of sorts on the bus since the daughter and neice had just gotten back from a vacation in Bulgaria. Sadly, I disrupt this happy get together with my questions and pretty soon they're intently planning out my way. As luck would have it, the older daughter spoke English and the mother had (fortunately) worked seven years in that part of town, so she remembered how to get to my hostel. The daughter said she would come with me on my journey. Did I mention it was pouring rain? Yes, it was.
So while her mom and neice take all her stuff with them to go to the train station, where she will have to catch a train out at 5 p.m., me and the daughter get off the bus at the proper stop and she ushers me onto the right tram. I was very very lucky. T= 3: 25 p.m. The tram arrives at 3:35 p.m. and things are looking up. We dash into the hostel and get to the front desk. I must admit the place is not looking very impressive, and not a single person speaks English. The daughter, thankfully, translates the entire situation. The people there say I need to pay them for the room first but they do not have change nor do they take credit card. Lovely.
I leave my stuff with them at the desk (somewhat hesitantly) and run outside with the daughter to the bankomat and then to the gas station to get change--luckily both are within running distance--and we are both pretty wet by now. T=3:45 p.m. I finally get showed to my room...showed because the maze of rooms in this student dormitory is so confusing that the lady who works there gets lost. We finally get into my room and I start to frantically change, I bring a bag for my shoes and put on flips flops. In the bathroom I lose one of my contacts. So now, the girl is searching around on the ground for my contact while I'm hopping about trying to get ready and not get in her way, while searching for my contact with one hand over my bad eye.
Eventually I just pull out a new contact lens, grab my stuff and we dash out and around the building searching for the exit. We fumble with the handful of keys (3) that are for the numerous doors in the building, and finally get out. T=4 p.m.
The girl's mom called her while I was changing and they are waiting for her at the train station, not too happily. We catch the proper tram finally (I bless the airport lady's foresight in telling me to buy an extra ticket beforehand)...and we both get onto the proper tram. The girl has to get off earlier, but she asks an old lady about where I should get off the tram. The lady says she is going the same way and will point me in the right direction to get to the Primatial Palace (where the wedding is)...
I sit on a bench and bumble about trying to get my shoes on--I'm not that good with heels. The old lady hands me kleenex to wipe off my bag and a bag for my flip flops. All the old ladies on the tram seem quite taken in by my predicament--it might have also been the red dress I was wearing (borrowed from the bride back in Brussels). At the proper stop we get off the tram and the old lady shields me from the rain under her umbrella. We start hobbling over to the palace which is right in front of us, and I start walking a little quicker trying to tell her that I can make it (despite the treacherous cobblestones!). She seems to misunderstand and starts running next to me. We go on like that for about a minute before I stop cold and turn to her, put my hands on her shoulder to stop her and thank her profusely--djakuyem--or some variation of that in my malformed, twisted Slovak single-word vocabulary way...
I run on to the wedding, past a tourist group and up the stairs to the chapel after asking around...I leave my umbrella outside (I'd opened one up after leaving the old lady), and, as flashbacks of "Four Weddings and a Funeral," which I watched again last week continued to haunt me...I slipped into the hall of mirrors right as the music stops and the bride and groom are standing next to each other at the front.
Whew. All I can say is thankfully I didn't have to deal with Heathrow. A couple people, including the groom's sister and witness did...and let's just say her 48 hour journey was filled with near-peril.
The wedding was absolutely positively spectacular. I was very thankful to have made it. After a very regal ceremony, we all made our way over to the reception and I finally had a chance to relax. A short synopsis at least for now--the food was excellent (I've never eaten more in my life!)...and the music/dancing was tons of fun. I crawled into bed at about 4 a.m...ahh yes.
More on the wedding, the boat trip along the Danube and Devin Castle...plus Tiger Balm and a motorcycle ride home...hopefully later. Intrigued? You should be.
Now I must check on my flights into and out of Heathrow. Today and tomorrow, Bratislava-->Prague-->Heathrow & Heathrow-->Marrakesh, respectively. Yesterday all flights into and out of Heathrow were cancelled, crossing my fingers today. Wish me luck...
posted by IJW at 2:06 PM
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