A Couple Return Visits: Bratislava & Tábor

After our week in Brezno, we were scheduled to set a western course—Lisa, Kevin and I were going to work in a town in Czech Republic called Tábor. Avid readers of my blog may remember that this is the town that where Lisa and I went out to dinner with a couple—when we were teaching in the small village of Načeradec—and had an extensive conversation about the pros and cons of Communism. [Check out my post from October 8^th, Mushrooms & Communism, to read about those antics.]

But, before we went to Tábor we decided to meet up with Kevin and make another weekend out of Bratislava. Again, consistent readers may recall that I loved Bratislava, so, I didn’t mind visiting a place that I had already seen. I booked the same hostel that we stayed in last time because it was so enjoyable, but, due to some error on my part, I accidentally booked it for a month later than anticipated. Luckily, there was plenty of room for us when we showed up because it’s a nicely sized place.

Everyone knows those last few months in the year get tricky when it comes to their order. Live and learn, I guess.

Central Slovakia: Ružomberok & Brezno

After successfully leaving Hliník nad Hronom through the help of my new Slovakian friends, I took a couple trains to a town in central Slovakia called Ružomberok (pronounced: Roo-zhom-bare-oak.) After being apart for a couple weeks, Lisa and I reunited there for a relaxing weekend. It is a pretty good sized town and has all sorts of options for accommodation; people often stay there when skiing in the low section of the Tatras mountain chain. Since it was off-season, though, we were able to find a very nice penzion that only charged about 8 Euros per night.

Prior to going there, some people told me that the whole town smells funny due to a nearby paper factory. I didn’t smell anything, though. Who knows.

Some Slovak Hospitality: Part II

DISCLAIMER: I’m not sure why, but I haven’t posted anything on this blog in almost a month. For this, I am extremely regretful. Within the mind exists a wild, wild world and living in that world is Memory—a frail creature, indeed. I will do my best to recreate all of these events with the most vividness as possible; hopefully the passage of time will not treat me poorly in my restitution of these memories. I will also try to be more conscious about the inclusion of pictures with my ramblings.

This post starts from whence I left off and, while I am home for the holidays, I will make my most sincere effort to become fully caught up in all my travels. There is a lot to be shared—hopefully you will be interested in reading about it. If not, self-chronicling is a good enough reason for me. Enjoy.

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When I left Brno, I headed for a small town in Central Slovakia called Hliník nad Hronom. The name translates to Hlinik over the Hron, which is a river somewhere in the area. I never saw such a river, but as we’ve learned from taking some hiking trips in this part of the world, words like creek and stream don’t really translate directly. Therefore, any body of water that flows in a specific direction, regardless of size, constitutes a river. So, I guess I could have seen it without knowing.

Most likely I just didn’t see it, though.