Slovakia– 27 May 2008

While in Austria , we decided to take a day trip by train to nearby Slovakia 's capital, Bratislava . Immediately this country's communist past was evident but the petite old town with its cobblestone alleys and side walk cafes galore had us captivated. With interesting bronze statues dotted around town like the watcher peeping from a manhole and the gothic St. Martins Cathedral where 11 monarchs were crowned from 1563, the pastel 18 th century Rocco buildings came alive. Bratislava castle after being destroyed in a fire in 1811 and being reconstructed since the 1950's offered a great view of the city and the New Bridge over the Danube River leading to the institutional housing blocks on the town edges.

After exchanging some Euros for the local currency and obtaining directions from the very helpful tourist information office, GR1 headed straight for the sites, while GR3 headed for the Football Association offices to have the ball signed. They were lucky to meet the head coach of the Slovakian team who signed the ball. Winding their way to the hilltop castle Vanita and the kids complained all the way to the top - it was too hot, too far to walk and just too steep!! After sight-seeing they were ready for home and slowly worked their way to the train station. Troy , by this stage, refused to walk and had to be carried on the shoulders for the last half hour - this was nothing new! The day in Bratislava did not end without delicious meals – GR1 enjoyed tasty Slovak cuisine and beer and GR3 enjoyed a chicken filled with ham and cheese baked in a potato pancake batter, roast pork with cabbage and dumplings and fried trout with sausage.

We planned to visit the eastern part of Slovakia on our way down to Turkey from Scandinavia . Bratislava gave us all a good taste of what to expect with our re-entry in a few months time.

Slovakia – 27 th July 2008

Ahoj again! As we had visited Bratislava (this small country's capital) from Austria 2 months earlier, we only spent a day driving south with the odd detour to visit an interesting area. Slovakia has mountains, forests and natural beauty – a perfect land for the Slavic tribes who arrived in the 5th century. The Magyars (Hungarians) laid claim to the territory by the 10 th century for the next 800 years until the 19th century when Slovaks cultivated ties with the Czechs and after WWI, a united Czechoslovakia was born. After communist rule from 1948 until 1989, the federation was dissolved in 1993. The country still seems to be grappling with its past and many of the villages have a 60's feel to them. With the high Tatra Mountains to our west, we drove via Poprad to Medieval Levoca, founded in 1242 and still surrounded by near complete fortifications.

Being a Sunday we all felt that we should treat ourselves to a ‘Sunday Lunch' and headed straight to Restauracia Slovenka for an authentic Slovak farmers lunch of fried cabbage and potatoes with cutlets. O nce our appetites were satisfied, it was time for some sight-seeing - Vanita and Jo not all that excited or enthusiastic for the walk around town, though!! This town is renown for the world's highest (16m) Gothic gilded wooden altar in St. James Church! It also has a 16 th century cage of shame for naughty boys and girls outside the town hall that Jo and Nita found rather disappointing at it was their main attraction!

Driving back west, we climbed via Stary Smokovec, a resort town at the foot of the high Tatra's then south through the lush mountains of Narodny Park and via Banska Bystrica to yet another gas station overnight spot 30km from the Hungarian border. After another futile attempt at filling our gas cylinders, we did the last few km the next day into our 39th country – again with no border formalities. ‘Dovidenia', to a country in transition where the locals too have a different look - leaning more towards darker skin and hair.