Best Western Hotel Reduta Lucenec

9:18am came pretty quickly and it was time to board the train. We found our cozy couchette and got settled in for the long haul. It was going to take us just over 20 hours to make it to Split! On the way, there was a one hour stop in Slovakia and we got to get out and grab some lunch. We were on a regular train and not a fast train, so needless to say the train made many, many, many, many stops!!!!!!!!!!

... Dolina Lahota and sent them letters in English and Slovakia. Was I ever surprised when Stefan Zahora left me a message in English on my answering machine. To make a long story short, I was able to stay in Stefan's parents home a short distance of a few blocks from where my grandfather lived in 1900. The home had been destroyed when lightning hit it and burned it in the early 1950's. The rest of the story is told in pictures and captions.

... the local sausages,Medovina which is an alcoholic drink made from honey & Burack which is a slightly fizzy red or White wine. There were lots of food stalls,clothing stores,sweet stores,live bands & folk music. the following afternoon Radavan drove us to Bratislava where we visited a Hrad Devin Castle & then met us with Suzanna & Martina who put me & Beata up at their home. They work in an Irish bar & invited us all for some traditional Irish food & i ...

Spent two days in Slovakia and was pleasantly amazed. The mountain region was spectacular and the drive was amazing. I will update in a day or two. Ok Im finally going to update this blog. As i said Slovakia was a really pleasant surprise. Initially we thought we may just pass through it being sure to keep the windows up and the doors locked shut however just like every other Eastern European country visited thus far our expectations were blown out of the water. We left ...

... is a very sweet dessert style wine, and gets it's sweet taste and syrupy texture from the addition of botrytised grapes (sort of molded but still good grapes picked at the end of season). The amount added then defines the rating of putňový (or stars) from the least (3) to the most (6). Our favourite was the 5 putňový, as it had the right mix of ...

... do not know the cost of will end up on the bill at twice the price of the rest of the meal put together. Also find out if there is a compulsory service charge. ° Taking photos: How do you take a photo/video of an unwilling subject who you know will not give you permission? Have a friend stand between you and the subject but just off to the side. Then pretend to snap your friend but actually get the subject you want. If the ...

Here are some photos from our last three months in Slovakia. In September we went to visit a picturesque little village called Cecmany, which is famous for these painted houses. This is the view from our backyard, early on an October morning. Our house is ...

An open letter to the countries of the world Dear Countries of the World - Over the last year or so we have travelled to and through a good number of you. We have noticed how different you all are from one another and your positive and negative features. Accordingly, we would like to suggest some idea-sharing between you, for everyone's mutual benefit. Imagine a kind of international 'Secret Santa' of ideas ...

I was soon in Slovakia (on my way to Siberia), and friend Jana and I were hitchhiking to the Low Tatra Mountains. A stout, glossily-dressed, blond girl picked us up and managed her comfortable car's stick-shift with soft hands. Monika seemed nice; she told, in sweet but complicated Slovakian, how things lately haven't been going her way. Later, Julius picked us up in his ancient truck made out of blocks. Inside the gumdrop ...

... upons. Has it something to do with their uptightness, I wonder? Bottom line: The men of Serbia are the biggest and strongest of all the men we encountered in the Balkans. But does strength and size alone make them the dominant gender? If it were possible to take all of the female Serbs and transplant them to Canada and the U.S. they would become gender dominant in days. In Serbia however, it's a you-pick-em. In Turkey there is so little male-female interaction that it's ...