Dateline – Komarom, Hungary
Not a lot to report on today as it was spent predominantly on a bus crossing the entire breadth of Slovakia. It was only about 250 miles and I could have done it in about five or six hours driving on my own, but it took us about ten given that a lot of the passengers appear to be a generation older than myself and require frequent pit stops and time to stretch their legs for DVT prophylaxis. Plus a two hour lunch break. The logistics of getting ninety people seated and served rapidly being a bit beyond the abilities of small town Slovakia. Actually, they did rather well given that we were given a relatively full menu from which to make selections rather than an ‘ya eat what ya get meal’.
Up early for breakfast and checking out of the Grand Sheraton Krakow before getting on the bus. The weather was grey but the clouds burned off as the day went along and the temperature warmed making my sweater unnecessary, even in the mountains. The road led South, through the Krakow suburbs and then out into the Polish countryside of small agricultural farms and views of fields and copses. After an hour or so, we began to climb into the Tatras Mountains that cover most of upper Slovakia. Past the Polish ski resort of Zakopane, we crossed the border into Slovakia without my even noticing. (Thanks Schengen Zone). The mountains look a great deal like the Appalachians, reminding me much of all my trips to Southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky, only the domestic architecture is mainly Mittel European mountain chalet rather than dilapidated double wide.
Lunch was in the resort town of Dolvny Kubin, which seemed to consist of a lot of winter condos, bare ski slopes, a couple of restaurants, a sad looking souvenir stand, and constant construction. I had the grilled chicken breast on a bed or orzo risotto. It was quite good. (Picture elsewhere). A quick constitutional around the town (which didn’t take long – Pigeon Forge it is not) and back on the bus for a nap. The later afternoon brought us out on the Danube plain with small towns and the remains of Soviet era collective farms, and useless factories and worker housing in the middle of nowhere.
The water is apparently seasonally quite low in the Danube. And, as the next phase of the trip is by riverboat, this was causing some consternation among the tour directors as there are shoals in the Danube downstream of where we were to meet the boat so there was a hasty rerouting of the point of embarkation to Komarom and a bit more time on the bus then expected. Fortunately, the boat did not run aground on its way upstream, the bus did not bottom out on the rough road to the dock and we were able to board the MS Joy in record time and after cocktails and dinner, everyone was in a better mood. (Gnocchi for dinner with lava cake to follow). I am now sitting in the lounge enjoying a Rudesheim coffee, a taste acquired on my last trip on the Rhine and Danube). I knew the bar staff could make it as, as luck would have it, this is the same ship on which I made that journey.
Tomorrow we are in Bratislava. I am going to forego their organized walking tour of the town (been there, done that) in favor of some exploration on my own. If anyone knows of an out of the way sight or point of interest there, drop me a line.
Life, The Universe, and Everything 