A weekend with MD FD 😎

It’s a funny thing, travel.

With nothing planned, one can invariably sleep until noon….but when there is an early train to catch, sleep comes in fits and bursts 🙄

So it was, rather tired, we set out very early in beautiful sunshine to catch the 08:14 train to Slovakia.

We had 4 trains to line up for the day: always something of a risk there 👀

The first hop to Bohumin was fine, & a 20 minute gap to the next was more than enough.
However…..that train was running 10 minutes late….& the change at Zilina had only an 8 minute window, which sounded…decidedly suboptimal 👀
We checked for later options…..but luckily for us, the onward train to Kosice was itself running 20 minutes late. Serendipity, eh!

A comfortable First Class carriage, the views as we passed below the High Tatras National Park were just spectacular.
The English announcements were voiced by an affable Aussie, which felt slightly incongruous but fun.

From Kosice, there was time to grab some flowers for our lovely hosts, then the very slow train to Prešov completed our collection of trains for the day. The lady opposite was amused at my practice efforts with google translate🤣

Mel and Frank were waiting for us, with big smiles: it was lovely to see them looking so well 👍
It turned out it had been 4 years since they left Leicester: the volleyball club had missed them!

We hopped in Frank’s Volvo and went to their flat, up on the 7th floor.
The small lift had a limit of 3 people or 250kg, so it was clear Frank & I could not both be aboard. He kindly set off up the stairs, arriving in need of oxygen some time after us 🥵

They showed us our room: bright, with some great family pictures, including Frank officiating at the 2012 Olympic qualifiers, their daughter Stephanie & their son Juraj, who played for the Slovakia National volleyball team 💪
We dropped our bags, then the weekend started with a cheeky 12% beer, a dangerous pear shot of some sort and a good catch up, with hefty use of google translate - what a great app that is 🤣🍻

We watched a little ice hockey before freshening up and walking to the rather nice Pilsner Urquell pub nearby for some food and another drink, before heading back for sleep: a busy day ahead🍻👍Read more