Trnava

Must have slept like a log as I woke to find the mosquitoes had feasted on me in the night. I was covered in big red itchy bites. Apparently they love my particular blood group (O), but don’t much like the taste of Darren’s (A+) so he was comparatively left untouched... probably just not enough red wine in his bloodstream, I mean comparatively speaking like 😂

We’d been parked right on the border so it took just seconds to arrive at the checkpoint for entry into Austria. Unlike every crossing so far on this trip there were soldiers (with guns might I add 😮) Alarmingly we were instructed to pull over so that they could perform a search of Ivy and check out our passports. However, as Darren pulled open the sliding door and the soldier stepped forward to go in, he somewhat comically jumped back the moment he set eyes upon Bliss. ( who was just sat calm as you like looking out at him and wondering what all the fuss was about) He turned to his mate sat inside the border hut and said something that we translated from his body language to be along the lines of “I’m not going in there dude, they’ve got a bloody wolf in there!” 🐺 😂
He proceeded to hastily and bravely wave us on through and so we continued on our journey having a giggle at his expense. 🤭 I then patiently and dutifully listened to Darren as he described in detail more stories of having done many similar guard duty roles “during the war” 🫡 Almost as if after 35 years of being together I was somehow completely unaware of the life he’d led up until our union 🤭
Of course I on the other hand, as everyone knows and will attest to, have no such propensity for repeating myself hehe 🤥
It was such a relief to get back to the immaculate road surfaces of Austria 🇦🇹 after yesterday’s earthquake simulator ride in Hungary, roads which we traversed for the next hour or so on our way to the next new country on our list.
As we entered into Slovakia 🇸🇰 we were immediately confronted with the largest, busiest city we’ve encountered to date. It was however really interesting, full of many historical looking buildings mixed with the very modern. Most interestingly of all we crossed over the Danube River which was just immense. I had no idea it was even here.
Gradually the metropolis was replaced by farmland, forests and a sprinkling of small towns and villages.
One of the things that caught our eye early on was that the roads were all lined with fruit laden trees. Apples, pears, damsels, cherries and plums everywhere for mile after mile. Wonderful really, and again something I would love to see adopted at home.
Our park up tonight is at the foot of a derelict castle sat on the top of a steep sided hill. As we pulled up I immediately knew I was going to like this spot. We’d only been there long enough to have a cup of tea when a tractor arrived to collect up the freshly mown hay in the field directly outside our door.
We had a great view of the meadows and forest below us and we were hopeful of seeing some deer, so we sat watching intently into the evening. No deer appeared unfortunately, but I did make friends with a sweet little black cat who was out hunting mice in the field outside. The friendly cat was either overly confident or possibly a bit dim. He came and sat boldly as brass within a couple of feet of Bliss before I spotted him. Bliss was so good, bless her. They each just sat looking at one another without an ounce of malice from either.
As darkness fell we felt a little disappointed in ourselves for having been too lazy to venture up to the castle ruins, high up on the mound above. I think we missed a great sunset from up there and I’m sure it would have been really interesting to explore. But nonetheless I thoroughly enjoyed this most tranquil and serene park up at the edge of a hay field in Slovakia 🇸🇰 . Before today I had absolutely no idea what this country was like, no clue even where in the world it was... and now I do 👍. That’s a good thing right?Read more