Back in Slovak…

I think traffic backs up here on occasion, while drivers take the time to read all the directions...

My first foray into Slovakia had been a whistle stop one, cutting across the northern areas on the way to Prague in the Czech Republic…

I decided to see what the capital Bratislava was all about, and then take a slow ride through to Budapest in Hungary the following day…

I left Vienna after 11.00am, having had to go out in search of an ATM when I discovered that the Reide Hotel dealt only in cash…!!

In Hainburg, just short of the border, the main road passes under the old fortrifications of the town. The road narrows to one lane, and traffic lights control the flow of traffic...

The ride to Bratislava was over in less than an hour, even though I avoided the highway and took to the country roads instead… During my ride through Slovakia and the Czech Republic a few days ago, I had passed through the lesser inhabited areas and met and saw people who were mostly involved in farming and other forms of manual labour…

The women in particular seemed to be having a hard time of it… Very few of them seemed to bother with make-up and looked like they spent more time out in the fields tilling the soil, than they did in front of a mirror… Not to be too unkind, I came to the conclusion that most of these women probably pumped their bicycle tyres a lot harder than the women I had seen in Poland…!! Some of them would not have looked out of place at an arm-wrestling tournament…

Second entry to Slovakia, this time from Austria...

But once I reached Prague, and now here in Bratislava, I had to admit that my generalization had been unkind… Beautiful women seem to gravitate towards the cities…!! They were as well dressed and chic as any I had seen in other parts of Europe…except they did not smile as much here…!! Probably thinking back to the villages they had escaped from…!!

Another former border post stands empty...

Even though parts of Bratislava seemed run down and adorned with graffiti, parts of the city still have an old world charm about them… I struggled to find a decent looking hotel in the area I rode through, and began wondering if I shouldn’t move on to a town or city closer to the Hungarian border… I decided to give it one more try, and followed a sign up a steep hill near the castle, into a residential neighborhood…

Just before I set off, a voice in the unmistakable accent of home said,

“Are you from South Africa…?”

I chatted to this group of bikers, who were going on an outride into Austria... The girl on the far right was in only her first season of biking, and loving it...!!

I met this couple on the streets of Bratislava, while searching for a hotel... It was great to hear a South African accent again...!!

A quiet and comfortable stay can be had at "Hotel 16" in Bratislava...

The colourful hotel emblem...

And so began a half hour of happy conversation with a guy who was from Cape Town, and his Czech wife, who were in Bratislava for the weekend… He seemed awestruck that I had ridden all the way from South Africa to Bratislava, and even more amazed that I had only covered a third of my intended mileage of over 125 000 km…

For the life of me I cannot remember their names, and if they are reading this, my profuse apologies…!! Please drop me a line so I can include your names in this post, as our brief meeting was a real pleasure and hearing a South African voice gain after Francois’s in London, was a real boost for my spirits…!!

Hotel 16 was located on a sharp bend on a quiet street high up above the city… The receptionist, Zuzana, gave me the rundown of what was included in their price and the owner came over to assist her, agreeing on a reasonable price for the room, and offering me dinner to go with the room, which was not usually included…

He politely enquired about my journey and suggested that the bike be locked in the parking area usually reserved for the family’s own private cars, which included a beautiful silver Porsche… The Big Fella was in good company…!!

The enormous Bratislava Castle is in the process of being renovated...

The hotel is owned by a family that has long been involved in the entertainment industry… I briefly met their daughter Suzie, a pop singer, who was wearing long leather boots and the shortest miniskirt I had seen in a long time…!!

I could not imagine her bending down to pick anything up off the floor in that outfit…!! She flounced into the room, greeted me with a wide smile, and then left again on a cloud of perfume and self confidence…

Blueprint for how the grounds will look when the restorations are complete...

Her father had earlier suggested I visit the Castle on the hill above town, which was only a short walk away… My visit there was interesting to say the least…

Apart from the usual horde of tourists, a small bridal party was being photographed in the grounds, and at one point came close enough for me to reach out and shake the grooms hand in congratulations…

His wife then launched herself into my arms and kissed me… I staggered back, not sure if she thought I was somebody the groom knew or if she had mistaken me for somebody else altogether…

She took no notice of the confused look on my face and jabbered on to her bridesmaid as they prepared to pose in another area of the castle…

I passed them later on, as they were leaving the castle through a different gate, the bride not nearly as happy as she had been before…

First tiff behind them perhaps…?

The bride was no longer smiling... The groom seemed to be keeping just out of range...

View over part of the city from atop the castle walls... The Dunaj River runs through the Southern part of the city...

The former president was not well liked it would seem...

I had a feeling that this is not where grocery shopping is done...

At the main gate, I jokingly asked the driver of a big tour bus, if he had place for one more, as I was planning to walk down to the city to take a few photos…

“No, I have no seats available, but you can stand next to me and pretend to be part of the group…!!”

And that is how I came to be at the bottom of the hill below the castle in double-quick time…!! Nothing ventured, nothing gained…!!

I walked around the Presidential Palace, and the large fountain that apparently had only been switched on twice during the summer…

I sat watching pigeons bathing under the spray and then went to look for a coffee shop to do some people watching…

The Presidential Palace on the main square...

The castle dominates the city and can be seen from almost anywhere...

Czech beer seems to be Bratislava's favourite...

I settled for a large malt beer instead and while I sipped it, sat reflecting on what I had achieved so far on this epic journey I had embarked upon…

Africa was behind me, all 134 days of it, only slightly spoilt by the fact that I did not get to ride in Morocco… I had covered most of Europe and was now wandering through its Eastern regions like a drunken snake, covering as many countries as I could in an effort to try and ride in at least 100 countries on my trip…

I fretted about the Middle East, unsure if I would obtain the visas I needed, and if the danger that extremists posed was worth the effort… Beginning to turn over contingency plans in my mind… Fly the Big Fella to India…? And what if I could not get into Myanmar…?? Fly directly to Sydney from Istanbul…? That would be a blow to my plans…!!

The walk up the steep hill back to the hotel had me panting on arrival, and Zuzana kindly offered me some water, and later sat down to dinner with me… Only one other couple was in the hotel at the time, so she was having a quiet night of it at reception..

While I ate the meal of Goulash and cabbage that she had prepared for me, we discussed her upcoming studies in Portsmouth University, and her plans for the future… She had travelled to the States a few times and the travel bug had bitten…!!

Zuzana Kotrosova, the friendly receptionist at Hotel 16...

She did not see much of a future for herself in Slovakia and like many other young professionals in Eastern Europe, would more than likely find her place in the sun in Western Europe or even across the Atlantic…

She reminded me so much of an older version of my eldest daughter Roxanne, with her long dark hair and Zuzana spoke about her dreams I wondered what Roxanne was doing, and where she was…

The evening passed swiftly, and by 11.00pm I excused myself and went up to my room, to write a post, and download my mail…

At 7.00am, Zuzana was back on duty, bright eyed and bushy-tailed, having prepared the breakfast for us and ready for her last day at work… She would be leaving for the UK in a few days to begin her Master’s degree…

After loading the bike, and enjoying a huge breakfast, I was ready to roll again… She walked me down to the parking area and opened the large gate for me… I shook hands with her, wishing her good luck for the future, and then went in search of a service station to refuel…

The road to Budapest and a long awaited meeting with Tibor lay ahead of us…

GBWT 2010