Friday, however, found us traveling to Bratislava (capital of Slovakia) in good order; indeed, the traveling to and from were, from the "good order" perspective, the best part of the day. My companions were Aaron, my son, and Dustin, our companion from the camp crew. Dustin is a self-proclaimed East Europa-phile, so the day was a hit with him!
Alas, it didn't work out quite the way we'd planned, though. First, our maps were GALACTICALLY inadequate given the Bratislavan's don't really have an appreciation for street signs, directional signs or anything that might tell you where you are or where you could conceivably go in their city. We got off of the train and began our explorations which included walking...and walking...and walking. We wanted to get to the Danube and find the Bratislava Castle-noble pursuits to be sure! So we walked...
We happened upon the Presidential Palace with its lovely public gardens where we at our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (yes, we brown-bagged it...) and chocolate creme cookies. This was, for me, the highlight of the afternoon. The day was overcast which contributed to my already questionable ability to judge direction. Of course, it didn't really dawn on us to ask which way the river was...so we walked...and walked...and walked.
So we walked. We saw several lovely parks which, blessedly, had benches. We sat as often as we could...which ended up being not that often. We helpful advice from one English speaking Bratislavan who assured us our desired destinations were "that way;" we walked that way...for a LONG time. Indeed, apart from the 30 minutes we spend inside the Polus City Centre Mall, we walked all day, from 11:50am until 7:30pm.
We found ourselves on the far side of nowhere when it struck me that with only 2 hours before our train was scheduled to leave we would be pressing to make up for 5 hours of getting lost. So we began our retreat. Of course, neither of the maps we had actually showed Hlavna Stanica, the train station, so we found ourselves at the mercy of several very kind, multilingual (though not English-speaking) Slovakians. We were approached by a very kind 70-ish man who spoke a brand of pidgin Slovako-German who indicated that we were a long way from our destination. We walked some more, and then spoke to a delightful couple who were out for their evening constitutional who also indicated that even though we'd been walking for some time now, were were still a LONG way away from the train station.
The train was scheduled to leave at 7:54pm, and it was now 7:15pm in a strange city, and we had no idea where we were and our legs/feet/knees/toes HURT. And just when I was resigning myself to finding a room for the night, the tram that ran to Hlavna Stanica passed right by us! You might be asking, "Why didn't you just get ON the tram!?" The answer is, I had no idea where to buy tram tickets..you see, in Europe there is rarely the option to pay a bus or tram driver directly, and if you haven't purchased your pass at a shop or station, you don't get on...such was our dilemna. But, we did follow the tram, like puppies smelling food in the kitchen. And we walked...
Blessedly we started finding landmarks we recognized, and slowly we limped the final half mile or so into the station...with 15 minutes to spare! Of course, I'd been praying for God to help us make the distance before our train left and in his provision He did help us...and then some! Just as we walked into the station, the office posted that our train was 35 minutes late...a safety cushion that I, at least, greatly appreciated.
Lessons I learned:
1. Always have a GOOD map;
2. Always travel with friends (it made the day WAY better);
3. Always appreciate the small kindnesses of others;
4. Wear comfortable shoes;
5. Be grateful for every opportunity God gives you to grow, to love and to explore...that's how He transforms you into the likeness of His son...
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