Food, Wine, and Much Merriment

We are being spoiled far too much here. Our last two dinners have been with incredible hosts in Vienna and Bratislava and it may be the first time on the trip that everyone has been stuffed. In Vienna we were staying in a church and connected with the Green Party who not only arranged a great dinner but also arranged photo sessions, radio interviews and a spot on at least two tv news stations. People in North America may not know who we are but it almost feels like we are becoming rock stars in Europe.

The town of Vienna itself was lovely and wandering the streets was probably my favorite part. All of the old builds were quite awesome and blasting around the city with the bike paths was a breeze. I was also chatting with one of our hosts and he informed me that Vienna has 170 theatres for a city of about 2 million people. Clearly there is a major focus on the arts there so I think another trip back is a must.

Vienna will also go down as a highlight of the trip I’m sure due to the storm that hit us as we were wandering the city at night. We were sitting at a fountain watching a lighting storm roll towards the city for about an hour when all of a sudden the thunder clapped and the wind started. Suddenly the friendly fountain we were sitting beside turned into a wall of water coming straight at us. Not to be outdone, the rain also started and quickly changed direction to sideways. Tree branches started to fall and we ran for shelter by a bank. Thankfully the security guard took pity on us and allowed us to watch the worst of the storm from the inside. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a storm come up so fast in my life. We heard the next day that 8 people had died across Europe as a result of it. Luckily for us we were staying inside that night--I don’t think any of our tents would have survived the night.

The next day the only reminders of the storm were the downed branches and trees. It was bright, hot, and sunny again, and we set off for Bratislava. We accidentally wound up forming a pod of 8, all of whom happened to be guys, and rocketed off the 75km to town. I must admit after spending two days in Vienna I didn’t find Bratislava nearly as impressive but it wasn’t without its charm. Anything the city itself lacked in appeal was more than made up for by the generosity of our hosts however. We were then met by a cyclist who rode us out the extra 25km to our host’s house for the night. Upon arriving we were met by balloons, food, wine, song and smiles and I’m fairly certain most people want to bring them along for the rest of our trip.

The only slight downside was it rained very heavily last night and my tent turned into a series of rivers and streams. Not wanting to upset the natural order of the new ecosystem being created I fled and wound up sleeping out under the picnic table. It actually wasn't that bad though, I felt much closer to all of the slugs that chose to co-habituate next to me.

It is with heavy hearts that we leave Slovakia, but new adventures now await in Hungary and we must move on.