Bring It In!

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to witness some of Slovakia's old school harvesting ways. We attended a harvest festival in a small village just outside of Myjava. Each year locals perform a demonstration of harvesting ways of the past. Sickle races (cutting grass), traditional food, music, and of course slivovica!

After some hard work harvesting, the workers get ready for a great celebration. They create a wreath made of wheat and decorated ribbon to present to the land owner, and they prepare themselves for a party. At this point there is only one thing left to do... They make their way from the fields to the farmer's home to present their wreath and the good news of the harvest.

The land owner gladly receives the news of a good harvest, promptly offers a shot of the good stuff (slivovica), and invites them in for a celebration of eating, drinking, music and dancing.

Tri. Slovak Style

Last week I was hanging out, relaxing, and minding my own business, when Marta's cousin gave me the news. Seems that Myjava has their own triathlon. It comes in the flavor of off-road, Xterra type fun, fun, fun. I hadn't been on a bike for two months, but I figured that I might survive a good ol' European ass-kicking. Before I could decide if I would race, Ondrej came with the news that I was already registered. There were two race distances, so I chose the longer one given that it was the closest to what I had done in the past... big mistake.

Well...I survived. I finished 15 out of 20 (5 people didn't finish). Five minutes into the run it became horrifyingly clear that I was in last place, and I hadn't seen anyone in 15 minutes. I am nothing special, but I could not believe how bad I was being beaten! The main thing going through my mind at this point was: "Man these Slovak athletes are super-freaking-human!!!"

Marta, Juro, and her dad were waiting for me at the finish. I couldn't help but notice the expression on their faces. They seemed to have some pride in my finish. I didn't quite get this reaction, my ego had just been destroyed in my last place finish. This is about the time I was informed that we had made a mistake in registering. Seems that the short course is your regular every-day Joe's category, and the long course was part of some national point series reserved for professionals. I didn't finish with a new PR, but at least some of my pride was saved. Ha! I must have looked like such a moron trying to play in such a race... I couldn't help but feel the sympathy clap towards the end of this race.

A very important lesson was learned here. I'm not sure what it was, because I ended up doing another triathlon this last weekend. Maybe it had something to do with training or something? The best part was that I had a lot of fun in these two races. Fun + a little pain = Good times. :)

If you look to your left you will see Croatia...if you look to your right you will see Croatia.

Lets put it this way... Croatia wasn't just good. It wasn't mediocre. It was freaking AMAZING!!! :) With the car fixed, Marta and I split from Bled and headed to the Venice airport to retrieve our holiday companions, Mathias and Hana. We were a bit late to our rendezvous due to the auto situation in Bled, but Hana and Mathias were extremely forgiving, due to the fact that Hana actually got out of "cube land" (she works hard!) and Mathias was looking forward to fulfilling our plans to snorkel all week long.

We turned our newly overhauled auto toward Croatia and headed for the coast. The first night was a little rough and I was such a baby. I was extremely exhausted from the long drive and the weight of the ambiguity of our not-so-trusty Volkswagen Bora. Anyway, back to me being a baby... Our hotel kinda kicked my ass that night. The room was about 91 degrees and sweat was rolling down my face. Just as I would start to drift off, a semi-truck would come barreling down the highway that happened to be about 20 feet from our room. Jake-break and all, I was screwed in the sleep department that night. Marta, of course, was sound asleep.

The next morning we continued down the coast to Zadar, and our luck was about to change. It took Hana and Marta about 15 minutes to land us the greatest deal you could imagine on an apartment for the week. Through Hana's determination not to be had with the information lady we landed a cozy two bedroom apartment for next to nothing.

The next few days were filled with snorkeling, sunbathing, cruises, visiting national parks and eating a plethora off exotic sea food dishes. I had no clue that Mathias could eat so much! That boy can really put it away! We were really coming close to the living out the definition of the word "relax". We could not have asked for better travel companions than Hana and Mathias. You could always count on them for good conversation and many laughs. Mathias is freaking hilarious and had me rolling often. Leaving Croatia was a bit of a struggle, but we were all satisfied with our time spent in paradise.

Stranded In Bled!

Two weeks ago Marta and I set out on our journey to the sea. We had a sweet road-trip planned that ended in Croatia. All was set, the auto was packed, and we hit the open road. Our first planned stop was in Slovenia in a town called Bled. Well, we made it to Bled... barely! As we hit the Austrian/Slovenian border our car started to smoke. Shifting became difficult, and the 7 km single-lane tunnel had us sweating. The closer to Bled we got the harder the car was to drive.

We stopped to take a look under the hood and came to the horrifying discovery that we no longer had any transmission fluid. We got directions to the nearest Volkswagen service and prayed that we could make it.

After driving through a few small villages outside of Bled, we limped up the last hill, and the car died. We actually had to push it onto the lot. We arrived after hours and ended up talking to the mechanic in his European-issue Speedo. ( I wish I was kidding about this part) :) He turned out to be the nicest guy you could meet, and offered to drive us to a campground.

In the next two days we began to realize that there are worse places in the world to be stranded. Bled was absolutely beautiful! We spent the day walking around one of the most beautiful lakes you could imagine. With it's stunning turquoise color, beautiful cliff-hanging castle, and church island, we were in awe. Looking across this lake at the small island, dominated by an adorable church, you really got the feeling that it was all fake. It was too perfect! It looked like something that only your imagination could create. We spent the day relaxing and swimming. Lets just say that it didn't suck.

The next day our speedo-wearing friend had the car fixed and we

were back on our way. All in all it was kinda a blessing in disguise that we sent that pin through the gearbox housing and lost the gearbox in Bled. Okay, maybe not, but it did make us slow down and take in our gorgeous surroundings. Croatia, here we come!

Juro, One Smart cookie!

Marta's brother Juro graduated with his masters on Thursday. He didn't just do well in school, he freaking rocked it. Juro earned what Europe calls a "red diploma". This basically means that his grades were flawless! I spoke to Marta and Juro's sister, Hana, a few weeks ago via Skype and realized that Juro had made quite an accomplishment. You could hear the pride in Hana's voice as she explained that before Juro pulled it off she had believed that only freaks and crazy geniuses received a red diploma.

On Saturday, there was a party for Juro and I got my first lesson on celebrating... Slovak style! When it comes to how to party, I believe these guys got it down. The first and most important ingredient, is without argument the slivovica! For those of you who haven't heard, slivovica is a clear alcohol made from plums in the still of some great Slovak. It rings in at about 52%. That's about 120 proof!

Next comes the food. Man! These people know how to roast a pig! In addition to the pork we had cabbage, potatoes, bread, and some of the greatest pastries I have ever had. After we ate we started in with some beers, I caught Juro eating again. I couldn't believe it. I was like, "How can you still be hungry man!?!" This is when Juro taught me something very important. He said that when you drink so much slivovica you have to eat to "Grease up" so you don't die. :)

All in all, I had a blast getting to know Marta's family. They were all so kind and welcoming to me. Marta's dad is a bit sneaky with the sliviovica. If you are sitting anywhere near him your shot glass continues to get filled. By the time you notice he is ready with a smile. Nazdravie!

Kickin it in Budapest, and hitchhiking to Bratislava.

I'm Here! It was so nice to get off that dreaded airplane and see Marta's smiling face. I have no idea what I would have done if she would have had trouble getting to the airport.

Hungarian is a crazy language... I would not have had a chance :)

After surviving the plane ride over the pond and taking a long nap, Marta and I were ready to see what Budapest had to offer. We were not disappointed! The food was great and the buildings were beautiful.

After hearing some American lady, bitch about a waitress making a small mistake, "Aaah! This is not the juice I ordered! I ordered sour cherry! Not strawberry! That waitress is going to fix this! I can't believe this!", I vowed to do my best never to be "THAT American". I also decided that if I find myself around these close-minded freaks that I might just be from Canada that day. :)

All in all, Budapest was great. It was formerly two cities, and the way the Danube River flows right down the middle of the city is really something. We had a blast, but it was time to get going.

On the drive to Bratislava, a little "Haarman Luck" kicked in, and I broke my second car of the summer. We lost the timing belt, and destroyed the engine in Marta's parents' car, before even reaching the Slovak border.

What do you do when you break down in Europe? Well... you don't ask Marta. In fact! She might ask you what to do. :) Don't ask to use her cell phone either. It does work... "sometimes" :) It's never boring with this girl. Lets face it though, I am very blessed to have her.

Anyway, we ended up hitchhiking the remaining 15 kilometers to the border. Marta got a hold of some family friends and we were able to tow the car to Bratislava. Marta's mom laughed about the situation and with a great smile said " Vitaj na Slovensku!" ("Welcome to Slovakia!")