We landed and then had to figure out the public transportation system, which was based on completely different factors than every other city ever. The machine had an English option (thank goodness--I mean, look at the title; where do you even start with that?!), but it still didn't make much sense. The exit signs on the metro didn't even look familiar! And once we got up to ground level, we had to work our way along cobblestone sidewalks, in the middle of New Year's Eve tourist crowds, not really knowing where we were going, and not being able to pronounce the street names. Needless to say, it was quite a journey getting to our apartment.
The good news is, we made it! Our host was a little stiff, but the apartment was ok, and we were really close to the Old Town and several large squares. This was our view.
After getting settled, we ventured out in the negative tens weather to find somewhere to eat. We picked somewhere random, and it turned out pretty good. They even had zucchini in my vegetable medley!
On the way back we decided to check out the little street shack at the end of our block. They were making Trdelník, a traditional Slovak pastry. They roll the dough around a rolling pin-like cylinder, then it's grilled and dusted with a sugary topping. We opted to have some chocolate spread in the middle too!
And then we went back to our room for some New Year's Eve champagne. The streets were a little wild by that time. It was strange though because it was just packs of men wandering around setting off fireworks in the middle of crowds. They would walk by, dropping some kind of really loud bomb-like firework that would go off a few seconds later and they would laugh and move on to drop the next one. It was very bizarre. We did get to see fireworks from our window though! Happy 2016!!
(photos by e.hunt)
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