christmas in the mountains

christmas morning (that's the western traditional christmas, 25 december) woke up to the sounds of church bells and more singing. boy, those slovakians sure do love their church services! ate some breakfast, colored with eva - jim's girlfriend's child - then packed up and said our goodbyes. it was sad to leave, as these people had become our extended family of sorts. jim tried to get us to stay; he wanted to make sure we weren't leaving because we felt we were imposing. i explained it was not that we wanted to leave, but we did have reservations in zakopane poland already and it was their holiday too, they needed a break. so off we went to the bus stop, where we waited for our transport into the next country.

and waited.

and waited some more.

once again, it just seems to be our luck. seriously, the trouble we've had with transportation on this trip is unbelievable!

in the end, the bus never came.

it was a bit frustrating, because nothing seems to work out for us. it was a bit funny, for the same reasons. and it was a bit of a relief, because i think secretly, none of us wanted to leave the ginger monkey. so back we trucked up the hill, stopping first at the ATM, then back to the hostel. everyone had a laugh when they saw us walking back up. by this point, they were getting ready for presents, so we took wally the dog out for a walk behind the hostel towards the forest to give our hosts some private time. found a pay phone, and managed to call our hostel in zakopane to cancel the night there. back at the hostel, we played with eva a bit (who told us all about how she saw father christmas outside this morning), then played mapominoes with johnny while richie and his mum spent all day in the kitchen cooking up a feast. boy, was it delicious! there was so much food, i think we were all stuffed to the gills..

after digesting a bit, rick and his wife joined us for dessert and drinks and general socializing. we played another card game with johnny, this time the backpacker game. i'm going to have to look these games up when i return, as they were very fun. we joined the group in the living room, and got the impression that rick was still in trouble with his wife from our first night in zdiar. sorry, but the wife always wins that argument.. managed to play a game of basket - aka ginger monkey celebrity - and again, the 3 americans were at a disadvantage as many of the people chosen were british footballers, cricket players or tv actors. ah well, it was fun anyhow.

had a few more laughs about our first night at vlado's bar and about jim's parading around outside ("i was trying to walk how santa would walk, but then i realized i was creeping around like a robber") in a red t shirt, red santa hat and a beard made out of cotton balls and paper - which wally managed to eat, so no more father christmas.

so in the end, we got our family holiday celebration afterall. funny how things work out for the best.