i heart slovakia

so, spent the next few days literally chillin' on a mountain. it was wonderful. our hosts at the hostel were the best people in the world, as far as i was concerned. we were basically their extended family for the next couple days. on our first full day there, which happened to be christmas eve, we went up to one of the ski resorts to check it out and go skiing/snowboarding. or, i should clarify. mike went snowboarding; joslyn and i watched and walked around and ate and drank. i thought about hitting the slopes too, as they weren't too scary, but alas, i chickened out. it would be my luck that i would injure myself and have to hobble around on eastern european crutches for the next 2 weeks. no thank you.

although, that could have happened anyway. we managed to get a ride with vlado, the owner of the bar from the night before. however, it was about 1/2 way through the ride when we realized he was probably still drunk from the night before. and driving on those mountain roads without road side barriers will give you a new appreciation for life. but we made it, and had a darn good time. it's beautiful.

afterwards, when mike was done snowboarding, we walked home, rather than getting another ride from vlado, who - if it's even possible - was even more drunk after taking at least 8 shots of vodka and a few beers at the ski resort. it's a nice little town, though much was closed because of the christmas holiday. back at the hostel, had our now-routine cuppa (that's cup of tea, for all you americans) to warm up, then it was back out to find the ATM and a souvenir shop. the shop was closed, which was a major bummer, as i really wanted a postcard and key chain from zdiar.

however, the disappointment was alleviated when we ran into into richie and johnny on our way back to the hostel. they were about to hit up a local store - probably the only store open - to get some alcohol for the upcoming holiday festivities. maybe it was one of those things you had to be there to fully appreciate, but it was a spectacle, to say the least. in a broken slovak/english mix, they managed to order some beer and wine. but then, mainly by gestures, they also tried to tell the check out girl they wanted an entire case of beer. 40 or more big bottles, all together. the girl's eyes were priceless. they seemed to endlessly question: "are you sure you want the entire case?", as the line at the store was now building out the door because richie and johnny were taking so long. one of the locals managed to tell the girl "drunk" and she seemed to finally understand that, yes, these two crazy foreigners do indeed want the entire case of beer. we couldn't stop laughing at the site of them hobbling back up the icy road, each holding one end of the plastic bin in one hand, and a bag of wine and more beer bottles in the other.

that night, had some wonderful albeit spicy stir fry, prepared specially by johnny, more drinks and a few rounds of who wants to be a millionaire. for those that know me, i'd admit i'm pretty good at trivia games. i even qualified for the meredith viera version back in college. however, this was a british version, and the 3 americans were at a sore disadvantage. then it was mary poppins time. yes, i said mary poppins. maybe a few sing-alongs happened, maybe they didn't. i will not tell such secrets here. but we all began to drift after the step-in-time rooftop scene. called it quits from the movie, and headed to bed, peacefully drifting off to the sounds of the midnight church carolers outside.