Hello Slovakia!
We arrived in Kosice around noon and set out to find lunch. Funny, but the first sign that we saw upon exiting the train station was a billboard for McDonald's. Reagan was very excited by this and begged me to take her there for some "normal" food. So we hoofed it to Mickey D's and I got this great picture of my favorite Slovakian word.
The next day Reagan and
I got up very early for two reasons: 1.) we wanted to get as far away from our hostel as fast as possible (it was the scariest, grossest place I have ever been in... we slept with the lights on) and 2.) we wanted to see how much fun we could pack in before our train left for the day. We grabbed a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs with onions and toast stuffed with ham and cheese, and then climbed on a bus that took us way up into the hills. There I accidentally had us get off on the wrong stop, but as serendipity would have it, the "wrong" stop was actually at the base of a trail that you could hike into some beautiful hills. So off we went.
Reagan and I ventured over the border this weekend to check out our neighbor, Slovakia. We took the train to a beautiful city called Kosice (pronounced Kassha). It is a two hour train ride from Szerencs. By the way, the train station in Szerencs is adorable (see picture to the left). These buildings are one of the main things that I love about Eastern Europe. They are quaint and the United States has nothing even close.
Anyway, Reagan and I got up early on Saturday morning and walked the 1.5 miles to the train station to catch the 8:47 departure. We had nothing with us but a small backpack with two shirts, toothbrushes, our passports and a bottle of water. We arrived in Miskolc (a city in Hungary that is about 37 km from Szerencs) and waited for our departing train to Kosice. I successfully purchased all of our train tickets, using the proper words for one way and round trip. The ticket lady did not look at me crazy at all when I spoke in Hungarian. Maybe my accent is getting better? We only got yelled at once during the train rides, and that was because we accidentally sat in the first class section when we had purchased second class seats. Whoops! The ticket checker was nice enough to let us stay where we were and did not drag us by our ears to the proper car with the other miserable second class travellers.
We arrived in Kosice around noon and set out to find lunch. Funny, but the first sign that we saw upon exiting the train station was a billboard for McDonald's. Reagan was very excited by this and begged me to take her there for some "normal" food. So we hoofed it to Mickey D's and I got this great picture of my favorite Slovakian word.After lunch we headed toward the square in downtown Kosice. One block in and Reagan and I were totally in love. The buildings were reminiscent of cozy paintings of romantic couples roaming the streets of an unknown location in Europe. Literally, every daydream I could conjure 
up in my mind about Europe was all balled into this one tiny strip of Slovakia. From the cobblestone streets to the majestic cathedral, I was head over heels.
up in my mind about Europe was all balled into this one tiny strip of Slovakia. From the cobblestone streets to the majestic cathedral, I was head over heels. After taking a number of beautiful photographs, Reagan and I decided to visit the wax museum that is right near the cathedral in the square. Don't get the wrong idea. This was no Madame Tussaud's. This wax museum was based on the historical and religious figures of Kosice since, well, the beginning of Kosice!
When we entered we were greeted by a woman who spoke nothing but Slovak (shocking!), and I was fortunate enough to have written down the right Slovakian phrases to be able to ask for two tickets and to pay her the proper amount of koruna. She then handed us two folders that had 
papers in them describing each wax figure. It was translated into English, but it was quite clear that a non native speaker of English had translated it. Interesting none the less. I found the history fascinating. Reagan on the other hand was quite creeped out by the glassy stares of the saints and royalty posed in menancing grandeur.
papers in them describing each wax figure. It was translated into English, but it was quite clear that a non native speaker of English had translated it. Interesting none the less. I found the history fascinating. Reagan on the other hand was quite creeped out by the glassy stares of the saints and royalty posed in menancing grandeur. Next up was a visit to the musical fountains, which are a small, small scale of the fountains outside of the Bellagio. S
peakers are rigged all around the park and the fountains put on a show to odd musical selections by such singers as Amy Grant, Celine Dion and Frank Sinatra.
Then we took a walk to the other end of the main street area, looking in shop windows and snapping more pictures. Next thing we knew we were being confronted on the sidewalk by a very ticked off police officer. He yelled at me in Slovakian and got out his ticket pad. He kept asking for something, but it wasn't one of the 20 words I had written down on my sheet of notebook paper. Something told me he wasn't asking what flavor of ice cream we wanted. Then in English he asked for our passports. Ummmm.... what? How did he know we were foreigners??? Who told!!!! So with my heart in my throat I fished our passports out of our backpack and handed them over. He proceeded to start writing a ticket out on his ticket pad. Seriously? Seriously! Is this going to happen in every single country I visit? I handed the camera to Reagan and tried to get her to take a picture of me getting yet another ticket, but she was too scared to do it. From what I could gather (considering that I do not speak Slovak) we had crossed the street against the light. He wrote 2,000 on
a pad of paper and held it out to me. This was about four times as much as I had pulled out of the ATM. I gave him a look like "are you crazy???". He put a line through the number and wrote 500 next to it. Then he circled it. Are we bargaining? Do I get to write a number too? He shoved the ticket and our passports at me and demanded that I pay the fine. Sigh. All of my money gone. It took us two hours in Slovakia to go broke.
peakers are rigged all around the park and the fountains put on a show to odd musical selections by such singers as Amy Grant, Celine Dion and Frank Sinatra.Then we took a walk to the other end of the main street area, looking in shop windows and snapping more pictures. Next thing we knew we were being confronted on the sidewalk by a very ticked off police officer. He yelled at me in Slovakian and got out his ticket pad. He kept asking for something, but it wasn't one of the 20 words I had written down on my sheet of notebook paper. Something told me he wasn't asking what flavor of ice cream we wanted. Then in English he asked for our passports. Ummmm.... what? How did he know we were foreigners??? Who told!!!! So with my heart in my throat I fished our passports out of our backpack and handed them over. He proceeded to start writing a ticket out on his ticket pad. Seriously? Seriously! Is this going to happen in every single country I visit? I handed the camera to Reagan and tried to get her to take a picture of me getting yet another ticket, but she was too scared to do it. From what I could gather (considering that I do not speak Slovak) we had crossed the street against the light. He wrote 2,000 on
a pad of paper and held it out to me. This was about four times as much as I had pulled out of the ATM. I gave him a look like "are you crazy???". He put a line through the number and wrote 500 next to it. Then he circled it. Are we bargaining? Do I get to write a number too? He shoved the ticket and our passports at me and demanded that I pay the fine. Sigh. All of my money gone. It took us two hours in Slovakia to go broke. Anyway.... after that fun filled moment we walked away from him and when he wasn't looking I snuck back and took a picture of his car. Hahahahahaha!!!! Jerk. He probably spent it all on cappucino and girly magazines.
The next day Reagan and
I got up very early for two reasons: 1.) we wanted to get as far away from our hostel as fast as possible (it was the scariest, grossest place I have ever been in... we slept with the lights on) and 2.) we wanted to see how much fun we could pack in before our train left for the day. We grabbed a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs with onions and toast stuffed with ham and cheese, and then climbed on a bus that took us way up into the hills. There I accidentally had us get off on the wrong stop, but as serendipity would have it, the "wrong" stop was actually at the base of a trail that you could hike into some beautiful hills. So off we went.We walked half a mile (according to the pedometer that I always wear), and we came to an observation tower. I love these things. Reagan had never been in one before, so we hoofed it up to the top and took in the beautiful view over all of Kosice.
After that we headed back to the bus stop and got 
back on the train to go to the zoo! Yes, another zoo where you can roam freely and touch animals that zoo keepers will not let you near in the US. I hand fed a zebra and held hands with a monkey. It was great.
back on the train to go to the zoo! Yes, another zoo where you can roam freely and touch animals that zoo keepers will not let you near in the US. I hand fed a zebra and held hands with a monkey. It was great. 
After the zoo, Reagan and I headed back into the hills for an amazing bobsledding ride that went straight up and then winding down the hillside. It was great fun.... we rode three times! After that it was time to head back to Szerencs. We had a lovely time and we will look forward to our next visit to Slovakia.
Until then, dovidenia!
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