Tue 10.Aug.2010
Poprad, Slovakia
Trenčin, western Slovakia
A flat grey week in a hilly colorful town.
I think my neighborhood, across the river from Trenčin's old town, used
to be a separate village. It has a village-y look to it, even on an
overcast afternoon.
The overcast doesn't stop a bee from going about his bee business in
somebody's front garden.
Last day in town. When I leave home around noon
the sun has made a breakthrough.
In celebration, I take my camera into town with me. I also take my
umbrella just in case.
My train "tomorrow" requires a reservation, giving me an opportunity to
stroll through the park between the town and the station / ticket
office.
Then back into town, where kids are playing in Water Man's fountain.
Storm's End at Sunset
I only spent about an hour inside the wi-fi bar. In that time, a storm
gathered and broke, bringing lightning, thunder, and heavy but brief
rain.
When I returned home, I would find my tshirt re-soaked that I had left
hanging in the sun to dry on my balcony.
In the meantime though, the storm ended just before sunset, leaving me
a beautiful last walk across the railroad bridge back to my pension.
My only regret here is that I never did get a good picture of the pair
of huge swans that seem to live along my bank of the river. I liked
seeing them on the way to or fro.
Like much less-than-essential
infrastructure in Slovakia, the foot-and-bicycle path across the
railroad bridge is in horrible shape, but - also like - it is kept
functional. The country is not wealthy, and, for historical reasons has
an enormous backlog of
maintenance.
New stuff, like autobahns and the Intercity train that I rode today are
sleek and modern. They are working on it. Someday, sentimental folks
may mourn the same shabbiness they regret today.
Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Bulf