Onwards. East to Slovakia!

1/ Crossing the border into Slovakia

It was with great relunctance that we packed up our kit this morning and headed out again on the autoroute. We are excited to be visiting an unfamiliar country and seeing Dana & Tibor again, but we just wish we didn't have to drive all day to get there! Today we have to make it half-way across Austria and then all the way to the north eastern border of Slovakia.

The weather is suitably heinous. But fortunately, unlike the highways to the Austrian ski resorts, the road is empty. It is snowing, sleeting and raining in equal measure. Visibility is limited and we feel that we are only seeing a tiny glimpse of the terrain around us.

Poor old Pepi Peugeot is covered in snow, salt and grime. Our skis on the roof racks are getting hammered. The edges are covered in rust! I can't even begin to imagine what the salt is doing to Pepi's metal underbelly!

2/ A very grimy Pepi!

3/ How to wreck your skis without using them!!

I am going to refrain from making any comments or impressions about Slovakia at this stage. It is too early to tell. Certainly the grim weather is not making the uninspired soviet architecture of the buildings look any better. But looks can be deceiving and our opinions are also coloured by the monotony of driving. Best wait until we've spent some real time here.

4/ Hmmm. Soviet style housing blocks!

Well it wouldn't be a proper road trip without us getting lost! It was dark, snowing, Penny was completely lost! She had no maps for the area we were travelling through. By sheer dumb luck rather than any good navigation on my part, we managed to find Stola - Dana & Tibor's town. After a quick phone call to Dana, she was able to direct us to their beautiful log cabin.

Of course, Dana and Tibor look exactly the same. But of course their children, Michaela (Mischa) & Tomi have grown substantially in the two years since we have seen them. Mischa is now 12 (going on 22!!) and Tomi is 8. I will confess that Graeme and I were totally wrung out by the hard drive today and we were probably not very good company. Hopefully tomorrow we'll be rested and ready to catch up with all the news since Dana & Tibor were in NZ two years ago.