Poprad, Slovakia

On the way to Poprad by train, our luck with the weather ran out. Rain came down in sheets as we pulled into the station to be picked up by Hannah's parents, Pavel and Antonia. They had arrived a few days earlier on their own visit, and they drove us in their rental car to the apartment complex where many of Antonia's family live.

We went first to an apartment shared by Olga M. and Vlasta V. (Antonia's mother and sister, respectively) to find a family reunion in full swing. I was introduced around, as was Hannah, but where she could respond in reasonable Slovak, I could only smile and look dumb. It was an enjoyable evening nonetheless. I was given two shots of Slivovice, a homemade liquor that will probably be used as fuel when Slovakia gets a space program, and a fine local beer. With that, it was soon time for sleep.

We were shown to a nearby building and the apartment of Peter and Danka V. and their young daughters Andrea and Zuzka. Hannah and I were given one of the two rooms while the rest of the family crowded into the other. The apartments we saw were all very small and designed according to the same (Soviet) plan, with two rooms of about 3 by 4.5 meters at each end. These two outside rooms were used for sleeping or entertaining, while the middle of the apartment was further divided into a WC, bathing room, and kitchen as well as a hallway to connect the two outer rooms, all in a space of about the same size as the other rooms.

The next morning, after breakfast, Pavel, Antonia, Hannah and I went for a drive, and we brought Hannah's cousin Zdenka along so she could practice her English among us. We drove to the east of Poprad, through Svidník and some other, smaller towns.

Other day trips from Poprad brought us to the High Tatra mountains, the Bel'anská Jaskyña limestone caves, and downtown Poprad, where we saw storks. We also went out to the surrounding "suburbs" to visit the home of cousin Janík and his family. Janík is building the house himself, as that's the only way to get anything done in the post-Soviet era, and he's doing a good job of it.