Bus and international train to Bratislava, Slovakia

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(the article below accompanies this video)

Leaving Český Krumlov isn’t easy because it’s such a nice little town. But Masayo and I had no choice: the travel gods pulled us on today. We were planning on leaving the Czech Republic after ten nights and entering Slovakia and its capital, Bratislava. It would take a series of buses and trains and one costly mistake but we’d make it long after nightfall. My blood sugars spiked very high once but calmed down later, even in the face of a late-night Slovakian pizza.

Upon waking up on our last Czech morning in Český Krumlov, my blood sugar was 157, not too bad after the illness and exertion of the last couple days. We walked around town looking for breakfast, ending up on a small alley we somehow missed yesterday and inside a cafe called Omnes Caffe Arleta.

We both ordered a toasted sandwich with coffee, as we sat in the small room by ourselves with a large window offering a view of the occasional contented-looking pedestrian on the cobblestones outside. A lovely and simple breakfast, easy to dose Humalog for, and warm and tasty.

Afterwards we visited a Christmas market in the small town square, already busy with things being roasted, eaten, and drunk at stalls by a few tourists/shoppers poking around. We got two chocolate-covered cookies to enjoy on our voyage today.

By bus to České Budojěvice

Our bus, again from the Student Agency company, was scheduled to leave at 11:00 am (we bought the tickets last night online). The bus arrived on time and we hopped aboard the big comfortable yellow vehicle which took us to a nearby transportation hub called České Budojěvice.

While en route I checked my BG, expecting a really good reading. The joke was on me though; I was 312. No idea why; could the breakfast bread have been that thick?

In České Budojěvice we had a 90-minute wait for the next bus, bound for the city of Brno, so we found a cafe inside an upscale-looking mall to get drinks and to eat our Christmas cookies. I took a big Humalog shot for mine, of course. We also found a supermarket called Albert, knocking around the aisles with our big bags looking for the usual snack lunch we always get on days like this. (Sandwich, yogurt, banana, etc.)

The bus to Brno

I really loved this part of the journey for one big reason: there was an increasing amount of frost on the landscape outside as the bus ambled over the hills on the winding two-lane highway. Not snow, but a breathtaking approximation. Masayo and I have been figuring that since we chose Europe in fall and winter, we’d be seeing snow. And quite looking forward to it. Today we got a taste as we approached Brno.

I hadn’t quite come down from the earlier high though; I was 231 at 2:00 pm. I shot up again and ate the sandwich lunch. It would be my last bad blood sugar of the day. I sat and ate my snack while gazing at the soft, grainy white grass and trees passing by the cautiously slow bus.

We arrived in Brno, which wasn’t frosty, and had no time to do anything. It was just a brisk walk along a busy street to the train station where we got tickets to Bratislava.

I reflected that we were planning on leaving one country and entering another in the next couple of hours but hadn’t actually bought tickets yet, waiting until the last minute right here at the station.

That’s some pretty seat-of-your-pants traveling right there!

To Bratislava, and (oops) beyond

This final part of the journey would be on two trains: one to Břeclav, then a big one to Bratislava (actually a longer Warsaw to Budapest service). The tickets were even cheap, about €10 each.

If only I knew how we’d end up in an unknown town paying more before the evening was out.

On the first train I was pleased that my BG was now down to 178 – under 200! Masayo dozed while I read my World War II book from Kraków, Poland. Things were going great. At first.

I didn’t know the exact time of arrival in Bratislava because our tickets weren’t for any specific train, just any train today. But I knew it was around around 90 minutes or a little more.

At one point we stopped at a station but I couldn’t see its name. On one side of us there was a train blocking my view, and on the other side I didn’t see any station name. Even the electronic sign in the train car didn’t mention where we were stopped, just the current time and the final destination (Budapest).

As we pulled out I kept looking out the window, struggling to see its name. I saw a sign that said “Bratislava”, but since it was too early for that I was just confused. Maybe that was a platform for trains bound for Bratislava?

We quickly realized that no, that was indeed our station, Bratislava. We’d missed it and now the train was hurtling through the Slovakian darkness for who knows where.

Could we get off at the next station and catch a train back? It was already late; were there trains? Would they charge us more for this? How long would all this take? Would the room I booked still be waiting for us?

A ticket guy finally walked past and I told him what had happened. He said we could get off at the next station, Nóve Zámky, and from there take a certain train back to Bratislava. He even wrote down all the times for us. How nice – but he had to charge us for the return ticket, €13 each. Ever budget-minded, I paid and seethed at our own folly.

To Bratislava (again)

But we had no choice. We disembarked at Nóve Zámky and got our train back to Bratislava, retracing our steps. We couldn’t find seats, either; the train was full of six-person compartments, and each was closed with the lights off. We couldn’t tell if people were in them, sleeping, or if they were available. We bumped up and down the train with our big bags and eventually gave up on sitting in seats and found a sort of utility room towards the back of the train.

Nobody else was in this room (because it wasn’t really a place for passengers to ride). The walls and floor were grey and bright orange handles were stuck to the walls. Our bags went onto the floor, and so did we.

One thing I liked, as a kind of diabetes portent, was the little numbered signs on the wall under the handles: “105”, “104”, “103”, and “102”. I checked my BG to see if it might be one of these numbers and it almost was: 100 exactly!

Google Maps hates Bratislava

After 45 minutes we finally arrived (again) in Bratislava and this time didn’t miss it. Yet again we were doing the thing I try to avoid: arriving in a big new city late Saturday evening. I just want to avoid the chaos, possible drunken partiers, and stuff like that, as we try to orient ourselves and walk around with our big bags. But again this week we’re doing just that.

I had studied Google Maps beforehand to know where to go, but as usual the actual roads don’t match what Google says. I’ve had a lot more trouble than help from Google Maps in general on this trip. A couple times, as Masayo and I stumbled around quiet streets under the yellow lights, everything closed and a light mist in the air, I stopped to get my laptop out to try to look at the booking.com map again, but it was from Google so it wasn’t really helpful.

At least there was no sign of any alcohol-fuelled highjinks. I don’t know why I’m so nervous about that. Just the feeling of being an outsider arriving in the dark I guess. We just narrowly missed a riot in Warsaw after all.

Finally we found Juraj’s Outback Hostel through sheer luck and determination. In a dark residential building with a locked front entrance, we had a small room with shared kitchen and our own bathroom and shower. (Actually there are no other guests so the kitchen is ours too.)

Juraj seemed great, super friendly and really excited to help us with anything we’d need while in Bratislava. Plus he keeps rabbits, which bounce around the yard outside our door.

We hadn’t eaten well today so we went looking for dinner. First night in a new city and new country, in a quiet residential area with nothing open. But we got lucky with a place called Metropol: pizza, yet again, which we got in a takeout box with a beer for me to eat in our room at Juraj’s.

Afterwards at 11:00 pm I was 117 but I didn’t like it: too low. I had a bottle of juice and goofed around on the internet, unable to sleep for some reason, although Masayo had no problem passing out.

About an hour later I was 146. Good enough; I finally got sleepy myself and drifted off. Seven BG checks today, and only a morning spike to complain about. Also we’ve made it to another country, Slovakia! We aren’t planning on spending much time here in Bratislava, actually, even though it’s a new capital city for us.

We want to go up north and see some snowy mountains.

But tomorrow we will indeed check out Bratislava. Hope my BG behaves like it did this afternoon and evening. Now what will Bratislava have to show us tomorrow? Can we meet Juraj’s infamous rabbits?

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