A wander around Old Town Bratislava, Slovakia

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The only full day here in Bratislava was a chilly and drizzly one. But surprising: Masayo and I came across a Christmas-y outdoor ice skating rink and besides that we strode around Old Town, which is decidedly a bit more ramshackle than others we’ve seen on this trip. But this capital of Slovakia was lively and festive, despite the weather; the people of Bratislava are irrepressibly fun-loving. My blood sugars were mostly in the high 100s all day, and I was in a bad mood which didn’t help. Dinner was pasta – would I be able to navigate my diabetes through it without wrecking the day completely?

Masayo woke up before me and did some laundry with the Scrubba bag in the bathtub of our room at Juraj’s Outback Hostel, after which I woke up. We were both looking forward to seeing the star attraction of this hostel; just about every review on booking.com (which I’d used to find the room) raved about Juraj’s rabbits, which we didn’t see last night as we arrived long after dark.

And this morning, right outside our room in the yard, there they were: about a dozen rabbits looking somewhat perturbed by the rain. They’d sit in one place for a little bit with a sort of unimpressed, cat-like scowl, then suddenly start hopping erratically around in the wet dirt and grass.

You know, being rabbits.

We watched their random and comical actions for a few minutes before setting out to explore Bratislava while we still had daylight. It’s a European capital that deserves a few days but alas we have a lot of ground to cover and are going to northern Slovakia tomorrow to hunt for some snowy mountains.

Masayo and I walked under a vast white sky and the grey air of the city through residential streets wet with rain, though none was falling at the moment. Beside a large unused fountain in a plaza I checked my blood sugar for the first time today: 141. After falling asleep at 146 last night I figured that was beyond acceptable.

Breakfast time!

After ambling through a few more bleak plazas we entered Old Town, an instantly more touristy but attractive section of winding brickwork, rickety-looking arches, and cobblestones. We found a place called Moods Bakery & Coffee with a tasty selection of food.

Despite suffering from a strange mix of a bad mood and a lack of appetite (probably related) I got pumpkin quiche, yogurt and muesli, a small poppy seed muffin, and coffee. When I don’t eat enough for a couple days I tend to start losing my appetite, which makes my energy levels (and blood sugars) worse. That may have been my problem today; the meal was scrumptious and all but it was a struggle to get through it.

Afterwards we kept walking and found ourselves in the big town square, very busy and full of people: there was a big Christmas market set up with all kinds of stalls selling food and drinks, and others souvenirs and trinkets. There was a curious but ultimately defiant mix of miserableness (the cold, wet weather) and happiness (the smiles, the decorations)

But it was in another square to the south that we really found something interesting: an outdoor ice-skating rink, where adept skaters both young and old glided back and forth as Christmas music played over large speakers.

We didn’t really consider joining in ourselves – neither of us are skaters. I think I went a couple times many years ago but certainly wouldn’t know how to do it. So we watched for a few minutes, during which I checked my post-breakfast BG which was 183. Then we kept walking to see a major European sight for the very first time: The Danube River.

On the banks of the mighty Danube, which was wide and misty and gave the impression of being mighty and important, Masayo and I watched the boats moving by and tried to make out details on the opposite shore.

We both wanted a bathroom break and this led us to a wacky and possibly criminal tragicomedy. In a small park near the river was a “WC” sign with stairs leading to facilities underground. One staircase for men, one for women.

There were turnstiles at the bottom of each that required 40 eurocents to go through and we each went down our respective steps. The turnstile in mine was broken so I walked right through. Unfortunately, I saw only urinals, but needed a stall.

I noticed a closed door behind the turnstile and thought it might lead to stalls. When I opened it I was lucky: three stalls, right in front of me!

I went through the door and shut it behind me, noticing a woman cleaning the sinks as I disappeared into a stall and closed its door. Living in Japan has made me used to cleaning women being in men’s bathrooms so I didn’t think much of it.

However, I’d also just noticed another woman at a sink, washing her hands, who’d just turned her head and seen me as I shut my door. Wait a minute, I panicked. Did I just enter the woman’s bathroom?

What could I do? When I was ready to leave I concocted an escape plan: open the stall door and bolt through the door that had brought me into the enemy camp in the first place, looking only straight ahead. If I was good I could do it in a second.

I did it – taking time to note that no women were visible as I slipped out, apparently unnoticed – and found myself back in the safety of the men’s urinals.

Back up in the park, Masayo was waiting: her turnstile had been operational but didn’t accept her coins so she didn’t know how to get through. She still needed to go to the bathroom.

I told her that there was nobody down in the men’s side and the turnstile wasn’t an issue, so she could go down and enter the women’s bathroom via the door that I had. She did and I kept watch. (I didn’t know for what – was I going to tell a guy who approached to not go down the stairs?) Nobody came, and soon Masayo popped out of the men’s stairwell. All was fine, for the both of us.

And that’s how you use the bathroom in Bratislava; no problem!

Passing back by the ice-skating rink we realized that not joining in the fun would be indefensible. I had to convince Masayo, who wasn’t feeling full of energy, but since it was only €4 including skate rental we went for it.

We hit the ice, and I didn’t even know where to begin with this activity. I clung to the walls where Masayo joined me at first. If I tried to stand I’d immediately fall down.

Masayo had the advantage of being an occasional viewer of figure skating on television; she’s at least seen it. I never watch it though and I didn’t even know how it was supposed to go. The other people behind us were no help either; they all looked like professionals to me, even the little kids.

So Masayo got the hang of it pretty quickly. She was within minutes floating back and forth, around the perimeter of the square rink. I personally struggled, mightily. Mostly I tried to just walk. It was hard but I could almost do it. When I tried to actually skate and not just “walk”, I’d fall over.

Every couple of minutes Masayo would pass by whatever part of the wall I was clinging to, offer me some pointers, and then speed off. After about an hour I finally reached a point where I could go around the whole rink without holding on to anything.

But it still was a cross between skating and walking.

Eventually I gave up, figuring I wasn’t going to be getting any better today. It actually made me grouchier, a feeling made worse by my inadequate food intake these days. Masayo had to put up with a crabby me after the ice skating.

Back at the Christmas market square we split a small pita with meat and sauce. I took my shot standing at a wooden eating platform, as discreetly as I could. The food was good if again too small for proper nutrition. Nearby was a covered stand full of used books with cheap posted prices. You paid on the honor system, dropping your coins into sealed cans. They had but few English books, and anyway I’m still reading the World War II book I bought in Kraków, Poland.

That was it for downtown Bratislava: tired, we trudged back to the hostel and its zany little rabbits.

In the room my BG was 194. A bit high, especially for having walked and (sort of) skated all afternoon. I took some Humalog and had part of an apple strudel we’d picked up on the way out of the Christmas market. Masayo made ginger tea for us in the shared kitchen that was all ours since we were the only people staying at Juraj’s.

Since there isn’t much around this hostel we returned to the pizza place we’d found last night for dinner. This time though we ate inside, and were able to avoid yet another pizza because they had a pretty good menu. I got lasagna and a large beer – still feeling guilty for not drinking much beer in the Czech Republic.

I hesitated on my Humalog shot for this carb-heavy meal, not taking it until I was almost finished. And towards the end of the meal, even without insulin, my BG turned out to be 107. I must have been low before dinner. A strange eating schedule does me no favors. But I took the shot and hoped for the best.

Back in the room we planned our day tomorrow: a train ride between the High and Low (i.e., north and south) Tatras mountains to a town called Levoča. Hopefully there would be snow there.

Then, the really fun part of the evening for me: a live Atlanta Falcons game, streamed via NFL Game Pass! Usually the games are a few hours old by the time I get to watch them. I avoid the scores so it’s still fun but it’s kind of cool to see a live stream of one.

Unfortunately the weird lasagna/insulin timing hadn’t worked too well: I was 228 and took advantage of the shot I needed to also have some cinnamon cereal and milk we’d stuck in the refrigerator.

By 1:30 am, when the game ended, I was 191. A little high but good enough for right before bed.

Bratislava has been quite good to us. The ice skating was fun, if something of a travesty on my part; I promised that I would try again when given the chance. Like diabetes, you can’t give up when things don’t go perfectly at first. Just build on whatever good things happened and look to improve next time.

So tomorrow it’s goodbye to the rabbits and (maybe) the drizzle and off to the deeper parts of Slovakia. I hope we’ll be able to find the train ok. And even more importantly – will we finally see some of this famous European winter snow I’ve been expecting?

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