MY SPRING 1997 TRIP TO SLOVAKIA

Few weeks prior to my trip I always buy small gifts and candies for the children. So I was buying and buying and yesterday late at night I had attempted to fit it all into the two huge suitcases. I wasn't successful as it didn't all fit and had to leave many pounds of goodies behind. I packed and repacked numerous times and went to bed at 2:30 in the morning, both suitcases still not packed. Just prior to that I was trying to copy some picture files from my main computer to the laptop only to find that the laptop had jammed itself. Too late to call for help and the laptop was buzzing signals. My whole life flashed in front of me as I had spent weeks scanning most of my pictures to the computer and now in this crucial moment the computer isn't working. So I have reached for the instruction manual and disconnected all power and restarted again. Surprisingly it all started and loaded itself without any problems and I was able to copy all the picture files to the laptop. I woke up at 5:30 to finish the packing job. Had to remove more stuff for my weight to be just shade under the reject weight. That is always my biggest worry when traveling, whether I won't be overweight. It always happens and this was no exemption.

We drove the kids to school and off we went to the airport. This time I am flying all the way to Munich in Germany through Toronto and London for free as a frequent flyer Presidents Club Canadian Plus member. This is great. My favorite airline, Canadian Airlines International awards every frequent flyer with mileage points for every flight. In the low season you need 40000 points to European destination.

I asked Maria to circle the airport at least once just in case my luggage gets rejected. Lucky day for me, it wasn't and I got it checked all the way to Munich and got also all boarding passes for the whole flight. Not really anticipating what lays ahead. This is great. I still had to manage to get through all the security checkpoints with my three carryon bags. I felt like Christmas tree. Computer bag hanging on my right shoulder and my video camera bag and still camera bag hanging on my left shoulder and boy, are they heavy. Well I passed without any problems and now I am waiting and writing in the departure area. Soon there will be boarding announcement and off we fly to Toronto.

Yes they did announce the boarding, so I will go and board.

The flight to Toronto was very pleasant. Soon, I was on the plane to London. As we came close to London the captain announced that Heathrow airport is fogged in and we circled above for over an hour and at the end we diverted to Manchester as all the other airlines did that were scheduled to arrive in London. With all this technology we have at our disposal, we lost it to the fog. Manchester was packed and we were not allowed to leave the plane and that is where I am writing now, on the tarmac in Manchester. The latest announcement was no change in weather in London. I hope I won't miss my plane to Munich, since it has to be late too, same as we are, so it will eventually all move few hours late. My battery in the laptop is nearly gone, I only have 15 minutes left. I am also getting little tired as I am up now for 20 hours, still have to get to London, then to Munich, pick up the car and drive another 550 kilometers to Bratislava. I sure hope I will make it safe.

Well that was a lot of wishful thinking. We arrived in London around noon. It was a madhouse there. The connecting flight deck had only one person working and about 150 people in line to make changes. This was only the British Airways counter; the other airlines were just as busy. So I decided not to reschedule, found a terminal from which a plane to Munich would leave shortly and hoped for the best, to get the boarding pass at the gate. It did work and I got on the next available plane to Munich with assurance that my luggage will be on the plane. Upon arrival at Munich there were also many other people there whose luggage didn’t arrive. By now I was up for about 22 hours. Still going strong, but starting to feel tired. The next flight was due little bit over an hour after this one. I decided to go to the Sixt Budget rent a car where I had made reservations. I got an Opel Corsa with less than 600 kilometers on it. Practically brand new. So I went to the parking lot and put my cameras and the laptop in the car with hopes to find it all in it, upon my return. While making luggage claim I managed to get a lunch voucher that the companies give out when asked. This one was for 30 DM, plenty of food can be bought at the Munich airport for 30 DM. I went through the security check again to the arrival area and my suitcases weren't there. I went to another area with a very helpful young British Airways attendant Ms. O'Sulivan. She went out of her way to try to make me comfortable. There was no answer in London, so she made few phone calls and got me a hotel room in near by Astron Hotel. You see have I had an address in Slovakia for the next few days they would deliver it over there. I am not to sure right now where I will be next day and I didn’t want to stay put in one place for a day or two, waiting for my lost luggage to arrive. Later on I realized that without my luggage I am stuck. I have no video films, no 35-mm films, and no tripods. I have nothing to wear apart from what I have on now and that is starting to get sticky after 30 hours. I received advance for the accommodation and lodging as Ms. O'Sulivan felt I might be too tired to drive even if the luggage would arrive on the next flight, which by the way it didn't. So I am at the hotel, writing. It is 4 PM in Vancouver and almost one in the morning here in Munich. I had just finish talking with Ms. O'Sulivan on the phone and she had great news for me. My suitcases are at the airport and will be arriving shortly at the hotel. So I will have a good night sleep and continue on my Journey to Slovakia early morning.

What an early experience. I sure hope that the rest of the trip will be smooth.

I woke up after seven went down to the reception looking for my two huge suitcases and surprisingly they were there. Went to the restaurant to have breakfast that was included in the price of the room and shortly after I was on my way.

Found my way to Autobahn and soon I was gliding her at 150 Km per hour (that is by the way the almost top speed of Opel Corsa). This is the third time I am traveling the same stretch of the Autobahn all the way to the Austrian border near Salzburg. If you are traveling in Washington State, USA north of Seattle I 5 and cross the border to Canada, you will notice a slight difference in the highway condition, namely the smoothness. The smoother highway being the one you have just came from, the USA one. Yes it is truth the USA highways are somewhat better than Canadian, which is by the way only my personal opinion. But lets go back to Germany, the Autobahn is great. You are sailing on it, it is smooth, it is straight, it is simply fantastic and a pleasure to drive or glide or sail, make your pick. It is also clean. Just perfect. Crossing to Austria, if there was no border check point you could assume that you are not in Germany anymore by the Austrian Autobahn condition, not nearly as good as the German one and your sailing is not as smooth as in Germany. Same goes when you cross to Slovakia and their: "Autobahn" or the few stretches of the freeway that they managed to construct so far. The freeway isn’t smooth at all and the top speed of your car can seldom bee achieved as you have a feeling that you are sailing in rough waters. Anyway it doesn't matter to me, I am happy for the stretches they have. In general the highways in Slovakia are good, but not as perfect as in Germany. The only negative fact is the presence of farm vehicles as tractors and really slow trucks on major highways often moving at 40-50 kilometers per hour. Slowing you down and preventing you to accurately calculate your arrival time at any distance from your starting point.

While driving the rolling hills of Austria between Salzburg, Linz, and Vienna I have noticed great similarity in the landscape, namely the rolling hills and open space. Many villages had Gothic churches with tall bell towers with onion shaped roofs similar to the ones in Spis's region. The farmhouses looked similar too, except they were huge and multi level. In Austria the Autobahn is being repaired on many stretches, thus slowing you down substantially.

GO TO PART TWO

GO BACK TO TRAVEL

Published in the Slovak Heritage Live newsletter Volume 5, No. 2, Summer 1997
Copyright © Vladimir Linder 1999 
3804 Yale Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5C 1P6
The above article may not be copied, reproduced, republished, or redistributed by any means including electronic, without the express written permission of Vladimir Linder. All rights reserved.