We had a tricky travel day ahead of us, so we fuelled up with another excellent breakfast. We then left the hostel around 9:30 am and headed to the train station. We left Krakow Glowny at 11:08 and had to transfer at Czedhowice Dziedzice, then Bielsko Biala Glowna, then Cesky Tesin, then Zilina, in order to arrive in Varin, Slovakia! Eek! The reason we are making this particular trip is to meet and visit with Lubos' parents and sister, Zuzka. We are excited to see the countryside and live the Slovakian lifestyle for a day or two. We managed to make all our connections and arrived at 6:00 p.m. in Varin. Lubos's mom, Emilia, and his sister, Zuzka, met us at the train station, and we walked back to their beautiful home in Varin. Emilia is an Economics Teacher and she speaks excellent English, and Zuzka's English is also good, so we knew we would have a good visit. Barry was anxious to ask Lubos' parents about their experiences during the fall of Communism as they are around our age, so we looked forward to some great conversations.

Supper that night was a Slovakian specialty, bryndzove halusky (gnocchi with bryndza cheese). Afterwards, we visited over several shots of slivka (plum brandy) and played Jolly Joker, a fun rummy game which we will enjoy adding to our repertoire of games. The children immediately struck up a friendship while watching Eragon (filmed in Canada and Slovakia!)