We immediately regretted drinking and staying up late when we had to wake up less than 1.5 hours later to catch our bus. Matt was still drunk, and I was insanely hungry! We didn't get our post drinking food because we didn't want to break up our Hungarian currency notes since you can't change coins in to a different currency. But it's ok because as soon as we got on our bus to Bratislava we just slept! Literally three hours of solid, undisturbed sleep. So when we arrive in Bratislava we were feeling a lot happier and fresh!

I have a Slovak friend who did a year of study at my high school in New Zealand. He and his family absolutely spoilt us an I was so surprised when he said that Slovak people usually have a reputation for not being very hospitable because Matt and I saw the total opposite.

We were picked up right from our bus station and were driven to his house. The house was absolutely beautiful (apparently it used to be a holiday home) and it was up a hill overlooking both Slovak and Austrian countryside! It was a hard thing for Matt and I to comprehend since we have always lived on islands, so the idea of being able to stand on a hill and look at two countries at once was really bizarre. We could also see rivers and vine yards etc so it was honestly amazing. Most of our travel has been inside big busy cities, so it was really nice being able to get our dose of pretty nature.

Food was waiting for us when we arrived and we ate lots of capsicum, bread and cheese, homegrown tomatoes etc and then headed to do some sight seeing. I wish I could give exact names but I'm sure you understand it's hard to remember everything. Marek use to do tour guide work where he would drive a few people around and then show them the sights and give lots of info! So that was awesome for us

Our first stop was to a place which I think is called Devìn Castle. It was up a big hill and it was awesome seeing all the remains including walls and wells etc. Marek told us lots of battle stories and it was really interesting because we were looking out across to where Austria is and it's crazy to think that at some time the people standing where we were in the castle would have seen armies heading towards them or whatever. The insanely rich history of Eastern Europe is so interesting to learn about!

Near the castle was a really interesting memorial. When Marek was studying in my high school he did a presentation about socialism in Slovakia and he showed a picture of this memorial. It's of a piece of wall covered in bullet holes - in memory of those who tried to flee from Slovakia to Austria. The wall and bullet holes are fake - what actually existed was two very high metal fences with sand in between them (so you could follow foot prints easily). But the reason why it's so interesting for me is because I remember having absolutely no idea what socialism or the Soviet Union was when he did this presentation - but I knew I wanted to learn a lot more. Soon after we read the book 1984 in our English class which made me even more interested and then the next year, I did a class that pretty much focused on international relations and the Soviet Union. So really I think my interest in this aspect of politics, which is also significant in why I chose to study in Eastern Europe, stems down to the presentation Marek did in high school!

Our next stop was to a Russian memorial nearer to the town. It was weird because there were lots of large very square grass patches. Apparently these are mass graves filled with about 3000 bodies :S The monument was pretty big though, like in it's height and the area it covered. A lot of people were obviously up there for the view as well, since we got a beautiful view of Bratislava from up there.

We also visited another castle except this one was still in full shape rather than ruins. It totally overlooks the city and is huge! Unfortunately you can't go in since they are doing some work to it, but again we got a pretty view and were very close up to a preserved castle!

The lack of sleep was quickly catching up with Matt and I so we grabbed some food to eat on the go and checked out the old town. The old town in Bratislava reminded me a lot of centrum in Warsaw. The side where Wedel is! It was very pretty and there were a lot of shops - but there were also things like large, very old churches and a remaining gate that provided an entrance to Bratislava when it was much, much smaller. We also headed to a bar to try a drink called Kofola! It was really tasty as it was very similar to coke! But apparently it's made totally differently as it is made from herbs! What was even crazier is that one large mug of it only cost 0.90euros.

I think it was soon after this that we headed home because a yummy dinner was being made for us! It was an usual meal but it was so good! I had the most amazing vegetable soup (Marek I'm going to need that recipe!!!) and then I had zucchini covered in cheese with a mixture consisting of potatoes and peas as a mash. Usually I absolutely despise peas but it tasted so good with the mash and mixed with the zucchini. I probably had the biggest grin on my face throughout the whole meal.

We finished dinner off with these yummy treats. I'm not even sure what they were but apparently the technique to make them originated in Armenia. Matt and I think it was like little balls made of biscuit and then filled with honey. Whatever it was, it was absolutely delicious. We also had a few cheeky glasses of locally made wine ( literally made in the part of Bratislava we were staying in).

Something interesting I learnt at dinner was how I really should be practicing my languages with my friends who speak the languages I'm learning (does that make sense?). When we were eating dinner, Marek's step-mum and brother were too scared to really talk because they weren't confident with their English. The thing is, even if they made mistakes with what they said, Matt and I wouldn't of thought they were stupid or anything. It would have been nice to help them! So now I realise that when my friends who speak French or polish or German tell me to talk to them in those languages, I really should just do it rather than feeling worried about making a mistake and sounding stupid. So the dinner was also a big learning curve for me too!

Although something I have learnt in Warsaw is that when I'm drunk I'm much better at languages hahahahaha. Actually maybe not better, just more confident.

After our super amazing yummy dinner we went back to the city to have some beers and hang out with some of Marek's friends. I tried 'white beer' which was actually really tasty! It comes with a lemon and is like a very sweet beer. We talked heaps and heaps and exchanged many funny stories, mostly about crazy New Zealand! And drank lots of yummy beer. We left about three hours later to get a naughty slice of pizza and headed home.

Matt and I were really happy because we got a really good sleep! We slept solidly for nine hours and then woke up to a super yummy breakfast being ready for us at the table. Again we ate lots of cheese, veggies, bread and also some tasty pastry!!

Marek I really hope you and your family realise how much we appreciated your hospitality! It was absolutely amazing and now we love Bratislava and the Slovak people haha! We were so grateful how much you spoilt us, we never ever expected any of it and it was so nice of you! Please, please come to Warsaw so we can do the same for you!!

Something that me and Matt got really excited about was how similar Slovak and polish are! When I first tried to speak to his brother in English he said to his dad in Slovak that he couldn't understand us because we were talking to fast 'nie rozumiem.....' etc and from then on we kept asking Marek random words to compare. Most of the words we asked, whilst aren't the exact same, sound similar to polish but just with a different accent if that makes sense. The numbers are all similar and so are words like no, goodbye, cheers etc! So we were excited by that as it made us realise that even though we definitely can't hold a conservation in polish yet, we have made a huge improvement since we first arrived at the end of September!