Lunch in Levoca, Slovakia
Day 7: Making Our Way to Hungary Via SlovakiaSlovakia is a pretty country. The terrain is green, rolling hills with a mix of conifers and deciduous trees, gradually rising to the mountains. Small housing tracts are scattered among the valleys. Our only extended stop in Slovakia is for lunch, a picnic in the park off the town square in Levoca. Like all the small towns where we have stopped for lunch, it is charming. George is finally true to his word - it is quiet. |
On our way to Slovakia, we pass a gypsy village. It's time for a bus talk from George:
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As
we continue our way to Eger, Hungary, George discusses why some people of the
former communist countries have wanted the old system back. In brief, under communism, it was a system
that provided for them and made them secure, even though life was hard. In today’s world, jobs are not a given, there
is not state support, and the cost of living has risen. Because George’s home country is Hungary, he
has personal insight into how people view life today, and his own stories are touching
as well as informative.
The SOP when arriving in each country is for
George to invite everyone to join in a toast, teaching everyone how to say, “Cheers!” in the native
language. Not too far from Eger, on a quiet,
secondary road (in George’s words), we are delayed by a car fire, a blaze of orange shooting skyward. One of the old communist cars, a Trabant, is the source of the flames (the driver exiting safely).
During
the wait, George retrieves the leftover vodka from lunch.
I decide that at some point in our tour, I will teach him the American slang “lush”.
Of course, we tease George about the road that isn't so quiet after all.
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