Bratislava; Slovakia

Today I set off to Slovakia, because these 100 countries I want to go to before I die aren’t going to visit themselves. I was post night shift (finished at 07:30), rushed home, had a cursory bodily fluid decontamination, and had an hour or two of sleep which was unfortunately regularly interrupted by several Flufflin’s (the verb we’ve given to the entirely innocent but extremely annoying activities of our very simple cat, Fluffles) and PE teachers blowing whistles and yelling at Kyle to get out of the bush. By 13:00 I was up, dressed, packed, and on a train to Luton. 

I always feel very uneasy about defining myself as ‘middle class’ because that definitely doesn’t reflect my working class upbringing, but I guess counting executive airport lounges as a travelling necessity does make it hard to argue. I went straight to it (£22 for minimal children, WiFi, comfy chairs, showers, SnoozePods (which are brilliant), food and snacks, and all the alcohol you like. I’m beginning to appreciate the subtle difference between “all the alcohol you like” vs “all the alcohol you can drink”. I often feel there’s a competitive element which, on reflection, probably isn’t there and is certainly best ignored post-night, with barely any sleep, and on an empty stomach. Still, shoulda woulda coulda; I had a great time (with intermittent trips to the SnoozePod to nap it off). And when my flight appeared on the board it was delayed by an hour! Normally I’d be narky, but this time it was an absolute win because I stuffed myself with more gin and dhaal.

Getting off the plane at Bratislava was a slightly wobbly experience, but no further ankle injuries occurred (thus far). I found my way to my hotel, which is actually a moored boat, and checked in. I’ve got the teeniest little cabin which is adorable for a night, but I’m glad it’s not longer! I had a shower and whilst I was in there the whole room shook and the bathroom door opened. It turns out there are storms in Bratislava which are making the river Dunaj pretty choppy. I knew the boat was moored but I did assume it would beat least slightly stabilised... nah.

In other news, last week I started HRT (hormone replacement therapy) to make this menopause rhubarb a little bit less shit. Within an hour it was very very painful so I took it off and discovered blisters, so it looks like I’m allergic to that fucker and all.

So, in summary, I’ve travelled to a country with significantly worse weather than the current heatwave in the country I’ve come from with a notoriously crap climate, I’m staying on a lurching boat, and have an ongoing chemical burn from an oestrogen patch I had on for an hour (over a week ago). FML.

Love Emily x