Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Post the First: Slovakia is not Spain

 id=Slovakia is not Spain - and not that it should be - except it would appear that some similar culinary delights await Pán Kocúr (Mr. Cat) and me. I must confess that we were worried that we had seen the last of Spain's bulls' tails and what generally dangles beneath them, but it appears that this is just not so. Now we can sleep - we do love our glands so.

Today marks our 3rd full day in Bratislava and I am sorry to say that we have yet to master the language in any cursory meaningful way. Frankly, I am daunted by a language that does not seem to employ vowels of any kind - I am beginning to look back on Arabic wistfully which should put our linguistic situation in perspective for those of you who know our inability history mastering non-Romance languages.

The good news is that although
Slovakia is not Spain - and not that it should be - some annoying little Spain-isms are understandably and blessedly absent. By way of illustration, let me point out that Pán K and I actually saw people eating in a restaurant yesterday at 5:00 in the afternoon and being served. At 5:00! And being served dinner and not lunch. This bodes well considering that we never could acclimatize our stomachs to 10:00 suppers.

I would add that restaurant service at first-second-and-third glance appears to be light years ahead of that in Spain. Clearly we have grown unaccustomed to being served promptly, being asked how everything is, and not having to wait until the Second Coming of Christ for our bill. Our first dining experience saw
Pán K and I giggling like the mentally feeble individuals we are the first time a waitress removed from the table the empty plates we had just licked cleaned.

I am, however, holding judgment on the sangria served in the city's many tapas bars. Slovakian sangria! - I don't think so.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

When Dan was studying in Rome he was constantly frustrated by the lack of attention to .. well, customers .. whether at restaurants or government offices. He made a side trip into Germany and Hungary and nearly wept with joy. Say what you will about the Aryans -- the trains (and waiters) run on time.
Glad to hear your initial experiences in Slovakia are pleasant, bull gonads notwithstanding.

Anonymous said...

Why do I have a suspicion that that's actually a Moroccan mačka in the photo at the top of your blog? I think you need a Slovak one!

Anonymous said...

Jillian, I swear to god that the little mačka is Slovakian and not Moroccan. Besides, she's a little pudgy for a Moroccan cat, don't you think?

Anonymous said...

Lordy, I read back to this point and feel quite depressed. If you guys ever want some r&r out in Belgium, you're most welcome.

Your writing though, it just gets better and better ... who could have imagined that was possible. :)