Rain check

Day 11 (Tuesday):  (written by Dave)

Raining today, so again no real desire to go too far afield. We went to Namestovo to give Tomaš' car another run, as he needed to do some admin in town and for Kyle to buy a new peaked cap to replace one he managed to lose somewhere along our way so far and also for Elena to drop her phone into a toilet; yes, you have read that correctly. Another obligatory visit to the now famous Cukraren for cakes and Kofola and we were soon on our way back, where delicious beef stew was awaiting us for lunch.

So far, we have spent the afternoon lazily Facebooking, WhatsApping etc, etc.

Elena and the children have pottered off to visit 'Prábabka' and the aunts and uncles etc, leaving me here alone with my thoughts for a while.

... Later in the evening, after the gang arrive back from Prábabka's house, laden with chocolates and sweets etc, we sit for a while listening to Joshko's rousing chorus of belching. 'Joshko', aka Joseph, Jojo (pronounced yoyo) has profound Downs syndrome and finds it quite entertaining to sit in the hall making these burping noises. 

Later again and Johnny and Maria arrive with two of their boys Jakob and Jano (Marco, I believe is on summer camp somewhere). We all sit in the kitchen/dining room, the default meeting, chatting room and the whole room is abuzz with loud babble all in Slovak, with the odd translation here or there. It doesn't seem to matter, as the two young boy's antics seem to transcend language barriers and entertain us whilst at times seemingly frustrating their parents.

After cake, tyčinky (small, thin salted bread sticks - a familiar snack) have been consumed, Maximo arrives with three large, tasty pizzas to share for his birthday Všetko najlepšie Max! Soon, as well as the beers the adult men are drinking, the small shots appear... Oh dear, this can quickly get out of hand! Fortunately not this evening, with only a few shots and a couple of beers, thing remain quite civilised.

And, before we know it; the little impromptu party is over, everyone having enjoyed some quality family time, chatted, laughed, shared stories and played with the two young boys, who are now stuffed with cake, pizza and munchies. Happy times!

The house quietens and people drift off to bed at a very respectable hour; around 2200..? A pleasant evening.