[ May 2016 ] We took a taxi to get to Vlkolinec, the pretty village in the countryside in Slovakia, but we had not arranged any transport to get back. We asked a woman at the shop called ‘Gallery’ if she could call a taxi. She said “If you wait until 2:30, I will take you” and she came out of the shop just at 2:30. We got in her car with her dog. Our communication was very limited, but I could feel her kindness. She stopped the car when we met a flock of goats so that I could take some photos and when we entered the town, she pointed out one apartment block to say that she lived there. When we arrived, we wanted to give her a small amount of money, but she refused seriously. Finally when I said that it was for the petrol, she accepted it. Although she did not smile much or talk, she was genuinely kind. I felt that not only her, but many of the people in this country may be her type.
She took us to the station of Ruzomberok, but we had one and a half hours to wait for the next train, so we had a walk around the town. It was a plain local town. I looked it up afterwards and found that the population is about 30,000 and it is an industrial town with productions of cotton and paper. One thing I was surprised with was the very small platforms at the station. There was a yellow line in the narrow space, but when the train came, we were too close to the train which made me frightened.
