[ May 2016 ] In Slovakia, the place I really really wanted to go was a village called Cicmany. The photos I saw on the internet were so attractive it made me want to visit there. But I could not find any organised tours to get there, so we asked how to get there in the tourist office. First we had to get to Zilina, a fairly big city which is north east of Bratislava. From there, we took a bus to the village. Both trains and buses are not frequent, so if we missed one, we would not have reached there on the day.
The journey by train took about 2 and a half hours. The train was new with yellow colour, but inside was in the traditional compartment style. Complete strangers started conversations and never stopped during the journey. So I was hearing their voices for 2 and a half hours, but did not understand them at all. However long we listen to an unknown language, we cannot understand it unfortunately. I guessed that the older woman was telling the younger woman about her experiences during the communist era. The service of the train was very good. They gave us bottled water and coffee or tea for the people who wanted it for free. When someone ordered some food, they delivered it to the seat. They also provided many magazines. The view from the window was always green and sometimes we could see some castles, too.
