One day, around noon, in December or January, all the trolleybuses (I mean all the ones that I could see) stopped working! We (Erik and I) thought it was just the bus we were on and the one in front of us that were stuck in traffic for a long time; then the driver let everyone off. So we walked up the street and visited a suit shop, and when we came out we saw that the street was lined with MANY stopped trolleybuses. So we went to a TESCO Express (and debated going to Lidl), and then we were planning to walk the whole way to my house (a long way). But as we were plodding along they started to send out (very old) back up buses, which ended our adventure.
The Dress Story
Also in December or January, we (Erik and I again) found a beautiful wedding dress online. The website was some sort of Slovak Craig's List of wedding things. (Oh, it's a known fact that we're engaged now, right? If anyone doesn't know yet, WE'RE ENGAGED!!!!) Erik called the lady who was selling it and arranged that we would meet her later in the week in the nearby town of Nitra. She was selling the dress for the low price of 90€, so of course we were hoping and praying that it would fit me and be as beautiful as the pictures. We planned to take the bus to Nitra, of course checking the times and prices of the buses online beforehand. The website gave all the information we thought we needed, including which platform the bus would leave from. We arrived about 10 minutes early, and as we were boarding the bus (that had a sign that said "Nitra" in the window) at the platform mentioned on the website, Erik double checked with the driver that his bus was going to Nitra.
"Nie."
Sure, the sign said "Nitra," and he drives through the city, but he doesn't stop there. He used to stop there, but he hasn't for at least 2 years now. Weird. So we looked at some water-stained schedules on a bulletin board nearby, but if the hip new internet site didn't have accurate information, why should we trust the old papers tacked outside? Still confused, Erik talked to the bus driver again, and the guy insisted that the only bus going to Nitra at that time was the one on the other side of the waiting area. We reluctantly joined the end of the long line to board, although we could see that all the seats were full and the narrow aisle space was starting to fill up too. They shut the bus doors and took off with just 4 or 5 people in front of us. What else could we do? We went inside and Erik asked at a ticket desk, and the woman directed us to a platform near the ones we had waited at before. About 15 minutes later, we were happily seated on a bus definitely bound for Nitra!
Then I grilled Erik with some need-to-know-before-I-officially-agree-to-marry-you-questions to help pass the time on the long ride. (We weren't engaged at this point, by the way, which is why this story has been kind of on the DL, because who buys a dress before they're engaged? ..oh, people who find a 90€ dress do!) I was hoping/expecting his answers to be sufficient, but he really impressed me, actually. Better, braver answers than I would've given if I were a man! Needless to say, he passed :)
We arrived at the main bus station in Nitra where we were supposed to catch another bus to this lady's house, but we were experiencing the same sort of confusion as at the bus station in Bratislava, so she sent her husband to come pick us up by car. Soon enough, we were taking our shoes off at their house. (Everyone in Slovakia takes their shoes off when they go to people's houses. The personal effect this has had on me is that I always make sure my socks don't have holes in them if I'm going to be at someone's house.) Actually, the couple lives with her parents and maybe a few siblings, so we were welcomed in by several people. None of them really spoke English, but I could tell they were very friendly! The previous-bride invited me into the living room, which was empty of people but full of a Christmas tree, normal living room furniture, an old TV, and lots of little glass things on shelves. Actually, it was so full that the furniture kept the door permanently propped open. As Erik chatted with her father and husband and mother in the next room, I nervously replaced pieces of the outfit I was wearing with pieces of wedding dress until I was fully dressed in bridal gown. Erik and I agreed beforehand that he would look at the dress and give me his honest opinion, reason being that I definitely wanted a second opinion before spending "so much money" and I needed more than just the nodding and smiling of the woman who had been trying to sell the dress for months. It's not traditional, we know, but after all, as my parents wisely pointed out, no couples on the verge of divorce go into counseling complaining that their marriage is on the rocks because the groom saw his bride in her dress before the wedding day! They didn't have a mirror anywhere around, so all I really saw of it was in the few photos that Erik took. He was well impressed with it though, and I trust him eeeeeeven in the area of wedding dress selection, so we agreed to buy it. The couple and their family was so sweet..they gave us some tea and offered us some cookies. We were polite and ate a couple of their cookies with our tea, but they were so kind, they packed the rest of the cookies in a bag and sent them back to Bratislava with us. And they were sure that there would be no more buses or trains going back to Bratislava at that time of night (it was maybe 19:00 or 20:00), so they drove us back to the city themselves! But not before giving us some marriage advice AND a bag of apples!
The Suit Story
Earlier on the day of our big dress adventure, Erik and I popped into a suit shop near the city center that was having a big sale, just to check things out. The building seemed old and maybe a bit unkempt (but that shouldn't surprise me any more I guess), complete with chipped linoleum flooring, dim lighting, and fake-wood paneling behind the floor-to-ceiling racks of suits. But when their permanent marker and poster board signs said "vypredaj" ("sale") they sure meant it- we found a lovely black suit in Erik's size for just 40€! Only one (or two) other fishy things.. we paid with a 50€ note and the lady behind the counter didn't even double check for the watermark on it in case it was counterfeit. Nope, she just stuffed it in the cash box, then took the suit off the hanger, folded it as well as someone possibly could fold a suit, and stuffed it in a plain old plastic grocery bag, then walked away without saying anything else to us! Who knew that when you pay 150€ or more at a "normal" suit shop, you're actually paying for friendly service and nice bag?
