Am I dreaming?

From Vienna, we ventured into the unknown...also called Slovakia. Once a part of Czechoslovakia, this area became its own country in 1993. Now as we traveled the thin lane roads toward our destination, we marveled at what we saw. This area is definitely not like Austria, where we were coming from, or the rest of the Western part of Europe. It is hard to describe why it feels different, but it really does.

We arrived at the thermal pools in the countryside of Slovakia and the high security, small metal gates opened and closed around us in succession. The green grass and flowering tress gave an air of gentleness against the stern gates and it was difficult to assimilate what we were feeling with what we were seeing. The modern, comfortable apartment was perfection, yet no art on the walls made for an uncomfortable, yet indistinguishable element to the environment.

Our check in process was challenging to say the least. With my google translate app in overdrive, we tried to get through the important details at hand and when the receptionist finally had given up, she asked the gardener who spoke some English to come in and help. It was a first for my language gifted husband to feel at a loss in a situation, but Slovak simply does not come naturally to us. Everything about the place seemed at once easy and familiar while also being difficult and shrouded in a harsh history they haven't quite shaken. 

Finally at the pools, we soaked for hours, melting the jet lag away for good. Light pink petals cascaded from the trees and the warm sun kissed our shoulders. We sat and ate ice cream and drank $1 glasses of decent Slovakian wine. It was a collision of realities that made for a very dreamlike state and we floated on it's surreal atmosphere into the night.

The next morning, we drove further into Slovakia toward a castle that would be our home for the next couple of days. The road twisted through bright green pastures that stretched as far as the eye could see, small and out of place, these roads seemed to take you on a journey that didn't quite make sense, yet unfolded into a series of little villages that made the mind gasp at the stories hidden there. Relative wealth seemed to be falling on these hamlets, yet they screamed of the past with dark and sinister meanings; their vacant cement walls and broken windows echoing the not so far off history. 

As we neared the Castle, I was hit with the clarity that this is a land of fairy tales and the entire landscape suddenly made more sense. The delights and the masked horrors that may lay ahead were perfectly mirrored in odd sights such as a flock of long necked white swans sitting in a field next to the road or the cluster of delightfully manicured gardens in-front of tiny houses that sprouted out of nowhere. It made for a strange out of body feeling that wasn't bad, but more like a deja-vu disturbance.

When we arrived at the Castle, it was anything but the sketchy, dark building I had imagined, but instead was completely refurbished and painted a delightful yellow. This epic, historical site was also home to the most famous Slovakian Winery and it oozed charm like you would not believe. Immediately we knew, this would be a fairy tale come true and we pinched ourselves to make sure this wasn't, in fact, a dream.