Gonzo Girl

I remember our first day in Thailand vividly. I was overcome with regret that I had signed us up for two years in a place that on first glance,  was so dirty and delapotated. But miraculously, as each day passed, I was able to see the beauty that was hidden just behind the piles of rubbish.

So it is with Slovakia. 

My first day here was a real disappointment. Abandoned buildings falling apart. Sad really.  So grand in their day. Weird casinos and other attempts at modernity that just looked…weird. 

But then the second day, the overgrown grass at the city park was fine. The buckled and cracked sidewalks, a curiosity. The old statues offering clues into an interesting past. 

The third day, when we decided it was time to get Sean to a doctor, I really began to see the kindness and beauty of this well worn country. 

On that day, I awoke and immediately said to Rick, “I don’t think Sean is getting better. Do you think he could have pneumonia?”  Rick nodded, “I was wondering that too.”  A quick text to Sean confirmed that he too, was thinking a visit to a doctor might be in order. 

But our bags needed to be ready by 9 am and we had a 35 mile bike ride to our next destination, and a 40 mile ride the following day. This wasn’t just a matter of taking a day off. We were technically on a tour. And as they say, “The tour must go on!”

Or does it?

After talking through our options and calling the tour company, we decided to jettison the bikes. 

And just like that, we ended our bike tour. 

It was a relief to create space to work through the issue at hand. Sean’s health. 

The hotel staff was exceptionally helpful, getting us a cab to the clinic and making some calls about our bags. 

And then it was off to the hospital, where Sean was able to talk to someone right away. It was determined that there were no heart issues, so we were told it would be a long wait. After an hour or so, a nice lady came out, apologized for the wait and with a half hug, escorted Sean to the exam room where he was told by someone else that he would need to wait another hour or so to see a doctor. 

Sean’s first reaction was to just forget it and leave, but once we reassured him that we simply had nothing else to be doing, we all just settled in for the wait. 

And wait we did. For about five hours. 

During which time he had a blood draw, a physical examination, an x-ray and finally, the diagnosis. Infection but not pneumonia. Take antibiotics, rest, liquids.

The bill?  Thirty-seven euros, plus eleven more for the prescriptions. 

As an American, I had come to believe that healthcare outside the US was somehow second rate or even dangerous. This has been proven wrong again and again in our experience. In fact, other than the wait (which I have also experienced in the US) it has always been more than adequate and has been consistently affordable. 

We went back to the hotel to pick up our bags and hire a car to our next destination. But luck was on our side and the bike company had just arrived to pick up our jettisoned bikes and move the bags to the next hotel. Would we like a ride in the van?  

Roman, our Slovakian driver from Bratislava, was happy to get us to our next hotel. The drive was another way to see the sights we would have seen on our bikes. He asked if we wanted him to drive us to Budapest the next day rather than take the train. Yes! Perfect. Leave at 11 am? Great.

 So we arrived in Esztergom, Hungary about 5pm. Still enough time for a walk up to the famous cathedral.

We found a restaurant, ate a delicious meal and headed to bed. While settling in for the night, I thought about the events of the day. How we woke up with a specific plan of action and went to bed having dramatically changed course.  It helps being a little older and understanding that things will happen to take you in a new, unexpected direction-for better or worse. 

It’s life in the end.

Just on the road and with a bike.