It occurred to me as I was writing captions for the photos taken in Slovakia that I experienced a part of each of my Slovakian friends` childhood with them.  There was a theme of a childhood relived to my short time in Slovakia! 

I slept for 3 days in Martin`s childhood home where he grew up with his parents.  I imagined Martin living there with his parents and wondered what life was like for them...before Eastern Europe was allowed to become part of the rest of the world.  Today it is his home and he has the right to travel to many countries freely and learn about other cultures.  Martin taught me about the different lifestyles between eastern and western Europe, politics, economics, world travel, his people, and myself.  He inspired me to write a book about my travels and the amazing connections I made with people over and over again, no matter where I went.

Sona took me to the historical part of Nitra, where she hadn`t visited since her elementary school days.   From Sona, I learned about the rich history of Slovakia.  She was very knowledgable and proud of her home.  I felt very honored to have her as my personal tour guide, and though her English is good, I could not find the right words to express my heartfelt gratitude to her.  I felt inadequate just saying "Thank you so much" because I knew I wanted to say more.  I wanted to say how much learning about her history had touched my heart and how beautiful her people are.  I never saw again after this day and I am sad when I reflect on our time together.

My last Slovakian friend was Teodor, who I met just in the nick of time.  Coincidentally enough we were both heading to his home town of Nove Kamky.  Instead of going home directly to see his parents, he spent 3 hours with me until my connection train arrived.  He was a poor student with no money in his pocket.  I was a backpacker passing through with time to kill before my next train...oh, and some Slovakian crowns in my pocket.  We were a perfect match.  He was my personal tour guide and I fed him lunch with the rest of my money.  I was heading to Budapest and would no longer need my money.  He wanted to show me the park where he played as a kid.  We swang.  We went up and down the slide.  We laughed and took pictures.  This time in the park was precious and endearing, not to mention refreshing for me personally.  When you backpack for months and all that surrounds you are statues, buildings, museums,  markets, and train stations...it is marvelous when you can take time out to play in a park and be a kid again!

When I reflect on my time in Slovakia, I remember it with tenderness and innocence.  Compare that to my time in Greece and I remember being on the go every day all day and loud, crazy adventures.  Or my time in Italy, a lot of emotional high`s and low`s and my love/hate relationship with the country and the people.  In every Slovak whom I came across, I sensed a peace and serenity about them and while I was in their country, I felt it all around.  Was it just my personal experience alone or is there any validation to this memory?  I`d like to believe that it is the way of the Slovaks and I hope that they will always preserve this beautiful trait that sets them apart from others.