Weekend Words

Saturday morning we walked to the town center looking for school supplies, but still couldn't find the 3" X 5" notecards we wanted.  Oh well - we'll make do - we will look in one more stationery store on Monday after school.   :-)  On the way home it started to rain lightly, but Tim had brought the mini-umbrella along, received from Mom Olson (thanks!), which was perfect.  Carol called to say she was still recovering from jet lag and needed to sleep, so we postponed our sight-seeing excursion, which was fine since it rained for a good part of the day.  We enjoyed having a day to just chill.  :-)  We caught up on emails, read the DM Register online in more detail than we've had time for recently, and had some FaceTime and Skype chats as well.  I also did a little laundry and tested out the drying racks here inside the apartment, and that system works great - good to know before winter arrives!  We realized that this was the first unscheduled, relaxing, kick-back day we've had since we arrived in Slovakia, and most of you know how full our last days were before we left Iowa, so we probably really needed a day off.  :-)  

On our Saturday walk, we took this picture of the Lutheran church

The Lutheran Church - on Saturday with no crowds!  

This morning we got ready and walked to church, allowing a little extra time for me to negotiate cobblestone sidewalks in heels!  The Slovaks dress very nicely for church, so we are doing likewise.  So we blend in....until someone speaks to us!!  LOL!!  We were looking forward to singing hymns in Slovak again this Sunday, but we figured out too late that everyone brings their own worship books --- there aren't any extras in the pews like at home.  Our landlady, Luba, was sitting down the pew from us, and she sweetly asked the couple between us to share and give their second book to us for the service.  :-)  After church, we ran into Jana, our school Headmistress, her brother, son and nephew.  Her son, Roman, helped translate a little.  He will be in his first year at our school starting tomorrow, so either Tim or I should have him in conversation class.  We asked him where we could buy our own worship book, and his mother said the school would be buying us a copy to use.  Very nice!!  

I took a photo of the worship book, so we could ask for one in a bookstore!
We've learned explanations can be complicated, so I thought the pic might help.  :-)

The front of the church.  They turned the lights off right after the service,
so it's hard to see - notice the pulpit on the wall to the left, and the enormous chandeliers!

We found another little neighborhood grocery store on our route back from church, so stopped in to check it out.  We picked up a few items, and now we know where we can go instead of Hy-Vee on our way home from church if we need something quickly.  :-)  After a light lunch, (including more of Pat'ka's delicious tomatoes!), we decided to go visit the art museum in town, which is second to Bratislava's in quantity of artworks.   The guidebook said it was open Sundays until 5:00, but the sign on the door said only Tues.-Sat., so we decided on Plan B for the day.....a walk along the Vah River if possible.  We did find access to the river, and there was a little dirt walking path all along it, so we had a beautiful walk.  It's a clean, shallow river, with water moving fairly quickly, but it looks perhaps a little low from lack of rainfall this summer.  We figure we walked about 4 miles total - good exercise on a warm summer day.  

This sign is perfect for Tim ---- hope you have a Magical Day!!  :-)

Street light near the church

This is kind of like the cart we used to help Carol move --- ours had wooden sides too, and we pulled it.
Maybe people were staring at us because the correct way it to push it!!   :-)

Tim read the DM Sunday Register for a while until he fell asleep - just like on his big brown chair by the window in the living room at home.  So now I'll read the news online too.  :-)  We've gotten some emails lately - thanks so much for the contact!!  We miss you all!!