Poland and Slovakia 14-17 July 2017
Two of the occasional summer weekend 'experimental' reopenings had cropped up in Slovakia; the cross border line from Poland into Medzilaborce, and part of the branch from Zohor to Plavecký Mikuláš, as far as Plavecké Podhradie. Both were 'missed them before' and there was no guarantee they'd last another year, so that was that.
Two of the occasional summer weekend 'experimental' reopenings had cropped up in Slovakia; the cross border line from Poland into Medzilaborce, and part of the branch from Zohor to Plavecký Mikuláš, as far as Plavecké Podhradie. Both were 'missed them before' and there was no guarantee they'd last another year, so that was that.
SA135 012 at Rzeszów Główny as 05:53 to Humenné on 15.07.2017
Friday 14 July
Another ungodly start and another debt to Mrs EG for taking me to Wolvo for the 05:00 to Birmingham Irrational. When I got there I was glad I’d made the effort as there must have been a good quarter of a mile of queue snaking back and forth between the barriers before you got to the boarding pass check gates and went into another maze to get to the security checks. When all that is said and done, it only took me 20 minutes or so to get through and if you've left it so late that 20 minutes is a problem, you have only yourself to blame… I hadn't, so it left me with a long fester but as the departure display helpfully told me to go through to gates 1-20 (the old Eurohub), I was able to fester in reasonably civilised conditions.
We were summoned to the gate at 07:05 (07:50 departure) but all this achieved was to move the queue first to the gate, then to the land end of the air bridge and then to the air end. All to no avail as the crew weren't there and when they did arrive we had to use steps anyway. To cut yet another long story short, we left late and arrived at Katowice what Ryanair considered early - i.e. we got the idiotic fanfare and the more feeble minded duly applauded. The bus transfer rather took the shine off the 'early’ arrival.
Once outside, Mr Matuszek’s minibus was soon located and took me to Kraków, arriving about 15 minutes early. More navigational difficulties ensued, but I found the Tunnel tram stops, got a ticket and reached Teatr Bagatela in time to have two civilised beers at the CK Browar before returning to the station to find 15:02 to Rzeszów running 23 late. Sigh.
The IC reached a peak of around 45 late but eventually made Rzeszów about 35 late which was no problem at all. Hotel Ferdynand is just across the road and proved to be just as clean and comfortable as it looked on the Best Western web site - not always the case. For £33 (after OAP discount!) this was a good pick. A walk into town to get to the pub was enjoyable in much cooler weather than last weekend. The big brewpub/restaurant, Stary Browar Rzeszowski was clearly going to be wedged. I arrived around 19:00 to find that every table except (luckily for me) one, was either occupied or in most cases reserved. Beers were a slightly brewpubby pilsner and the excellent IPA-style Pale Ale Wygnaniec which was greatly enjoyed. Food was potato pancakes with beef, definitely in that order!
Saturday 15 July
Early to bed last night, but awake again after 2 hours. After sorting out the ventilation I was able to sleep peacefully until 4:40. As the alarm was set for 5:00 anyway I took the opportunity for a more leisurely shower etc. before wandering over to the station.
No breakfast to be had - it's going to be a long haul to Košice! The kart for Medzilaborce rolled in at about 05:40. It's a PESA low floor single unit, very much in the modern style but horribly uncomfortable. Hard seats, minimum leg room, poor finish and rough riding. I’m already hurting after the first hour of four…
It was horribly tedious, though at least the scenery got a bit better as we got nearer Slovakia. On time arrival at Medzilaborce was a great relief, and ZSSK were waiting with a three car unit with proper seats, WiFi and working air con. At Humenné, 2 minutes late, more comfortable stock was waiting with an as yet unidentified Goggle.
It never was - I forgot at Košice, such was the longing for breakfast after 7 hours on the move. Much of the trip from Humenné had been passed in conversation with a Dutch Interrailer. His degree was in physical geography and he claimed to be interested in the landscapes - but he seemed to have done a great deal of obscure track and be fully aware of such things as the reopenings of Łupków-Medzilaborce and Zohor-Plavecké Podhradie! He remarked that every British person he spoke to seemed bewildered by the Brexit vote. I added one to his tally…
Meanwhile, breakfast dealt with, I joined R610 to find myself in a forward facing window seat - 6 hours on the sunny side but luckily it turned cloudy and was raining, briefly, by Kysak. To break the monotony I retreated to the diner after Žilina for a schnitzel and a bottle of Zlatý Bažant 73 (not the vintage, it's some sort of commemorative). Very nice too, and whiled away most of an hour. The subsequent carry-oot of Krušovice Imperial was dreadful and it took me most of the way to Brats to force it down. [Checking on ratebeer.com after I got back to the UK shows it with a one-star rating out of 5 – rather generous in my view].
Only about 3 down at Bratislava hlavná, not at all bad after 6 hours. Off to the hotel (Blue Garni, used before) to check in, then a fruitless search for an obscure brewpub in a scary off-street market in the dark. Tried a pub which seemed to be in the right place, but no sign of any home brew so I retired hurt for an earlyish night which did me far more good than the beer would have!
Another ungodly start and another debt to Mrs EG for taking me to Wolvo for the 05:00 to Birmingham Irrational. When I got there I was glad I’d made the effort as there must have been a good quarter of a mile of queue snaking back and forth between the barriers before you got to the boarding pass check gates and went into another maze to get to the security checks. When all that is said and done, it only took me 20 minutes or so to get through and if you've left it so late that 20 minutes is a problem, you have only yourself to blame… I hadn't, so it left me with a long fester but as the departure display helpfully told me to go through to gates 1-20 (the old Eurohub), I was able to fester in reasonably civilised conditions.
We were summoned to the gate at 07:05 (07:50 departure) but all this achieved was to move the queue first to the gate, then to the land end of the air bridge and then to the air end. All to no avail as the crew weren't there and when they did arrive we had to use steps anyway. To cut yet another long story short, we left late and arrived at Katowice what Ryanair considered early - i.e. we got the idiotic fanfare and the more feeble minded duly applauded. The bus transfer rather took the shine off the 'early’ arrival.
Once outside, Mr Matuszek’s minibus was soon located and took me to Kraków, arriving about 15 minutes early. More navigational difficulties ensued, but I found the Tunnel tram stops, got a ticket and reached Teatr Bagatela in time to have two civilised beers at the CK Browar before returning to the station to find 15:02 to Rzeszów running 23 late. Sigh.
The IC reached a peak of around 45 late but eventually made Rzeszów about 35 late which was no problem at all. Hotel Ferdynand is just across the road and proved to be just as clean and comfortable as it looked on the Best Western web site - not always the case. For £33 (after OAP discount!) this was a good pick. A walk into town to get to the pub was enjoyable in much cooler weather than last weekend. The big brewpub/restaurant, Stary Browar Rzeszowski was clearly going to be wedged. I arrived around 19:00 to find that every table except (luckily for me) one, was either occupied or in most cases reserved. Beers were a slightly brewpubby pilsner and the excellent IPA-style Pale Ale Wygnaniec which was greatly enjoyed. Food was potato pancakes with beef, definitely in that order!
Saturday 15 July
Early to bed last night, but awake again after 2 hours. After sorting out the ventilation I was able to sleep peacefully until 4:40. As the alarm was set for 5:00 anyway I took the opportunity for a more leisurely shower etc. before wandering over to the station.
No breakfast to be had - it's going to be a long haul to Košice! The kart for Medzilaborce rolled in at about 05:40. It's a PESA low floor single unit, very much in the modern style but horribly uncomfortable. Hard seats, minimum leg room, poor finish and rough riding. I’m already hurting after the first hour of four…
It was horribly tedious, though at least the scenery got a bit better as we got nearer Slovakia. On time arrival at Medzilaborce was a great relief, and ZSSK were waiting with a three car unit with proper seats, WiFi and working air con. At Humenné, 2 minutes late, more comfortable stock was waiting with an as yet unidentified Goggle.
It never was - I forgot at Košice, such was the longing for breakfast after 7 hours on the move. Much of the trip from Humenné had been passed in conversation with a Dutch Interrailer. His degree was in physical geography and he claimed to be interested in the landscapes - but he seemed to have done a great deal of obscure track and be fully aware of such things as the reopenings of Łupków-Medzilaborce and Zohor-Plavecké Podhradie! He remarked that every British person he spoke to seemed bewildered by the Brexit vote. I added one to his tally…
Meanwhile, breakfast dealt with, I joined R610 to find myself in a forward facing window seat - 6 hours on the sunny side but luckily it turned cloudy and was raining, briefly, by Kysak. To break the monotony I retreated to the diner after Žilina for a schnitzel and a bottle of Zlatý Bažant 73 (not the vintage, it's some sort of commemorative). Very nice too, and whiled away most of an hour. The subsequent carry-oot of Krušovice Imperial was dreadful and it took me most of the way to Brats to force it down. [Checking on ratebeer.com after I got back to the UK shows it with a one-star rating out of 5 – rather generous in my view].
Only about 3 down at Bratislava hlavná, not at all bad after 6 hours. Off to the hotel (Blue Garni, used before) to check in, then a fruitless search for an obscure brewpub in a scary off-street market in the dark. Tried a pub which seemed to be in the right place, but no sign of any home brew so I retired hurt for an earlyish night which did me far more good than the beer would have!
Sunday 16 July
Leisurely start - hoo-bloomin’-ray. Time for a shower and a decent standard breakfast before a walk down to Miletičova only to find that Max the Mole does roads too, so had to get 202 to the bus station and 210 to hlavná stanica, as you do. The Os to Kúty was waiting - air con push pull dostos with WiFi and power points. How things have changed.
Arrived at Malacky to find everything firmly shut but the bus stop indicating the required move to Plavecké Podhradie. During my half hour wait I was entertained by a magnificent rant from a young woman of significant size, fag in hand, small child in pushchair, denim shorts, badly dyed blonde … straight from the pages of Viz, really. She was laying into her Roma companion/partner, who seemed completely inoffensive and had little to say. A non stop 15 minutes, barely drawing breath and going from just loud shouting to full on, ranting, Nuremberg mode (though I’m sure the content wasn’t as offensive). There was even a lapse into tears, though very brief. Eventually she marched off to the station; he followed some minutes later but was last seen mooching off into town on his own. Who knows.
Meanwhile, back to the chase. The bus took me to Plavecké Podhradie as per plan. I walked into the village. Where was the pub (if any)? OSM said 2.6 km which wasn't encouraging (it's high 20s). Walking up to the impressive castle wasn't either (ditto, plus I’d have missed the train, of which, alarmingly, there was no sign - hopefully it's worked back to Zohor ECS).
I turned left, walked a little way. Potraviny 150m. Well, might be the vibrant shopping centre. It wasn’t. Went back, saw a sign to Hrad. Found the car park after a couple of hundred metres, but of friendly water/beer sellers there were none. Back again. I’d already tried what seemed to be the main bus stop but remembered one called Posta. It seemed to be out of town, and was uphill, but…
Passed another potraviny. Shut. Slovakia doesn’t do Sundays. Then Posta. Ditto, no surprise. Bigger Co-op potraviny on the right, shut. End of village … but wait. Could that be a pub on the left. No-one outside on the verandah. Surely shut … but no, door is open. In we go, friendly landlady speaks a bit of English, Zlatý Bažant on draught despite the Corgoň signs. There is a Dog.
Back at the station, the kart had arrived from wherever. 813 twin unit and a bike trailer. Off we went on time, remaining thus. Major timber traffic at Rohožník (and possibly cement) must keep the branch open. The industrial branch just before Zohor looks very rusty. Obligingly the kart went right across the layout at Zohor, fetching up by the station building. It seemed it was going on to work the other branch, to Záhorská Ves.
Back into Brats on, I think, the same dostos. Thence on foot to Fabrika The Beer Pub. Should have known better really with a name like that; attached to a trendy hotel, pretentious and expensive. The pilsner was OK, the Weizen very nice but with every appearance of being … well, can’t say in public. Stew and dumplings for a tenner in Slovakia? Come on … filled a gap though. Then to the extraordinary Flagship Restaurant in Námestie SNP. Beer (Kláštorný Pivovar 11°) was OK and the place is an outrageous tourist trap. Nevertheless the building’s fascinating and it would be well worth a winter visit with a reservation.
Finally, another attempt at last night's scary brewpub, in daylight. If only I’d realised that komín meant chimney. Sigh. Anyway, found it this time after asking twice (no English in these parts but that's never stopped me). A splendid if eccentrically located (in an off-street street market in the inner 'burbs) establishment with a workmanlike svetlý ležiak. The IPA is a better beast altogether. This ill-informed commentator has to say that the Czechs, Slovaks and Germans really seem to have got hold of this British style. Good on 'em, we seem to have abandoned it to big-business mediocrity.
Leisurely start - hoo-bloomin’-ray. Time for a shower and a decent standard breakfast before a walk down to Miletičova only to find that Max the Mole does roads too, so had to get 202 to the bus station and 210 to hlavná stanica, as you do. The Os to Kúty was waiting - air con push pull dostos with WiFi and power points. How things have changed.
Arrived at Malacky to find everything firmly shut but the bus stop indicating the required move to Plavecké Podhradie. During my half hour wait I was entertained by a magnificent rant from a young woman of significant size, fag in hand, small child in pushchair, denim shorts, badly dyed blonde … straight from the pages of Viz, really. She was laying into her Roma companion/partner, who seemed completely inoffensive and had little to say. A non stop 15 minutes, barely drawing breath and going from just loud shouting to full on, ranting, Nuremberg mode (though I’m sure the content wasn’t as offensive). There was even a lapse into tears, though very brief. Eventually she marched off to the station; he followed some minutes later but was last seen mooching off into town on his own. Who knows.
Meanwhile, back to the chase. The bus took me to Plavecké Podhradie as per plan. I walked into the village. Where was the pub (if any)? OSM said 2.6 km which wasn't encouraging (it's high 20s). Walking up to the impressive castle wasn't either (ditto, plus I’d have missed the train, of which, alarmingly, there was no sign - hopefully it's worked back to Zohor ECS).
I turned left, walked a little way. Potraviny 150m. Well, might be the vibrant shopping centre. It wasn’t. Went back, saw a sign to Hrad. Found the car park after a couple of hundred metres, but of friendly water/beer sellers there were none. Back again. I’d already tried what seemed to be the main bus stop but remembered one called Posta. It seemed to be out of town, and was uphill, but…
Passed another potraviny. Shut. Slovakia doesn’t do Sundays. Then Posta. Ditto, no surprise. Bigger Co-op potraviny on the right, shut. End of village … but wait. Could that be a pub on the left. No-one outside on the verandah. Surely shut … but no, door is open. In we go, friendly landlady speaks a bit of English, Zlatý Bažant on draught despite the Corgoň signs. There is a Dog.
Back at the station, the kart had arrived from wherever. 813 twin unit and a bike trailer. Off we went on time, remaining thus. Major timber traffic at Rohožník (and possibly cement) must keep the branch open. The industrial branch just before Zohor looks very rusty. Obligingly the kart went right across the layout at Zohor, fetching up by the station building. It seemed it was going on to work the other branch, to Záhorská Ves.
Back into Brats on, I think, the same dostos. Thence on foot to Fabrika The Beer Pub. Should have known better really with a name like that; attached to a trendy hotel, pretentious and expensive. The pilsner was OK, the Weizen very nice but with every appearance of being … well, can’t say in public. Stew and dumplings for a tenner in Slovakia? Come on … filled a gap though. Then to the extraordinary Flagship Restaurant in Námestie SNP. Beer (Kláštorný Pivovar 11°) was OK and the place is an outrageous tourist trap. Nevertheless the building’s fascinating and it would be well worth a winter visit with a reservation.
Finally, another attempt at last night's scary brewpub, in daylight. If only I’d realised that komín meant chimney. Sigh. Anyway, found it this time after asking twice (no English in these parts but that's never stopped me). A splendid if eccentrically located (in an off-street street market in the inner 'burbs) establishment with a workmanlike svetlý ležiak. The IPA is a better beast altogether. This ill-informed commentator has to say that the Czechs, Slovaks and Germans really seem to have got hold of this British style. Good on 'em, we seem to have abandoned it to big-business mediocrity.
ZSSK's 263 006 propels Os 2012 out of Malacky on 16.07.2017 |
Rusty rails, no people, no train. Plavecké Podhradie didn't look open for business when I arrived by bus on 16.07.2017 |
The attraction supporting the summer weekend service is Plavecký hrad (castle), started in 1256, rebuilt in the late 16th century and destroyed in 1706 |
813 041 and its passengers were a very welcome sight when I returned from the village! |
How could I not find the Komín (Chimney) brewpub in Bratislava? With the aid of daylight on 16.07.17, I did. |
Monday 17 July
Up not very bright, but early. Tried again to get BA boarding pass - still told me my documentation wasn’t good for the flight. In date UK passport, UK citizen, UK issued, d.o.b and name correct, UK destination. What sort of 'not good’? Breakfast was good (again), the staff seemed on top of the situation unlike yesterday's communist-era person.
Away on the trolley bus to the main bus station for Slovak Lines’ 09:00 to Wien Flughafen which was a smooth operation just like last time, arriving 5 early at 09:55. Off to T1 to get a boarding pass from the machine which after 5 minutes faff and two readings of my passport, announced it had a mechanical fault. Sigh. Queue. Boarding pass dispensed by human in about 15 seconds… What was all that about? We’ll never know, since I didn't want to hold the queue up by asking.
In fact when I got to the gate the same young lady was there and recognised me, so I did ask. She agreed the machines at VIE did quite frequently have problems but was as baffled by the document stuff as I was. Perhaps I shouldn't have tried to check in from the shade of a roadside tree in rural Slovakia, and change my seat into the bargain (though that succeeded in fact, and got me the third row of steerage instead of the 16th). BA were doing well, all loaded by 11:40 for 12:00 or earlier departure, but Air Traffic weren't having any of that, and we’ve still got to go at 12.
Which we did, landing at 13:27 after a few orbits over Essex. Off via the air bridge at around 13:40, no delay at all with the electronic gates, but unbelievably it took nearly 20 minutes' walk (and therefore getting on for a mile) to get to the T1-2-3 Underground station. Really not acceptable with no advance warning – many people would have difficulty with that, particularly if they had a lot of luggage.
It remained only to get to Euston for the train(s) home; I decided to go via the Hammersmith & City to call off at Baker Street, and was rewarded with a nice newish, air conditioned set in complete contrast to the stuffy and pokey confines of the Piccadilly Line stock. Wetherspoon's at Baker Street weren't willing to show prices for their beer, on which basis I wasn't willing to buy any. A gentle stroll along the south (shady) side of Marylebone & Euston Roads, calling at McDs for a late "lunch" and Tesco Express for some bottled water, kept me from complete meltdown in the heat.
VT's 16:43 Edinburgh was a 2x221 set dividing at Birmingham – not a particularly desirable way of travelling but the air con worked and I'd been allocating a forward facing aisle seat on the shady side. Together with a punctual arrival at Birmingham International that was an excellent result for my £5.30 Advance ticket! Arriva were also on time though inevitably the air con was only working properly (well, sort of) in one of the four coaches and equally inevitably they lost time by Wolverhampton. They made Telford only 2 down though, and Mrs EG was on hand with the car to conclude a worthwhile weekend.
Up not very bright, but early. Tried again to get BA boarding pass - still told me my documentation wasn’t good for the flight. In date UK passport, UK citizen, UK issued, d.o.b and name correct, UK destination. What sort of 'not good’? Breakfast was good (again), the staff seemed on top of the situation unlike yesterday's communist-era person.
Away on the trolley bus to the main bus station for Slovak Lines’ 09:00 to Wien Flughafen which was a smooth operation just like last time, arriving 5 early at 09:55. Off to T1 to get a boarding pass from the machine which after 5 minutes faff and two readings of my passport, announced it had a mechanical fault. Sigh. Queue. Boarding pass dispensed by human in about 15 seconds… What was all that about? We’ll never know, since I didn't want to hold the queue up by asking.
In fact when I got to the gate the same young lady was there and recognised me, so I did ask. She agreed the machines at VIE did quite frequently have problems but was as baffled by the document stuff as I was. Perhaps I shouldn't have tried to check in from the shade of a roadside tree in rural Slovakia, and change my seat into the bargain (though that succeeded in fact, and got me the third row of steerage instead of the 16th). BA were doing well, all loaded by 11:40 for 12:00 or earlier departure, but Air Traffic weren't having any of that, and we’ve still got to go at 12.
Which we did, landing at 13:27 after a few orbits over Essex. Off via the air bridge at around 13:40, no delay at all with the electronic gates, but unbelievably it took nearly 20 minutes' walk (and therefore getting on for a mile) to get to the T1-2-3 Underground station. Really not acceptable with no advance warning – many people would have difficulty with that, particularly if they had a lot of luggage.
It remained only to get to Euston for the train(s) home; I decided to go via the Hammersmith & City to call off at Baker Street, and was rewarded with a nice newish, air conditioned set in complete contrast to the stuffy and pokey confines of the Piccadilly Line stock. Wetherspoon's at Baker Street weren't willing to show prices for their beer, on which basis I wasn't willing to buy any. A gentle stroll along the south (shady) side of Marylebone & Euston Roads, calling at McDs for a late "lunch" and Tesco Express for some bottled water, kept me from complete meltdown in the heat.
VT's 16:43 Edinburgh was a 2x221 set dividing at Birmingham – not a particularly desirable way of travelling but the air con worked and I'd been allocating a forward facing aisle seat on the shady side. Together with a punctual arrival at Birmingham International that was an excellent result for my £5.30 Advance ticket! Arriva were also on time though inevitably the air con was only working properly (well, sort of) in one of the four coaches and equally inevitably they lost time by Wolverhampton. They made Telford only 2 down though, and Mrs EG was on hand with the car to conclude a worthwhile weekend.
That finished off 2017, a little prematurely. With another Significant Birthday imminent, something has to be done in 2018. Watch this space... [Things didn't quite go according to plan - see 2018]
