Failed hitchhiking || Bratislava, SLOVAKIA

"The thing about trains is that it matters not where they're going.."
One long weekend in November, Rita and I decided to try and hitchhike our way to Prague from Budapest. It's not a common way of traveling in the Philippines,..or maybe I just haven't had the opportunity, so I barely had an idea on how the whole thing goes. 
Is there a specific place for you to stand and wait? How do you stop the cars? What do you put in the sign? What do you say to the drivers? Do you have to give anything in exchange?? 
Luckily, Rita's a pro. She's done it in some of her travels around Europe, so I thought there's nothing to worry about. In fact, I was thrilled at the thought of it. haha! If doesn't work out, I thought, there's always the train. And thank heavens there was the train. After two hours taking shifts in holding up our pretty sign, flagging down cars, and talking to those kind ones who actually stopped and at least wished us luck, we turned back and accepted it was a lost cause. It was a cold autumn evening, and our hands were already freezing. Was it our choice of place to stand? Did we look unfriendly? Or was there really just no one headed to the same direction as us?  Oh, well. My first hitchhiking experience has to wait. Luckily, there were still tickets available, and the price wasn't that bad. The seats were comfortable - not a sleeper class but we had the entire compartment to ourselves. I say it's close enough. haha! Good thing it was just a short trip. Gave us a few hours' worth of sleep, just enough to give us a kick for the long day ahead of us.  Our first stop:  The small city of Bratislava in Slovakia. Seeing as we only had a day there, we thought of joining the free walking tour of the city to be able to explore as many landmarks and important places as we could. I'm not a huge fan of guided tours, but when you have no idea of what to do or where to go, aimlessly following people around seems like a practical thing to do.  Never did it cross my mind that I'd set foot in this city one day. In complete daze, I listened to the guide's faint speech as we walked along the perimeters and through the centre, moving from one historical building to another. I also barely had the chance to talk to the others with us, not because I wasn't interested, but I was too busy trying to absorb everything around me. The gloomy weather bathed the city in overcast, that even the bright yellow and orange foliage seemed sombre.    We didn't finish the tour. Somehow, we just ended up following our own gut and wandered around the town, as always.  A pretty interesting statue caught our attention and, like a true tourist, we took a photo with it. haha! As we were leaving, we overheard from a group of friends who were waiting for their turn that there were other statues around the centre. Rita and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and without words, established our next goal: to find them haha! And so we did. Quite an amusing walk. Each statue had its own beautiful history, some were even heartbreaking. Not entirely sure whether they're true or legends, but who cares? That wasn't the point.  Our search for those stone figures led us to the seemingly deserted outskirts. Probably not the prettiest, but I have a penchant for those kinds of places haha! The few objects of colour found in the tiny pieces of artworks, signboards and, lights popped out more in this leaden background. We were the only ones walking its streets. Somehow, it felt surreal. We continued our walk down the cobbled pavements, straight on the streets, up on a hill, and another flight of stairs. By sundown, we had reached a castle - yes, a castle! Who would've thought that's where we'd end up? Probably not the grandest of them all, but it was a real one.  It had a great view of the city, although a bit clouded by fog that evening. We couldn't go inside the halls, so we contented ourselves with the majesty of its outdoors. On the ledges of its decks, we sat and spent a few minutes talking as we took in the beautiful panorama in front of us.  The night quickly clothed the city in darkness, signalling us to head home. We would've stayed longer if we knew our way back home - it's not as easy to navigate at night. Reluctantly but with laughter and big smiles on our faces, we retraced our steps and eventually reached our home for the night. I drifted off to sleep as I thought in disbelief where I was. What would have happened if someone actually took us in for a free ride? Would the entire trip change, having started differently? Would I even have gone to Bratislava if it weren't for this idea to hitchhike and take a detour instead of going all the way to Prague? I don't know. Can't even conclude this post in the proper way. Just too many thoughts all at once. Anywayyyy, I never thought I'd be in Bratislava one day, and there I was, wandering in its streets and running my fingers on its castles' bricked walls... I couldn't be happier and thankful for the luck I have had so far. *** November 18-19, 2011 Bratislava, SLOVAKIA