Visiting with relatives - May 16th, 2012

I had a wonderful day yesterday visiting with relatives present and past. My cousins offered to meet me at the cemetery Slávičie údolie where various members of the family are buried. I ordered another taxi to take me to the cemetery and was driven there in style in another shiny sleek black Mercedes-Benz.

I waited at the main entrance for a little while because I was early. There at the gate I saw, in quick succession, three young, mangy looking cats. I felt bad for the little creatures because they were clearly not getting enough to eat and I wondered whether they were having to fend for themselves.

The weather was not the most pleasant, it was windy, overcast and cool so I went into the flower shop to ask if the lady who had been having a smoke at the entrance and was clearly the main occupant would mind if I waited inside. Well, the shrug of her shoulders and expression on her face told me that she would mind so I walked around and waited outside and took a few pictures. Then I decided to wait further away from the gate, closer to the main road and it was a good thing because my cousins who were also early spotted me and recognized me even though we had not seen each other in 20 years. Another cousin joined us shortly and then we all walked through the cemetery to the place where my maternal grandparents, uncles, cousin and my mother all rest in peace together. It is a beautiful, peaceful spot, with lots of trees and fresh air. After visiting several other graves in the cemetery to light candles and say hello to relatives who are also interred there, we took the street car to a restaurant in Karlova Ves to have lunch. Karlova Ves has a special significance for me because in the summer we used to go swimming in the Danube as well as camping there.

I had a new experience on the street car, as we got on, one very polite and well brought up young woman stood up to give up her seat for me. I appreciated it but it made me feel old.

After lunch we took the street car to my cousin's apartment where we had coffee and cake and looked at old family photographs. Then, my cousin Ivan, whom I met for the first time since childhood, took me home on the trolleybus.

I really enjoyed spending time with my cousins, sharing family stories.