Bratislava Wrapped in Christmas

Reality starting to set in. Last week I handed in my resignation, for the first time with trepidation. I'm utterly aware that most people would never do what I'm about to do: leave a job they like in a company they like and move away from a country that they absolutely love. Yes, I'm completely nuts!

We have this saying in Finland that rolling rocks don't get mossy and I think that's the story of my life in a nutshell. I get bored easily and boredom is my worst nightmare. I need new experiences and excitement in my life all the time and even though I am completely happy here in Bratislava, if I let this opportunity of discovering a new country slip away I would never forgive myself! And as a single, childless, independent person, why wouldn't I go and be nuts :D I'm an experience-addict!

But, I still have a lot of time left here and thankfully it's one of my favourite times of the year: Christmas. The markets are lit up and there's happy people everywhere drinking hot wine and eating greasy potato pancakes. As I mentioned in the post a year ago, the Finnish Christmas markets have a lot to learn from these Central-European ones when it comes to creating a good and cosy atmosphere. 

The hot wines in the Christmas market here are amazing and they come in various flavours. The most basic, classic one is the black currant, which is a lot like glögi that we have back in the Nordic countries. Then there are all other sorts from ginger and honey to strawberry. Just like in festivals, the vendors have agreed on the pricing so no matter where you get your hot wine you pay the same; 2,50€ for 2dl, which is quite a steep price, but hey, this only happens once a year. 

There is a space left open in the middle of the Hviezdoslavovo square waiting for an ice rink. There has been no point of bringing it on yet with temperature outside hanging between 13-15 degrees. It snowed in Finland already this weekend and everybody there seems happy about it. They say snow belongs with Christmas. OK, it looks nice (for the first 2 days) but I'd still much rather stick to this 15 degrees. For the sake of my shoes at least!

Crispy potato pasta and bryndzove haluski

This morning it was about 4 degrees warm and the parts of me that were not covered up (head and face) were in a lot of pain by the time I got to work. How am I going to survive the coldness up in Estonia?? I'm also afraid of the darkness there... For the past week my Facebook feed has been full of people complaining how in the morning when they open the curtains the room gets even darker.

Despite all my worrying about the changes in my life in the future I'm quite balanced with all the Christmas planning going on at work. This week we're going for dinner close to the castle with the team, next week we will probably go to the Christmas market and the week after that it's our Christmas Party! We have all sorts of little surprises prepared for that. The only thing here that could, in any way, cause me stress is what am I going to wear???!