REWIND: A meeting of poets and monkeys

Let's pick the story back up in mid July. I've just left Dresden and gone back to Olomouc to meet up with the wonderful friends I made at Poet's Corner. They had planned a group trip to visit the Ginger Monkey hostel in Ždiar, and I jumped eagerly on board. When you get so many great people together in one place, you just know it's going to be a good time.

The night we arrived there was a hostel-wide dinner of homemade goulash, which was the most delicious, flavorful bowl of soup I had my entire trip, and we were such a big group that someone had to eat directly from the pot with a ladle due to a lack of flatware.

I had only spent one day at the Ginger Money before, and did a really wonderful day hike called the saddle trail. This time we tackled it as a huge group, and it was even more fun than the last time - and everything looked so different! There were fewer flowers and everything green was taller, and even that last persistent patch of snow was almost gone (but there was enough left for me to bury my hands in it).

It was, once again, breathtakingly beautiful at the top, and worth the long slog upwards, but by the time we finished and were waiting for the bus, we were knackered (one of my favorite words I've picked up, just go with it).

We did a day trip to a nearby castle, Spišský hrad, one of the largest in central Europe and very impressive.

This photo basically sums up our day.

Some other memorable events of the trip include the XXL Pizza Challenge at Rustika, a local institution and favorite amongst Monkey guests. This pizza is 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs), and one must finish it in one sitting to be put up on the scoreboard at the Monkey. The record is something like 6 minutes, which just boggles my mind.

And, best of all, the onesie party. I don't know if you're familiar with the 80's era one-piece ski suits, but let's refresh your memory with a picture.

We took the dog, Wally, the BEST and probably the happiest dog in the entire world, out for a walk, of course wearing onesies because it gets quite cold in the mountains at night. And they turn out to be perfect party wear, especially when you have cowboy hats and silver tinsel wigs and pink-rimmed sombreros to add to the equation.