Hiking

I guess we’ll get to the hot springs tomorrow. We spent the day today hiking around in the mountains, we saw a couple of beautiful lakes, clear enough you could see the rocks at the bottom and the fish swimming around among them, living creatures in an entirely alien environment, some lovely swift running streams, a gray squirrel who ignored us until we got too close and scampered up a tree.
It was, for the most part, a very nice day, but breakfast was a bit off. The food wasn’t horrible, it was crepes, and nobody else in the family thought it was a big deal and they were actually quite embarrassed that I snapped at the waitress, but I don’t feel I was wrong. Of course, the fault was with the restaurant, the system, but she’s a part of that.
Sam got served first, and he was half done before Helena’s crepe arrived, and they were both almost finished before mine arrived, and I was almost finished and Sam and Helena’s plates had been cleared away before Isabel got served.
I hadn’t meant to get snippy. Just a gesture, indicating that we still hadn’t been served, but I guess it could have been seen as hostile. When we were finished, she sent a different waitress out with the check and an apology. “We’ve only got one griddle.”
Well, fuck that for a lame excuse. It was a crepe restaurant, that was the only thing they were serving and, even if you cook them one at a time, it doesn’t take that long. I remember in Thailand, the people serving banana pancakes from street carts only had one griddle. They would pour out the batter, flip it, chop in half a banana, fold the ends in, sprinkle some powdered sugar and pour out a bit of chocolate on top, and collect the money with their other hand, keeping up a steady banter with the customers in line, and the whole operation took about 30 seconds. Because they weren’t fucking around.

Anyway, that was between the first lake, which was beautiful, and the second lake, which was beautiful, and really a minor moment in the day.
But, if you’re ever in Štrbske Pleso, Slovakia, skip the crepe restaurant.