Brno, Bratislava, and so forth
I just spent a couple of days tyravelling around with two aussies, Natasha and Michaela. We basically laughed our way around the countryside for 72 hours. Aaah, the goold old days. But how I ended up hanging out with them is a perfect case study in hostel friendships. It goes something like this...

I met Dan and Lou on the way to the hostel in CK. We were all walking from the bus station, completely lost and trying to decipher the hand-drawn map on the back of the hostel brochure. So, we get lost together, and end up having a few beers that night. The next day, I go sight-seeing while they spend a day catching up on administrivia, including doing their washing. At the laundry they meet Farouk (of the echinacea tablets) and Abbi, who are staying at another hostel. Abbi happens to be on the terrace of a tea house as Dan, Lou, I and a cast of thousands float down the Vlatava river. That night we have dinner at a vegetarian restaurant, where it so happens that Farouk, Abbi and their gang are enjoying their evening repaste as well. (I did mention that CK was a small town, right?) Dan and Louise go and sit with them, but I don't meet them, instead associating with various Irishmen. We all go out for drinks after dinner, where I finally meet Farouk et al. At about 4am, after the absinthe, we all agree to meet for lunch in a few short hours. Lunch leads to dinner, which leads to a coffee and dessert course.

Earlier, Farouk has met Natasha and Michaela, who are staying in the room next to his dorm. He runs across them on the way to dessert from his hostel (to pick up his echinacea supplies), and drags them along with the promise of sugary products. I talk to them at dinner, but we don't swap names. We exchange travel plans, and it happens that they are going to Brno. That's interesting, think I. I was planning to go to Brno until recently, but now I'm going straight to Bratislava.

The next day, it transpires that I can't get a train to Bratislava that arrives before midnight (perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I didn't turn up to the train station until 11am), but I see that I can stopover in Brno and then go to Bratislava the next day. That'll do, think I, but what a shame I didn't swap emails with those girls. They would have been fun to hang around.

So once I Brno, I step out the door with two other aussies that I've met, and not five metres away are Natasha and Michaela, walking to get dinner. This time, we do the name thing properly, and decide to share the joy of Bratislava as well. 24 hours and 500 kilometres difference between our meetings is not enough to counter the small world syndrome.