What was originally planned to be a four day break in Bratislava, Slovakia turned into a week long holiday due to the Volcanic eruption in Iceland. The ash cloud created by the volcano meant the majority of European airspace was closed and it wasn’t until we landed in Slovakia on the day of the eruption that we learnt our flight home was cancelled and we were stranded!

Needless to say this didn’t stop us making the most of our trip so I thought I would share some of my favourite photos here. On the first day we toured Bratislava in the pouring rain, an excellent excuse to dive into every open bar, sit back and order an ice cold Slovakian brew.

On day two we decided to take a train across the border to Austria. Every building we saw in Vienna was more ornate than the last and the attention to architectural detail was extraordinary. We stumbled across a festival outside the town hall, bought a beer, sat down and soaked up the atmosphere.

On the third day we managed to speak with Ryanair but the earliest flight home was not for over a week. It would have meant spending another 8 days in Slovakia providing there was no more volcanic activity! We all agreed that this would cost far too much so on our sixth day we managed to book seats on a bus that ran from Bratislava to London Victoria bus station the following day.

On Tuesday, two days later than expected we departed on an epic journey home. It took us over 26 hours, travelling over 1570km using 2 buses, 2 trains, 1 ferry, 1 car and no planes through 6 countries including Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, France and England. It’s certainly one trip I will never forget.