August 24, 2010 twenty AMTA members met for dinner in Budapest, Hungary for a 4 day pre-trip prior to the meeting in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. We toured the major sites of Budapest by bus and walking with an excellent guide.

In the evening, we enjoyed dinner and entertainment while cruising the Danube. The night lighted skyline with a full moon was gorgeous. However, we had a little misadventure with the bus driving us to the cruise. It stopped dead on a major street and the tour guide had to call 6 taxis for a wild ride to the boat in record time! Paul Young said it was worth the trip to experience that "Indy Car" ride.

We took the train to Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, for a night stay at the lovely Raddison Carlton Blu, next to the US Embassy. We had a 4 hour tour of Bratislava again with an excellent guide. Bratislava was at one time the capital of Hungary. After lunching together at a typical Slovak restaurant, we headed by bus to Banska Bystrica. One of the real treats in Bratislava was an excellent ice cream cone for 50 cents!

We had 2 days of outstanding tennis until the rains came. Then we had 3 days of rain while we watched the US Open on the Euro Sports channel. They had very little advertising and had about 10 hours of broadcasting! Quite refreshing.

The Tuesday night "National Evening" showed off many Slovakian crafts with outstanding young folk dancers and musicians. We then enjoyed a typical Slovakian dinner.

Interesting observation - I was observating a men's doubles match against a Slovakian team. Instead of spinning a racquet for serve they did "rock, paper, scissors" to determine serve.

At the Friday night awards banquet, they had an excellent band and singer playing for a crowded dance floor. Many danced the night away even if they had early morning flights.