Last Day In Bratislava
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We made it to the castle today. It is an interesting mix of the history of Bratislava. The fortress walls and buildings inside them show the scars of constant occupation and renovation from 900AD. The gate you enter the castle ground by has the reminents of an old draw bridge right beside a machine gun turret from WWII. The view of Bratislava from the castle is a shocking reminder of the Communist industry past of Slovakia. There are miles and miles of concrete, rectangular utilitarian apartment blocks for as far as you can see, then the smoke stacks of factories rising on the horizon behind them.
Finally Made It To Bratislava
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A funny thing happened on the way to Bratislava… we ended up on the wrong damn train (it seems to be our fate to take the wrong transportation in Eastern Europe). It’s not really that we’re incredibly dense – the train we got on did say “Bratislava” on it, but unlike every other country in the world, Slovakia puts the origin instead of the destination on the train. So – we ended up seeing almost all of Slovakia in one day – any further east and we would have been denied entry into the Ukraine. Interesting fact – it only takes 7 hours to travel from one end of Slovakia to the other (I can only make it half way to my parent’s house in that time!). That’s the last time we will take a second class train in Eastern Europe (A six person cabin with 10 people & a dog in it.). The last journey we had like that was in China with a chicken on my lap – but you do get close to the locals!
Last Day In Stary Smokovec
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We had a great climb today – up & down 1005 m. (they don’t measure things in distances when you climb mountains – just elevations). We started in a valley full of wild flowers and glacial streams, and gradually found ourselves above the tree line with waterfalls cascading down the mountains all around us. Interestingly, we were actually hiking on what they consider to be a cross country ski trail around here – it would kill anyone at home to even contemplate skiing it. It was essentially an old Roman road made out of boulders that had cleaved off the mountain. It was 8 ft wide at its widest, and 2 ft wide at its narrowest, and followed the contours of the mountain, with death-assured drops on the valley side. The flower filled valley reminded me of my grandma’s kitchen – it smelled like herbal teas, brewer’s yeast, various herbal remedies and a bit of must.
Hike To Sliezsky Dom
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Hey! we didn’t get lost once today; nor did we accidentally hike back over the Polish border (a concern here, as the trails on the mountain run across borders, and our Polish passport Visa is used up). We had a great hike today – the weather held and we found ourselves wandering in the fresh air in forest that looks a lot like Pukaskwa Park at home – except there’s mountains instead of a lake, and the bugs in the forest don’t bite! Of course, as you gain elevation, the trees get smaller, then turn into scrub, then turn into rocks (much like the rock screes in Sleeping Giant at the foot of the chimney). The real difference comes when you get to the peaks and find yourself at the foot of a waterfall tumbling from the peaks into a crystal clear lake. I know we have scenery like this in Canada, but the trail system makes the access to the Tatras National Park a joy to navigate – hey! we did it…
Stary Smokovec
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Well, anyone who may have thought we were experienced travelers who knew what we were doing would have laughed their heads off at us today. After waiting three hours in Zakopane for the bus to Stary Smokovic (Scary Son of a Bitch), we got on the wrong bus, then got off at the Polish / Slovak border, only to watch the bus take off on us as we stood and wondered what we were going to do about it. So, we walked through the border, after being checked out of Poland and into Slovakia. There we were in the woods in the middle of the Tatras mountains on a border crossing, when we were approached by a mini bus driver who demanded 15 Euro to take us the rest of the way to our destination – what choice did we have?
