Grand Hotel Kempinski High Tat Vysoke Tatry

We made a short stop in Brezno, Slovakia. We were planning on staying at a campsite about 30 minutes outside the small town of Brezno. Now when you get 30 minutes OUTSIDE of a small town...your pretty much in the middle of nowhere! We drove down a country road up to the campsite. Well after driving around the chickens and the goat we realized the campsite was really just a guys backyard. We were tempted to stay for the goats sake ...

... and much higher than the Polish part.

There is a special railway designed to bring the mountaineers to virtually any place they want, and its network connects all the High Tatra towns like Tatranska Lomnica, Smokovce or Strbske Pleso. What's more, there are a few cable cars that take you directly into the heart of Tatry without any effort, and amongst these places are peaks and passes like Lomnicky ...

... sme zopar tyciniek. Chceme ist do potravin, no mame smolu, je zatvorene.

Obchadzame Hnilecke vrchy smerom na Sykavku, kadial oficialne pokracuje cervena Hnilecka cyklomagistrala. Za Hnilcom sa vsak cesta meni z asflatovej na lesnu. Ideme lesom a lukami tesne popri zeleznici a potoku. KRASNE ! Vona ihlicnateho lesa nas sprevadza aj tu ... a v lese je prijemne vlhko, zeby tu prsalo ? Je aj dost mokro, co si hned obidvaja odskusame padom do blata :)

Prvy Hamor, Stredny Hamor, Zadny Hamor - Delava. Krasny usek, ciste a upravene chalupy, zije to tu chaluparmi. Delava je mala osada, par domov. Vidime tabulku potraviny, no miestny nam oznamuje, ze su davno zrusene. Cesta z Nalepkova az sem je asflatova, popri zeleznici. Miestami prechadza do strkovej. Ticho, slnko, este ranny opar. Za Dolnou Delavou je stary cintorin, s celkom peknou atmosferou - ak sa to tak da o cintorine povedat.

... on the shore of one of the lakes, and you should have a 'szarlotka' cake there; it's a traditional apple pie with castor sugar and cinnamon.

If you don't really like trekking, take a car and drive to some villages around Bukowina. The views are stunning, you'd be really surprised. Try to find the Łapszanka Pass, a village of Rzepiska or Przełom Białki, a gorge of the river Białka.

The best time to ...

... or, "naughty children" as our book said) in the 1600s.

There is a massive Billa supermarket next to the Levoca bus station. We bought much food there, and, this fine evening we ate pasta, cheese, and bread...and candy. We also got a bottle of Slivka (the Slovakian equivalent of Tuica), which kept us (and Donna and Rich) up a bit late.

... well-graded path, we passed a cross commemorating the end of a 150-year battle over who owned the meadows in the 16th century, and then a sign displaying the local wildflowers. It being September, most of the flowers were finished, but the gentians were still blooming in large numbers. We were surprised at how quickly we were climbing up the trail. We could see we were approaching a pass, but could it be Kopské sedlo so soon? Surely there would be more climbing to come? But ...

... areas. They would have been lovely a month ago, because many of the fields were sown with sunflowers, but now the flowers were dried out. We followed the Váh River , passing through narrow canyons and pine forests among the farm fields. On some of the hills there were ruined castles, of which the one near Trenčin was the most impressive. Finally arriving in Poprad, we hurried up the stairs to get on the little red and white narrow-gauge electric train ...

... within the short two week period that the Global Volunteers were there, a huge impact was made to improve the students language and change many peoples outlooks on life. It was such a great learning experience for myself and I will miss the kids greatly. And so I begin the last leg of my trip with only eleven days to make it from Zakopane, Poland to Lisbon, Portugal with many wonderful stops along the way. The first city outside of Krakow will be Prague/already is!

... conversation on her own. Can you tell that I found her a bit irritating? Unexpectedly, we both managed to wake up the next day without too much pain in the legs, so instead of taking the shorter route back, we decided to take the ridge walk to the chairlift at Chopok. I had been told this was a stunning walk, and one of the most popular short day hikes to do, so was quite looking forward to it. It was living up to my expectations as far as Demanovska saddle, which (for once) quite ...