Hotel Boss Zilina

... Sofia also cooked while I was here is, from what I can gather, cabbage, something creamy and pig fat. She also brings around the worldˇs best hangover cure, black tea, honey and blackberry juice. Sofia is a champion of champions.

Milan is for some reason a very popular name here. This caused some confusion as I had come from Milan, anyway, Little Milan as the locals call him, is a fourteen-year-old with ...

... twelve years. There were some pictures of the kids in it, some English stamps, the number for the breakdown emergency and about 40p worth of zlotys. It was nothing I couldn't replace, but I was still annoyed.

Slovakia itself is very scenic. The road winds between cliffs and rivers. Densely wooded slopes flank either side. Every thirty minutes or so, we passed a castle or ruin balanced precipitously on the top of a rocky outcrop. Slovakia is definitely worth another visit. We really ...

... was not only wonderful but carefully chosen.

Caught the train up to Parnica in the north and to the beginning of my cycle mission. The bike was laden onto the train and stripped of all my belongings so I could struggle down the corridor and knock into people. No seat, so I occupied the corridor and stared out of the window with that intent curiosity which befalls you in ...

The reason of my trip to the region of Orava, a northern part of Slovakia, is very simple: it has been raining in the Tatras and I hope the weather is different on the other side of the mountains. The best cities to stay in if you wish to see the most beautiful castles are Liptovsky Mikulas and Dolny Kubin in Slovakia, or Zakopane in Poland.

I believe one of the most intriguing castle to see in this part ...

... from Jerusalem of tavernas and Roman legionaries. Most of the carvings have some sort of moving part to them and the level of detail in the carving is superb. The whole thing is about 3m across, by 2m deep and 1m high as the scenes are tiered. Pamps - we think a Blandford version would be a good project for you! Caught the bus to Stefanova and walked back to Terchova along an interpretive nature trail (which gave useful ...

... more than one main thing a day and spent a lot of time and money on buses! Was worth it for the journey itself though rather than the wretched castle. Lots of roadside shrines (they seem a devout bunch these SLovaks) and around each village land had been comandeered for strip farming (like a large allotment) - some of which seemed to be worked collectively. We saw a group of people setting potatoes in one village and in another a horse was being used to pull a harrow.

The Twelve Days of Christmas Little Drummer Boy Oh Come Let Us Adore Him ...

... empty corridors and showers with no doors or curtains. However the sheets appeared clean, the windows opened and closed and the door locked! Enjoyed strolling around town - 2 huge squares with cute cafes, tons of outdoor seating and yummy cheap ice cream (pineapple now my 2nd fav. flavour). Lovely architecture but buildings largely still run down which ...

... road - not to mention racing the other drivers. Back, safely and relieved, at the hotle, we settle into the downstairs bar for some cards and, as you do, bowling. They have two small lanes of ninepins at the back of the bar but all the instructions are in German so no one can work out the computer keypad properly. Somehow we improvise a good two to three hours of very poor-quality bowling, followed by more cards and a 2:45am finish.

... 22:30. We again ask for tickets on the 13:30 that changes once. She tells us it doesn't exist that there's a 13:35 that changes twice. Sounds like a plan. We now have to queue in another queue to get tickets. After 45 minutes.... and roughly an hour and a half in the station to get one ticket, we get to the ...