Satel Levoca

... there, so you can follow some of them and see the place from above, although it requires good physical condition and no fear of heights. Other tracks, like a yellow trail to Priečne sedlo (2,352 metres above sea level), are considered to be the most challenging and difficult in the Tatras, and a trail to Priečne sedlo is a one way route, so once you've reached the metal buckles and ladders there is ...

... spoke French. It is time to swallow your pride, France. French is not the international language it used to be. I do not expect fluency from travelers, but at least try!). Anyway, I was saying…the cave was truly amazing and Hannah was able to get a few nice shots of the interior. (FYI: do not pay the often-exorbitant "photo" fee many places in Eastern Europe want to charge you to take photos. Nobody pays any attention to this once you are on the tour and you can snap away.)

... fire a few centuries ago. Now it just serves as the most famous thing in Slovakia (unless you have any ideas, reader). It is a behemoth of a castle, much bigger than the one in Raşnov, Romania and much better. Even though the fire gutted the place, the walls still stand and walking around the castle grounds makes for a magnificent experience (and given its popularity, the entrance fee was not exorbitant). Though I do not put the ...

From Bratislava we got a train to Poprad (14.60 euros), in north-eastern Slovakia [High Tatras region] and then a bus from Poprad to Levoca. After the transport difficulty in Romania, we loved the efficiency of Slovakia.<br><br>In Levoca we stayed at a small, family owned pension in the old town. The Dubeckys put us in an upstairs apartment with a ...

... and wandered in silence the wonderful Slovensky Raj (Slovak Paradise) national park which is not badly named, investigated churches and museums and generally kicked back - sometimes by design and sometimes not (Easter round here is taken very VERY seriously) Tomorrow I travel back to Trnava. Have to love the place names round here - theres all the kind of scrabble hand that you really really dont want and from there its Bratislava and home and time to dream of the next trip.... Toodles

... fun walks. The walks we did involved wooden footbridges, climbing steel ladders next to waterfalls and hanging off chains and steel steps while hanging over the ravine. Great fun for those who don't suffer from vertigo!

... summer and a huge outdoor mass. The church itself is fairly austere, with a huge outdoor altar used during the pilgrimages. You don't need much decoration when you're surrounded by those views. That night we "splurged" on dinner at The 3 Apostles. If you ever find yourself in Levoca, eat dinner there and get the grilled trout. We each had soup, entree, drinks, and dessert and the total (with tip) was $20.

... private joke to begin with; I don't wish to cause any offense to humourless people stumbling across this blog, so I have removed a section here. I don't think Spisska Nova Ves is particularly ugly, it's just not as attractive as other places in Slovakia.) The one good thing about staying in Ugly Town was that it did make the pretty places nearby seem that much more appealing in comparison. One such trip was out to a town called Levoca ...

... food from us.....I don't think the girl understood how dangerous Chrissy could of been with an open pocket knife in her hand.....some fingers could have gone missing....we were very hungry. Also while sitting around and enjoying the atmosphere we also noticed a phenomenon sweeping Slovakia - women wearing white pants with a white g-string - for all the world to see. Maybe we can export this idea....we'd make millions!!!

... planned my moves, I got to the train station in plenty of time, buying one of those huge poppy-seed bagel-type things on the way. The central part of Poland, which I stayed in during my week there, is pretty and uninteresting, scenery-wise. It's flat farmland, but not flat enough to seem different to me. But today, two hours into the train ride, we started going up, up into the mountains! The Tatra Mountains are not high enough to be snowy, at least not ...