Slovakia has been a real treat. Before coming here we spent a lot of time in cities and getting to see more rural spots was a bit of a hassle but since leaving the quaint capital of Bratislava we're been seeing the quieter side of things and really liking it.
From Bratislava we took a train (and then a teeny tiny train) to the hill town of Banska Stiavnica which used to be the mining capital of central Europe back in the day. Since being in central Europe, Slovakia is one of the first places we have had a real language barrier which proved to be interesting when we took the guided mine tour. We were given trench coats, flashlights and helmets (I thought the helmets were a little overkill until we got inside and I smacked my head every 30 seconds, you'd think I'd learn but no) and then we listened to our Slovakian speaking guide give what we assume were some pretty important safety instructions. We figured if we just made sure we stayed in the middle of the group (aka surround our selves with people who did understand the safety instructions) we wouldn't get lost. We were in the mines for over an hour and were happy to take some deep breaths when returned to the world of sun and fresh air.
As our tour of the mine was only in Slovak we figured we'd go check out the mining museum to see what we missed. We bought our ticket and were led into the museum only to noticed there was no written explanation on the displays. It was then that the women who showed us and a few other guest in started her tour of the museum...in Slovak. From both tours we gathered that they have mined the area for a long time and but not any more.
Wanting to get even further away for it all we decide to do some hiking in what is known as Slovak Paradise. We took the train to a tiny little town in what felt like the middle of nowhere and as the rain looked looming we decide to hike the next day. We woke up early, checked the forecast, ate a hearty breakfast and set out on a 6 hour hike into the mountains were you need to use ropes and ladders to scale rock faces. We made it 500 meters from hostel. An absolute downpour started and we took refuge in a bus shelter (more of a tin shack). We kept thinking it would clear up but ended up staying in the shelter an hour and a half before it got decent enough to walk to town and warm our cold bones with soup and tea. The rain stayed all day so back at our hostel we hunkered down with a bottle of wine and played several rounds of Monopoly near the fire place, not too shabby of an alternative if you ask me.
We been having quite a bit of rain while in Slovakia but the good thing about the cold weather is that it makes the Slovak food taste so much better. Slovaks eat a lot of dishes that are different variations of potatoes, sauerkraut and sheep cheese, lots of sheep cheese. On a hot summers day it's not really the kind of food your craving but when it cold and wet outside a hot plate of potato dumplings smothered in sheep cheese accompanied by a pint of dark beer it really hits the spot.
R
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