August 8 - Up Up and Higher Still to 8800 Feet

A blink through Slovakia

Today we left for the High Tatras, about four hours from Budapest and a convenient stop on the way to Krakow. You probably never heard of these mountains, you may not even know that Slovakia used to be the other half of the Czech Republic, hence Czechoslovakia, from our childhood.

The directions said four hours, translated to Schwartz, six or seven hours because the journey is part of the fun. The roads were small and winding climbing higher and higher. A quick lunch stop in a mountain village, whose name is not memorable, but whose pizza is, unfortunately. But we didn't know that til later; we only had it with veggies.

.....in the middle of nowhere, but of course, Free WiFi.....

We arrived in this tiny alpinish village, home of summer hikers and winter skiers with the ski runs and dramatic cliffs as a background. Now this town is tiny with nothing more than about 15 small pensions and one grand old hotel that looked a bit faded and smelly on line. Our choice was the Tatrasport Zampas and looked a bit like a chalet. All they had was an economy room that turned out to be totally new, cleaner than most places, and modern beyond expectations, all for a whopping 62 Euro including tax and breakfast. It was a bit too late to take the cable up the mountain and hike to the waterfall. So off for a walk in town where we came upon a slightly corny but very authentic Slovakian folk dancing.

     

We were tired and a bit thirsty and all of a sudden neither of us felt very well. The rest of the day is not bloggable but we are so happy the bathroom is really nice here 

and really unhappy we stopped for that pizza.