The next chapter in our exploration of Europe is to take us to a new country, Slovakia. This small country, just over twice the size of Wales joined Europe in 2005 after splitting from it’s neighbour the Czech Republic which it was once partnered with as Czechoslovakia. The two countries separated in 1993 “The Velvet Divorce” when they failed to agree on staying together after the fall of Communism.
Our Internet searches have led us to a cottage in the far east of the country, close to both the Polish and Ukrainian borders. We will be staying there for 2 weeks whilst we explore the area around and sample the country, food and culture. This will be our 11th country visited in our travels and we reckon Jake must be one of the most travelled Papillons ever.
Preparation for the journey!
Our journey starts late on the 3rd of September and midnight finds us parked at the now familiar Channel Tunnel awaiting our train. As usual the service is faultless and we hit French soil at 02.55 CET. Our aim is to get as far as we can in Germany before tiredness takes over and we have a couple of hotels in mind. The journey goes better than expected and we arrive in the Linz area around 5pm after 742 miles (plus the 243 on English soil the night before!).
We book into the Rosenberger Motel at Ansfelden for a much needed rest. The facilities here are excellent as we have stopped there for a meal on previous journeys and the hotel doesn’t disappoint. After a rest and refreshing shower we partake of a superb meal at the Pizza and Pasta Restaurant. This is the one where John surprised me on our first trip by eating squid and mussels in their house speciality Seafood Spaghetti. This particular chain of services in Austria have very high standards and we are particularly impressed as not only is Jake allowed in the Hotel but also the Restaurant. How they would feel about a bigger dog I don’t know but certainly Jake wasn’t the only canine resident that night as we saw a Bichon and a Cavalier Spaniel during our stay.
After a good nights sleep and a very nice breakfast we head off for Slovakia. The road is known to us as far as Vienna but from there we take a new route to Bratislava and beyond. There are now no border controls between Slovakia and Austria so we cross into our new territory without hassle. The first task is to obtain the vignette that has been introduced and is helping to pay for the many road improvements being carried out. The Slovaks are building a new motorway right across the country and we are very impressed by the stretches completed so far. It is only dual carriageway but there are service stops at regular intervals, the road signage is good. The main completed stretch takes you along the Western edge of the country from Bratislava to Zilina (the home of the new Kia factory). It skirts inside the Carpathian Mountains and the scenery is superb. From Zalina the motorway is still being worked upon and for a time we revert to the original roads, which, although a little windy are still of a reasonable standard. We travel West to East following roughly the border with Poland until we get to Poprad where we are more or less in the centre of the country. From there we head East to Presov, the principal town in the Presov administrative region, and from there North leaving the motorway behind us, we take the final leg to Bardejov and our home for the next 2 weeks Krize the village of ( pronounced Kreezhe).
The village is located in a small valley and first impressions are of trees, streams and quiet. The caretaker of the cottage has kindly lit the wood stoves for us and the rooms are very warm and cosy. “Pod Orechom” (translates to under the Walnut Tree) is a traditional wooden house but has been renovated and improved to provide a comfortable holiday home.
Said Walnuts
The downstairs has been left traditional and provides an insight as to how the villagers have lived in the past. The delightful wood burning stoves not only heat the house but also provide a hot plate and oven for cooking.
The stove (hotplate is above the fire and the oven to the right)
The upstairs appears to have been completely refashioned to give western style en-suites to the 2 large, light and airy bedrooms.
We are served a very pleasant supper by the lovely Monika, a neighbour who caretakes for the owners of the cottage. We are to learn very quickly that she is a superb chef (to call her a cook would be an insult) and the meals we receive over the next couple of days are wonderful. I think we must have gained several pounds in these first 2 days, whilst gaining a good idea of Slovak cuisine.
So Sunday, our first day dawns bright and sunny, As the shops are not generally open today and we are still recovering from the 1400 mile journey we decide to spend the day “at home” in Krize. A late breakfast and a sit in the garden is just what we need to recharge the batteries. The bird life in the garden is interesting to watch as it is so very different to the birds we have in our country garden at home.
Jake at "home"
The cottage doesn’t have TV and it is nice to find time to just relax, read a book and unwind. I don’t even have to cook as the meals for the day are already booked with Monika. We have a stroll around the village to get our bearings before a nice cozy night with the stove burning away.
The main road through Krize (Pod Orechom is the one on the far right of the 3)
Monday is a day for shopping, we note there are a couple of supermarkets in the most major of the nearby towns, Bardejov as we drove through this way on our journey in. The modern part of the town is nicely laid out and surrounds the historic part of the town which we shall explore later. To our delight we find there is also Lidl, much easier for us as we recognise a lot of the products from home so we stock up on the provisions for the next 2 weeks. Prices in general are slightly less than at home even with the poor Euro/Pound rate. John takes us on a little drive around the town to get an idea of where to park to explore and how the roads are laid out, where to get fuel, those sort of things. We soon get a nice feeling about the town and it is not too far removed from a Western European standard, with clean streets, good facilities and the driving seems far less hectic than Romania or Bulgaria. All in all very pleasant.
We spend the rest of the day back at Krize. We walk on beyond the village up the valley to explore. There are some very pleasant walks in the area and good sets of instructions for them all are provided at the cottage. I wish we were able to undertake some of them but my legs are too weak with the MS to go too far. We notice a great deal of repair work is being carried out to a bridge and some of the road surface and find out later from Monika that the village suffered a very bad flood last winter and it did a great deal of damage. Being such a small village very much away from most major services it must have been quite devastating.
It is best to cover the rest of our trip by places/journeys seen/taken rather than by a day-to-day account as some days we did little but enjoy the lovely weather and surroundings. We are a bit different to many tourists as we don’t rush to see the sites listed in guide books and websites, instead we take time to enjoy the people and there way of life, seeing how things differ from country to country and how Europe has affected the new member countries and their people.
Krize
The village of Krize is on a small road leading into the mountains, therefore it is fairly quiet as it is at the end of the road and the only traffic passing through is local or a few logging lorries taking wood harvested from upon the hills. The village is lucky enough to be serviced by bus from Bardejov as there are no shops so villagers are able to go to the town to shop etc.
Being remote from the larger populated areas the village has retained a lot of the original wooden houses like Pod Orechom.
The church is located higher in the village so escaped damage from the recent flood. It is quite a lovely building and is obviously well cared for.
Being so far into the mountains and remote, Krize was an area used by the Slovak Partisans during the Slovak National Uprising of 1944 and there are many trails used by the Partisans in the surrounding forests. Directly above the cottage but reached by following one of these trails is an impressive monument to these Partisans. We found it to be a very moving place and it is good to see that it is maintained and still commemorated, as can be seen from the many wreaths that were there when we visited.
The Monument to the Partisans
My limited Slovakian translates this to say - Honour and Glory Slovak Heroes of the National Uprising, fallen to liberate our country. (if this is wrong my apologies)
There is also a Plaque of rememberence in the village on the side of what we think was the fire station.
Again we translate this to - In memory of the 25th anniversary of our liberation by Soviet Army.
Over the days we spent there we got to see how lively the village appears to be for somewhere so small and off the beaten track. We enjoyed seeing the children of the village playing together as a group. It took me back to memories of my childhood and made me sad to realise how rare it is to see children playing these days.
Bardejov
This is the largest town nearest to Krize, about 21 kilometres by road. It is a very old town dating back to medieval times, some 760 odd years. In 2000 the town was placed on the World Cultural and Natural Heritage List. This followed the award of a UNESCO gold Medal in 1986 for preservation of the town’s historic monuments. The most obvious and striking part of the town is the Town Hall Square with its Burgher Houses, Basilica, Ancient City Hall and Museum.
Bardejov Square with the museum in the centre
The Basilica
The square itself is only a part of the preservation as there are also parts of the old city walls and several other large buildings that have been saved. The square is a good place to sit, have a coffee (there are several good cafes) and watch the Slovaks going about their daily lives. It is apparent to us that the modern Slovaks are not much different to any western Europeans. They dress well, seem to have taken on board the modern ways of mobile phones etc. and it is possible if you have your own laptop to sit in the square and catch up on your emails. One thing that strike us in the number of young people, mostly students, in and around the town. However unlike the UK, they are mainly polite, unassuming and well behaved, no sign of hoodies and the American influence that has spoilt so much of the UK’s teenagers. It is also possible to pick up a few souvenirs from the couple of gift shops in the square.
Modern Bardejov
Bardejov spa
Outside of the town of Bardejov is an area known as Bardejov Spa. It has existed in some form since 1247 when it was mainly wooden buildings. It started to flourish in the 17th century and became popular in the 19th century when Empress Elizabeth of Austria frequented the spa to partake of the health properties of the mineral springs there. It now consists of modern and old buildings and is a well-visited area by the Slovaks in their holidays and on weekends. It is the oldest spa park in Slovakia with some 17 springs providing treatment centres for many ailments and conditions, but it also has recreation areas for swimming in the summer, skiing in the winter as well as mini golf and other attractions. There are also many kilometres of walks and it also has museum of folk architecture with 28 old buildings some moved from other towns to be preserved here.
Bardejov Spa
Wooden churches
The area around Bardejov is rich in wooden churches that once prevailed in Slovakia. Now apparently only about a fifth of 330 left are left in North Eastern Slovakia. They were built of spruce or yew wood and most contain no iron screws or nails at all. The nearest one to Krize is in the nearby village of Krive (very confusing I know).
Svidnik, Stropkov and Domasa water reservoir
One of the day trips we took was a drive to Domasa Water which took us through the towns of Svidnik and Stropkov. From Svidnik you can take the road to Poland which takes you through the Dukla Pass. This was a battlefield in the 2nd world war. In Autumn 1944 it was the site of intense fighting between the germans occupying Czechoslovakia and the Russian Red Army. In Svidnik there is the Museum Dulianske dedicated to this event and housing many tanks and planes from the era. There is also a cemetery housing 9000 graves of Russian Czech-Slovak soldiers.
Stara Lubovna – Spisska Bela - Spissky Nova Ves – Levoca – Presov
This is another good tour with spectacular views of the Tatra Mountains. Of the Tatras the highest peak is Gerlachovsky Stit which is 2654m. The major tourist attraction is a cable car ride which takes you to Lomnicky Stit at 2634m.
The Tatras
Further along the journey you pass Spis Castle, the largest castle compound around 4ha in central Europe. It was a medieval 12th century fort on the north front of the Hungarian state. In 1780 the castle was destroyed by fire. Conservationists started to save the remains of the castle and in 1970 it became a Unesco site.
Spis Castle
There are many smaller castles in Slovakia and this another you can see on this tour.
Lubovniansky Castle
Wildlife
It always amazes me the number of people who are either disinterested in nature or just don’t realise what is around or they spend fortunes on specialised trips and equipment to view things. We find that if you just sit quietly and observe your surroundings nature come to you.
The garden in the cottage is a prime example.
The first bird we recognise as a Black Redstart, having seen these in Germany, but we also notice Serins which is a first for us. Later in the week we also get the pleasure of a Grey Headed Woodpecker looking for insects in the wattle and daub on the old barn and a Willow Tit, like our Great Tit but without the yellow breast and black stripe.
Grey Headed Woodpecker
We also saw what we think is a Chiff Chaff (if you know better tell us).
Add to this the butterflies
Map Butterfly
Peacock
and this little fellow
Shrew
all without leaving the garden.
Not sure about this species
There were also Grey Wagtails down by the stream although they proved very elusive when I had my camera in hand! We saw Buzzards flying overhead, a deer on the edge of the trees on the way out of the village, and deer tracks near the monument.
The best encounter we thought we had was driving to Shipkov, an eagle flew straight in front of the car and landed in a bush alongside the road, Had the traffic allowed us to stop you could have put your hand out of the window and touched it (not that I would have wanted to looking at the size of the beak!) but later that week on the same stretch of road, probably the same bird, was to give us an unbelievable view. As we drove along he flew right at us along the road about 3 feet off the ground and only swerved over the car about 2 to 3 feet before we would have hit it. The sight of the wingspan and being able to looking straight into its eyes is something I will not forget. I can still close my eyes now and see it. If only we had a printer connected to our brains!!!!