Blogs from Banská Stiavnica, Banská Bystrica Region, Slovakia, Europe

Advertisement


Hello everyone, Sorry we've been so slack at updating. We've been busy motoring around to try and get down South well ahead of the wedding so we can begin to slow down near Greece and enjoy the weather and unwinding after the hectic whistle stop tour. Czech Republic was beautiful. We really enjoyed the pretty spa town Karlovy Vary, were we swam in a thermal pool on top of the only ugly communist looking building in town, overlooking the valley, filled with beautiful georgian looking buildings, a bit like Bath but in colour! We tried the spa water, fizzy and mineraly and not at all like mucus as the guide book suggested! Prague was crazy busy, but well worth going to for a wander about. One of our highlights was climbing up to the castle to ... read more


I lied. I'm beginning to understand Slovakian. At least enough to catch the bits that are similar to English or French. There are enough that I can now tell when Marian us talking about his English-speaking (or French) Canadian tourist, and the odd other word here and there (allegory of Venus was one I caught today). I wonder if Rosetta Stone does Slovakian. Maybe I could pick up some more... Today was spent wandering in and around Banska Stiavnica. Not far from my hotel was a memorial/prayer column , the plague column. Rather more Baroque than I'd thought it would be, but then, there was more than one wave of plague starting in the early 1300s, and finishing in the 1600s or perhaps even later, I'm not sure. I should really have asked. Ah well, maybe ... read more
Old castle
Manor house


This morning it was out to a few sites in the various districts of Bratislava. The first stop was a monument to the liberation of Slovakia after the WWII. I am sort of ashamed that I don't know more about the history of this area. And I have to admit that I find it hard to think of switching from Nazi occupation to Russian-led Communism as liberation, but it's an adjustment I'll have to make, mentally. Next stop was the Sandberg, a geological formation that is made entirely of sandstone, and that preserves a lot of the geological history of the area. Pretty nifty! Another running joke is how fast I'm going through sites here, as the average tourist is a) a fair bit older than me and b) not as fit (thank-you, Running Room!). And ... read more
Me at the castle
Inside the "new" castle




Tot: 0.062s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 5; qc: 36; dbt: 0.0255s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2; ; mem: 1.1mb