Blogs from Kosice Region, Slovakia, Europe - page 3

Okay so this is a little late, but just pretend like I wrote this 2 weeks ago. Martin picked me up from the train station and after apologizing a million times for his “bad English” we drove to his apartment. I was so tired that I felt like I was floating. We got to his apartment and I immediately took a shower. Not only was the train not very comfortable… it wasn’t the cleanest thing either. Martin’s wife, Natalia, had left us breakfast which was a meat plate, a veggie plate, and bread. Interesting what other cultures consider breakfast. On their behalf, the other mornings were eggs, etc. I didn’t even care at that point. About the only thing I wanted to do was sleep. So I told Martin that I was going to have to ... read more

Do you ever find yourself stuck in a city where there is an eternal blanket of snow above you? Well, chances are good that these clouds are quite thin and all you need to do is hike up a mountain or hill for clear skies and warmer weather! This was the case when I travelled with Milka (my Couchsurfing friend) before Sylvester to some mountains west of Kosice, near Gelnica. We had a spectacular view of the Tatras and basked in the sun during our 16km hike. The day after we took the train to the national park Slovensky Kras to celebrate new years.... read more

6/01-12/01 Eastern Europe was the focus of a two month summer trip in 2001. I wanted to extensively tour the region after my short dips into it from Western Europe and Scandinavia. I was able to explore the homeland of my relatives in Croatia, hike the Tatras of Slovakia, and attend a medieval festival in Romania among other things. After this trip I would study for a semester in Prague, taking courses in Central European history, Russian, and Czech. Our dormitory had students from all over the world. Each week, one nationality would host a party for the rest of us providing food, drinks, and drinking games. As a student in Prague, I was also able to travel a lot around the Czech Republic and explore some out of the way places. I also saw many ... read more

Kosice is the second largest city in Slovakia with about 300,000 people living within the city limits. Nancy and I agreed that the town has a much smaller feeling. Actually it felt like a small town. The old, central part of the city is quite interesting. The surrounding hills are covered with large, Soviet style, high rise apartments. Anyone who has seen the Soviet style high rise apartment buildings knows this is not an attractive sight. As time and money permit the city is rehabbing the high rises. Those completed are more attractive, but will never be considered beautiful. Nancy--.I thought the apartments were rather attractive with the interesting colors that had been painted on many of them. They were not just yellow, pink, etc. but were painted with designs on the ends. Another interesting thing ... read more

As the old saying goes, time flies. Well, for us it has flown and our 90 day Czech visas are about to expire. To receive a new 90 day visa all we have to do is leave the Czech Republic and then return. Many at IBTS simply take the train to Germany in the morning and return in the afternoon or evening. As we had never been there, we decided some time ago to go to Slovakia. Then a month to six weeks ago we met an American couple, the McNary's, and their two children who live in Kosice, Slovakia. When we told them that we intended to visit Slovakia, they graciously invited us to travel to Kosice and stay with them. Kosice is the second largest city in Slovakia and is located in the far ... read more