Blogs from Slovakia, Europe - page 55

Our day began with Mor—that’s is the name of the village in Hungary where we went today. Well we did start the day tying up loose ends. We videoed the drive into Mana…About 3 times, because we kept messing up, then Nagy would say something comical, and I kept having to contort myself in the car to get bizarre shots with the camera. Eventually we couldn’t compose ourselves anymore and we laughed hysterically for a few minutes—it is all on tape--so we are thinking about adding bloopers at the end our documentary. We also stopped by the manor house to walk the grounds and get a few more stories out of Nagy. I loved seeing the tree with a huge hole in its trunk—which was a hiding place for Nagy and Sulu when they were young ... read more

Today we walked a path in a wild, but beautiful park in Slovakia. The path through the Narodony Park winds its way upward through a pass in the limestone mountains. A wildly rushing stream has eroded the mountain resulting in a canyon. The cliff walls rise steeply on either side and are not without their danger, especially if you are climbing them, or walking along the crest. Martin, a young Slovak we met, walked with us today and told us how one of his friends decided to call his girlfriend using a cell phone. He could not find a signal and began climbing from rock to rock, lost his balance and fell to his death. The others in the hiking group of friends had walked on to give him his privacy and couldn't understand why he ... 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

Got to Bratislava late at night no idea which way to go to get to the hostel.. then i met and american dude that was on the same bus who had no idea where to go either so we wondered out to the road then stood at the corner with our crappy map lookin like stupid tourists.. then a local asked if we were ok and pointed us in the right direction.. at this point the locals seemed cool but the city didnt.. after wonderin around takin a few wrong turns we found the hostel.. wasnt the best hostel no curtains and poorly made beds and not the best staff ,but it did.. after arrivin at the hostel me and the american peter went out to a bar the girl from the hostel reccomended.. it was ... read more