Slovakia

We had a wonderful invitation to a party in Slovakia and of course we had to accept! We flew into Vienna, but decided to leave exploration of Vienna for another time and drove straight to Považská Bystrica. We arrived in time for dinner and drinks with the party hosts. 

I don’t travel without my cameras so we arrived a day before the party so that we, (ok, I) could explore the local area. I already knew that there were castles and nature reserves nearby. Woke up early, its grey and raining. I go back to bed. The weather forecast was not promising and the mountains were hidden behind low cloud. I can’t quite find an angle that I’m happy with that doesn’t have wires and cables in.

We found a very narrow canyon, Manínska tiesňava, within the reserve and I will be honest, I had some unrealistic hopes for some of Slovakians exceptional wildlife, however, Tatra chamois, bears and wild boar basically had had the memo that I was looking for them and decided to stay somewhere warm and dry instead. I had to content myself with the smaller fauna and photographed some iridescent beetles and monster snails instead.

There’s a babbling brook at the side of the road with all the rain the sound of the water rushing is beautiful. You can cross the stream via a metal bridge and climb some steps to a path through the trees. In a nearby glade is a rock face which is clearly very tempting for climbers, as you can see loads of climbing rings attached to it. Regrettably, in an attempt to dissuade climbing, there are plaques honouring failed climbers – the youngest is 14…. Very sad.

From there we drove to the ruins of Považský hrad, (Považský Castle), first written reference is from 1317. The road that the satnav takes us to, ends abruptly and we have to follow the unmade road uphill. Its worth the slog though. Some restoration works have started and a very small Heath Robinson shop has been set up in what looks like the only room with a roof. Finally, the sun has made an appearance and the views from up there are really quite lovely.

After lunch, the sun is still shining so we head out again, this time to Trenčín Castle (Trenčiansky hrad). The castle has guarded trade routes connecting the region of Northern Ugria and mining towns of Central Slovakia with Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Poland since ancient times.  History of the castle dates back to the 11th century. It is another climb up hill (I really wish that the builders had considered building on flat ground… just saying..). This place is far from ruins, and really quite magnificent.

As we arrive, there is a re-enactment going on and a falconer is flying some amazing birds, which I try very hard to follow and photograph with mixed results. I am a little in limbo here. Part photographer looking for something special to share with you and part just tourist.  This is beautiful castle and very large, we did not get to see you all.  I am sure that every time that you visit that you will see something new.

We just did a flying visit to the area and I think I have some interesting images. It is a wonderful place and we had an amazing weekend partying and making new friends. I would highly recommend it.