Čičmany
Into Slovakia and we stopped at a traditional folk village painted up with designs. We was going to a folk museum but it was shut on Mondays, we will go tomorrow. Parking was by SMS but it would not accept our number. The signs were quite threatening and we nearly left but the woman in the gift shop said don't worry, it will be fine.We had a wander around and there were a few bus tours that came in. They must have been going somewhere else as thay only stopped for 10 mins.
Varín
Campsites seem to be few and far between here. Found this one at Varin.Lots of cabins one Dutch, one Czech and us. 13euro .
Autocamping Varin.
Very hot today. Had 30c but that brings thunderstorms.
Slovak folk museum
From Varin we went to the Slovak folk museum which was shut yesterday. We could easily have stayed on the parking for the museum the night before but it was a bit bleak. The lady at the ticket office was as miserable as sin. As Slovakia was industrialised lots of buildings that were due to be demolished due to roads dams etc were brought here and set up as a museum.It was pissing down.
First stop, we thought was a coffee. One of the old buildings was converted into a cafe. A little sign said 5€ per coffee. A bit steep we thought but it was pissing down and it looked like it might stop soon. We got two coffees made from a pod machine. We asked for milk as we had seen the little capsules on the side and he charged us a euro for them (each).
We wandered around as the rain had eased slightly and just stumbled across lots of buildings from a very similar time with very similar layouts.
Some were in a terrible state and in very poor condition.
We had the feeling that the buildings had come to an old age pension home for buildings. They were all neglected and left to die. Rotting away in silence. Shame.
I was very dissapointed with the whole experiance, the rip off coffee, the miserable ticket office, the rotting buildings and the weather.
Kežmarok
Due to the rain and disappointment we hot footed across the country to Kezmarok. A UNESCO listed place.I had quite a few places listed around here to visit and this looked like a good one.
We parked outside the castle and could easily have stayed overnight (it is on Park4nite).
Kezmarok castle.
Tatry tourist places to visit.
Main street from castle to town.
Again it had a feeling of neglect. Maybe on a sunny day it would have been better but we couldn't help but feel disappointed again. Czechia had done so well but Slovakia felt still in the USSR. We found a bar for a coffee where the only other couple were english.
Rather than stay on the carpark we decided to look for somewhere close.
We went to a few campsites but we're either shut or non existent.
Podlesok national park
We eventually found a nice campsite near Podlesok. Its in the middle of a National Park and the tourist tax gives you a card with a mountain rescue number. Lots of walking around here and there are lots of waterfalls and walking trails to follow.The campsite was Autocamping Polesok, 20€ no electric.
We were now over halfway through our allotted time and there were still a lot of places I wanted to see in Czechia. I had thought of going through the Tatras mountains andnipping into Krakow but that would take us to the wrong side of Czechia. We decided to head for the last stop that I had organised in Slovakia, Trencin.
Trencin
We drove all the way across Slovakia back to Trencin. We have not been overly impressed with Slovakia (as you may have gathered). People are out to make money from you. Campsites are expensive with not a lot of value in them. Today is a good example, right next to the town but facilities out of the 60s. Showers are open apart from a wooden salloon door and there are only two of them with hot water, all the others are cold water only. Later a bus load of kids turned up. Noisy teenagers that were at it all night.We got a nice pitch next to the river with a view of the town but you pay for it being so close to the river with mozzies.
Town is nice though, Angela found a nice bar with it's own brewery and good food.
See the beer page for details.
We walked in over the bridge into the town.
The football stadium was just over the bridge and they were getting ready for the under 21s Euro championships.
It is small but very nice with lots of bars and shops. The weather had picked up and it was really hot so we decided to stay another day.
The next day we walked into town for a late breakfast. In a couple of the shops were big posters of Andrew Tate looking like he was advertising stuff. I suddenly noticed lots of lookalike Andrew Tates with their shaved heads manicured beards and pilot sunglasses. Another offputting detail of Slovakia.
After 12 (just) had what I thought was Slovak beer but turned out to be Czech. Angela asked for a water with lemon. The waitress replied lemonade, no sparkling water with lemon. I got a nice beer, she got a half liter bottle of water with half a lemon in it and a bunch of mint. I did tell her they were nettles thats why she had a straw.
This place is European city of culture next year. The castle looked like a nice place but it was 32C and we didn't fancy the climb. Campsite was Campsite Trencin 25€ without electric. Free parking is available near the campsite along the river but we saw nobody there.
