Adventures with Julia

September 19, 2017

A Chocholow wooden house

Well, we are not getting well at any great rate.  Could be due to the rainy weather, continued intense sight seeing, not enough bed rest, who knows.  Yesterday we rented a car from Avis and headed south on local roads with the guidance of our trusty GPS unit and my cell phone.  I thought I would be able to write, but no such luck.

Wooden house in Chocholow, complete with sheep

Did not feel well at all and Mark needed my eyes on the road.  Without any big mistakes we got to our first village visit recommended by Marta.  A village called Chocholow, composed mostly of wooden houses with wood craftsmen making nick knacks, religious objects and furniture.  Cute, but not our thing.  We were in and gone inside half an hour.

Church in Chovholow

Charming interior of Chocholow church

Densly wooded forests.

Next stop, Zakopane, a very touristy town full of ski resorts, and summer tourists eating and buying clothes and winter sports equipment.  Reminded me of Park City in the summer time.  Way too many people with kids walking up and down the pedestrian shopping street. We got something to eat, not very good, walked up to the top of the street and then back down to the car.  Too many people for us.  Are we getting old?  Not long after leaving Zakapone, we passed out of Poland and into Slovakia.

Pedestrian street in Zakopane

View into the valley from Zakopane

Entering Slovakia. Route 66.

Another view of the High Tatras

We drove another 1 1/2 hours to our hotel in the lake village of Strbske Pleso, where we left the car and relaxed in the room, which has a fairly nice view of Strbske Pleso Lake and the High Tatras beyond.  Sorry we did not feel like doing anything except rest.   Had dinner in the way too formal dining room.   I made the mistake of having cat fish.  Yuck.  Mark had some meat dish covered in sauce.  The huge room was nearly empty and we wanted to make it more empty.  So up to bed.

Strbske Pleso Lake from our room.  Took us about 45 minutes to do a quick walk around the lake to avoid the rain.  We made it just in time.

This morning we had breakfast in, of all places, the same dining room.  At least I was able to watch my juice being freshly squeezed.  After breakfast, we went for a walk around the little lake, hoping to beat the rain.  It sprinkled a tiny bit, but we made it back almost dry and felt good that we managed some exercise, even if it was only two miles.  Then, believe it or not, we spent the day in the room.  Me working and Mark reading and both of us taking it easy. Still don’t feel great, but I think the worst of it is behind us.  Skipped lunch, had tea in the afternoon and ate dinner in the hotel bar.  Mark had a hamburger and I had veal Schnitzel.  Both dishes were ok, if not great.  Language is a real issue in Slovakia.  Very few people speak English, and not very well at that.  Have met a few Americans so we can talk to them at least.

Anyway, Mark is asleep and I must get to bed.  Will send this tomorrow.

September 21, 2017

Our car waiting for us in the in the fog at the hotel entrance.

Several days have passed and I will be brief to get caught up.  The next morning we left the High Tatras in a dense wet fog.  Good thing we had seen the mountains when we arrived as we sure did not see them when we left.

More wooded forests

Down into the valley we went passing through dense forests that reminded me of Humboldt County in Northern California.  Once we were in the valley and out from under the fog, the scenery was like Sacramento Valley with many flat, cultivated fields.  It took us nearly 4 hours to get to the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava.  Lots of traffic and then much difficulty getting into the city and finding a place to park.  Finally parked in an illegal spot just so we could walk around a bit.

The old square near where we parked the car illegally.

We got into the old square and could see, from a distance, the castle, city walls, St Martins Cathedral and other historic buildings, but we had only enough time to get a bowl of soup in a cafe and walk back to the car.  Just as we got there, a policeman was about to give us a ticket.  He let us go.  Then it took some negotiating to get out of the city and finally on our way to Hungary.

Interesting stone and tile work on a building in the square.

Slovakia is a beautiful country.  Am sorry we did not have more healthy time to spend there.  Very shortly after leaving Bratislava, we crossed into Hungary.  Had to stop and pay for a permit for the car to enter Hungary.

The view from our window at Le Papillon where we had soup.

Then on our way.  The traffic was very heavy all the way as this road was a main highway between Budapest and Vienna.

Entering Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, on a dreary day.  Castle on the left, St Martins Church on the far right and the bridge tower in the right center.

The landscape was dead flat and the soil dark brown and very fertile.  The fields were huge, like our fields in central California.  Very different from the fields in Poland and the Czech Republic.  What was to take us 2.5 hours ended up taking 3.5.

View across the Danube River tower Buda from our room in Pest just before dark.

Once we came near the city, we got caught in the commute traffic and completely lost our way.  We were supposed to drop the car at the Avis rental place in the city and could see it on the GPS, but could not manage to make the correct turns to get there.  Very frustrating, especially with both of us out of sorts and me miserable.  I wanted to stop the car, get a cab and tell Avis to pick up the car themselves.  Finally, we made the correct turns and inched our way there.   Then we still had to hail a cab and sit in traffic another 20 minutes to get to our hotel, only a few blocks away.  When we got to our room, I collapsed.

The beautiful buildings and bridge lit up at night.

At least we have a nice view overlooking the Danube River.  After our concierge gave up trying to get us into a few restaurants we had wanted to try, we ended up eating in the hotel and again I chose badly and had an awful meal.  Never mind.  I was ready for bed.