I know it's been ages. But I'm not the worst. People typically abandon their travel blogs once they return. And it can't be helped because we're all so busy... If we choose to do our work that is. =P haha I happen to still have a reader for this blog... so okay I'll try to finish up the entries.
Thought it'll hurt my head less to continue this pic-blogging for Levoca, Spissky villages, Bratislava, Devin Castle, Prague... & Mikolajki - I ach forgot how to spell this one. Sheesh.
This is the map of the little place we've chosen as our first point of exploration in Slovakia.
Frankly, this leg of the trip was most difficult to plan. Transport was relatively simple cuz there are certain helpful travel blogs that left hints and tips.. =) Accomodations was a major headache. No hostels. All pensions. No email reservation. All phone based. I'm not well versed in the art of gesturing over the phone yet... But not securing accoms got me very stressed up. Hm... in the end, this was the most expensive of all my accoms. haha But I guess it wasn't all that bad...
Wanted to do a 'walk through customs at Polish-Slovakia borders' and then bus to Poprad thing. But realized that we were leaving Zakopane on a Saturday and there happened to only be buses to Poprad on Saturday... so we took a bus right through early in the morning.
Good thing for that cuz it started to rain. haha Oh well... so we stopped at Poprad and took a bus to Levoca from there. Another round of figuring out what the bus schedules are about... and which bus goes where. Grin but I've been doing that sort of thing for months after all... so it gets progressively easier. We were soon on our way. =)
The closest match I have to this place is Romania. Haha But it's unfair to compare anyway. Let pictures do the talking. Dad liked this place a great deal. =)
By the way... this is the pension we stayed at in Levoca.
hahaha Yeah I tried my best to sound nonchalent abt it but I was gushing all the way about how picturesque it was! Especially after a long wait. We arrived in Levoca at 11+am when we were expected at the pension only after 2pm. For most hostels, this timing thing isn't an issue at all. So I didn't think it would be at pensions. grin How wrong I was.
We knocked for ages to no avail. Then some passerby decided to help by knocking on a window with an umbrella on our behalf. A guest in the pension responded but (in all the English he could muster) explained patiently that he didn't have the key to the place. So dad and I had to wait patiently for 2pm to arrive...
I guess seeing the little garden made the long wait pay off. haha =)
I think dad liked the garden a lot. Cuz he snapped many pictures of everything and anything.
I happily lounged in the little garden swing in a corner with my book. =)
The rest of the pension. (Didn't have good photos of the room. But you have my word that it's huge and spacious. 1 double bed, 1 single bed. Oh yes. That reminds me... you've got to see our breakfast...)
Grin. 2 days. Same breakfast. We were stuffed. This actually lasted us the entire day...
The little monument atop the hill was what we suspected to be a St Mary's Church or sth. We actually tried to walk there. ahaha But we couldn't figure out if we were going the right way at all and the sun was setting... so we didn't make it there in the end. Looks good from afar though.
The series of photos we took while on our quest to St Mary's. haha Dad was very amused by many many things and plants. and wells. I was more taken by the old boot in the window. =P
Main town square.
Bottom left: Cage of shame. Guess it's not the most famous of monuments in Levoca. It was used to punish minor delinquencies... I guess by locking them up for the viewing pleasures of the public. Hm... Yeah but dad wasn't very impressed by the huge bird cage.
Top left & right: Took couple of pictures of St Jacob's church - rather gothic in terms of architecture. Unfortunately, we visited on a day where it wasn't open to the public. So we could only circle the place. But I love that shot with the sunrays... =)
There's really nothing much in Levoca. It's really a little residential sort of town. =) Glad to be somewhere less touristy for a change though. =) Dinner was good. I don't think it was expensive. Was a restaurant recommended by Shoestring. Brocoli cream pasta is better than it looks. =P
Shall end abruptly with a view from our bedroom in the pension. =) Now, that's the sort of view I should like to have in my future home. ahhahahaa
