Tonight we are camped in the Tatra mountains near the Polish border. It is not the place we planed on being but sometimes things happen.
We had a good time getting here. We have a plan for the rest of Slovakia and the first stop on our itinerary was Trencin. It is a nice little town with a castle overlooking it- like many other towns in Europe.
Trencin was about 90 minutes north of Bratislava on a pretty good freeway. We were rolling along when there was a sign saying to slow down for police. As we got near a rest area the police were directing about 70% of the traffic from the freeway into the rest area. In the rest area another set of police were splitting the incoming traffic into two lines. We were directed into the longer line which we were grateful for as we noticed the cars in the other line were getting searched. We were finally approached by a police officer who asked me “No Alcohol?”. I wanted to reply; not at 10:30 in the morning, but just said no. He then said he was going to have me blow into a breathalyzer. He handed me a bag with a plastic tube in it and told me to open it. I then performed my first breathalyzer test and after blowing for a few seconds he said “You passed” and waived me on my way. Ton and I were wondering how many people fail at 10:30 in the morning.
We again ended up interacting with the police again when we parked in Trencin. I wasn’t sure if our parking place was pay or not, when Ton noticed a barcode on one of the signs. I scanned it with my phone and it redirected me to a parking app to pay for parking. Interestingly I already had the app downloaded on my phone so I must of used it somewhere else in Europe. I bought 4 hours worth of parking and we were on our way just as two parking cops walked up. Just to be safe I showed him the app and he noodled and said good.
Having finished our interactions with Slovakian police we climbed the hill to the castle. It was a nice castle with great views of the surrounding countryside. It also commanded the river that runs thru the valley.
After the castle we walked thru the main square of the castle to the main site Ton wanted to see which was the Spitting Man Fountain. Nix was a local who couldn’t impress a girl until her house caught fire. He then lowered himself into a well and puts out the fire by spitting water from the well onto it. In the story he succeeds in putting out the fire, but dies doing it, and then the girl falls in love with him. In the fountain commemorating the story he is wearing a Top Hat while he is doing the spitting.
While it was bright blue, the high today was only 50 and there was a brisk breeze. So we decided to duck into a coffee shop to warm up. We were the only customers, but had a great time talking to the owner and the barista about coffee and traveling. We ended up ordering a second cup and sitting in there for 45 minutes because we were enjoying the conversation with the two guys so much. But our allotted parking time was coming to an end and we knew they are enforcing it so we were on our way to a planned overnight stop in Zilina about an hour up the road.
After another hour drive we arrived at the campground in Zilina but it looked closed. The gate was open but there was not a soul in sight. I walked around a bit and noticed a sign on the reception saying that if the reception was closed to find a spot and pay in the morning. So we drove in and I found a place to plug in François. But it still didn’t feel right. Just then a couple walked by with a cute dog and I asked them if they knew if the campground was open. We ended up having another nice 15 minute conversation about our travels in Slovakia, before we both remembered my question about whether the campground was open. He said he would call the owner for me, and after a brief conversation it turns out it wasn’t. But he said there was a campground about 10 kilometers away that was definitely open, so we thanked them and were on our way. Slovaks are quickly working their way up our nice and fun people list.
We had a little scare when we arrived at the recommended campground when the reception was closed, and the barrier was down. But there were a few teenagers using the basketball court so there was hope. After a call to the phone number on the reception we were told to just pick a spot and come pay them in the morning, and she opened the gate remotely. So we are settled in for the night with lows forecast in the mid-30’s, so the heater will be running again.
