Hungary-Slovakia-Poland--July, 2008

I decided to take a hiking trip this summer to the high Tatras in Eastern Europe with the Backroads travel company. Unfortunately, Bill couldn't go because of his busy work schedule, so I went with Dan Heller, one of our friends, who is also a professional photographer. Dan provided most of the photos that appear on this page. Thanks, Dan!

Dan shooting scenics out the front window during our busride from Slovakia to Poland

Our itinerary

Budapest and Tarcal, Hungary

We started our trip with two days by ourselves in Budapest, the picturesque Hungarian capital city along the banks of the Danube River. We stayed at the Hilton on Castle Hill, and enjoyed gorgeous panoramic views, day and night, of the city, the spires of Parliament, and the famed Chain Bridge.

Overlooking the Danube from the Chain Bridge	Overlooking the Danube and the Parliament Building
The funicular took us up to the Castle Hill district	Hanging out on the Chain Bridge
Gorgeous Hungarian embroidery/needlepoint sold at Central Market Hall	Admiring the Little Princess sculpture along the banks of the Danube
Huge statues in Heroes Square	The view from Castle Hill
Chain Bridge at night	Parliament at night

We also visited The Great Synagogue, the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world, built during the 19th century in a Moorish-Gothic style. Still in use today, the synagogue reflects the vibrant and wealthy Hungarian Jewish community present in Budapest in the mid 19th century.

The beautiful Great Synagogue

Admiring the innate interior

Our beautiful hotel in Tokaj -- The Grof Degenfeld Castle Hotel	Our grand hotel room
Ofer, Cheryl, and Lori hiking through lovely Tarcal vineyards	Artsy shot of me walking through the vineyards
Beautiful countryside hike	Lori and Angela overlooking the town of Tokaj

The following afternoon, after another scenic hike of 6 miles through the countryside, we visited the old town of Tokaj, settled by French and Italian vintners in the Middle Ages, and gathered for a wine tasting in the ancient Rakoczi cellars, built during the 15th century.

Ice cream and snack stand in town	Lori getting friendly with the locals
Gazing on Tokaj church in the main town square	Making friends
The town fountain celebrates wine drinking	Beautiful tasting room at the Rakoczi Cellars
Ron inhaling the bouquet	Yona's wine purchase

Slovakia

Today we drove to the Spis region of eastern Slovakia! Now that these countries are all part of the EU, there are no longer official border crossings where you have to show your passport, you just drive along and suddenly you see a sign welcoming you to Slovakia -- cool!

We hiked 3 miles from the town of Zehra to the 12th century Spis Castle, poised on a limestone cliff overlooking the valley below. When we came out of the forest into the clearing and saw the castle in the distance, I felt as if we were in a Monty Python movie! This castle is a World Heritage site, and is one of the largest and most distinctive castles in Central Europe.

Harvey and Ofer shake hands while straddling the border between Slovakia and Hungary	Lori enters Slovakia
Lori in front of the Zehra town church	Lori on the hike to Spis
Coming up to medieval Spis Castle	The view from the top
The view from the top of Spis Castle	Spis Castle

We hiked another 2.5 miles to have lunch at the Spissky Salas restaurant in town -- one of the best meals of the trip! We had rich, fresh homemade dumplings with sheep cheese -- a sort of Slovakian gnocchi -- topped by big chunks of bacon. We also had Pikant, a spicy chicken paprika dish wrapped up in a potato pancake, and some tasty local brew. There were also pancake-like crepes for dessert. Delicious! And all good for carbo-loading (and fat-loading) for our daily hikes.

We spent that night at the Grandhotel Praha in Tatranska Lomnica, known as the gateway to the High Tatras. After eating such a big lunch, most of us weren't that hungry for dinner, so instead of having a big meal in the hotel, we went down the street to the Zbojnicka Koliba, a local bar/restaurant where a group of gypsies played music to entertain us, and some of us even danced! We ate sheep cheese spread and spicy kielbasa sausage with hot mustard -- yum!

Enjoying gypsy music at the local bar	Angela dancing
Our leaders Lucia and Ron after a lot of alcohol	Leaving Zbojnicka Koliba

The High Tatras -- Slovakia

Today was the first of our High Tatra hikes, along the Slovakia/Poland border. The High Tatras, the highest section of the Carpathian Mountains, are known as one of Europe's grandest mountain ranges, second only to the Alps. They are stunning, and the most difficult hikes we had were definitely not for those with weak knees or ankles, balance problems, or fear of heights. Some of our trails were quite steep and rocky, making it slow-going and technically challenging.

For today's hike, just Yona and I decided to take the strenous trail of about 8 miles roundtrip, led by our leader Ron, and the views were incredible. After crossing the High Tatras on a ridgetop, we ascended 1,200 feet, skirting around alpine lakes and granite peaks. Our descent into Javorina Valley led us to the Chalet Pri Zelenom Plese (Chalet at the Green Lake), an alpine hiker's hut built in 1924, where we met the rest of the group who had taken an easier route. There we had another delectable lunch of Goulash, schnitzel, beer, and probably the best apple streudel I've ever had! Our return hike took us along the whitewater Biela Voda river, with the sound of crashing, rushing water the whole way.

A rest stop on the way to Zelenom Plese ("Green Lake")	The "Green Lake"
A hearty lunch of goulash and beer at the Chalet	The most delicious streudel I've ever had
Hiking out after lunch	Lori, Harvey, Lucia, Angela, Linda, and Yona on the way back

We spent the night at the Hotel Kolowrat, built during the Communist years. It was such a strange, weird, retro hotel, and we loved it. Especially because the view out our balcony of the Tatras was incredible -- the best view from any of our hotel rooms! And our dinnertime entertainment featured traditional Slovakian folk dancing.

The incredible view of the High Tatras from the lobby of the Hotel Kralowat	Marilyn looking out from her balcony at the High Tatras
Traditional slovakian folk dancing entertainment at dinner	Lots of spinning

The Valley of Five Polish Lakes -- High Tatras, Poland

Today we crossed the border into Poland for the Wielki Staw hike -- this 10-mile hike was my favorite of the trip. At nearly 7,000 feet, at the Miegusqowiecki Kociol ridge, we had magnificent views of the Valley of Five Polish Lakes below us. At the end of the hike, we took a horse-and-buggy ride back to the trailhead to meet our bus, which took us to Zakopane. Known as Poland's winter sports capital, Zakopane is a lively tourist town in both summers (for hiking) and winter (for skiing). It's sort of the "Aspen" of Poland.

Lucia shows us the planned hike on the trailmap	The first of many nuns we would see hiking along the trails
Admiring the spectacular view of three of the five lakes	Lucia leading the way up the trail
Admiring the waterfall	Lori heading down
Our horse-n-buggy ride back from the trailhead	Buggy drivers waiting for their next group of hikers

We lodged at the Hotel Belvedere downtown, where the first night we had a Polish Vodka tasting before dinner. Poland is know for its flavored vodkas (horseradish, cinnamon, ginger, etc.). I bought a bottle of Zubrowka for Bill, their traditional herbal vodka, made with bison grass, and he loved it! The proper way to drink vodka, according to the Poles, is neat and well-chilled, guzzled in one healthy gulp. While we could manage a few sips here and there, the Polish workers apparently consume one half-liter bottle for a lunchtime table of three -- yikes!

Kasprowy Wierch Hike -- High Tatras, Poland

Today's 9-mile hike gave us more stunning views of the Zakopane valley, and an ideal picnic lunch spot at Czarny Staw (Black Lake), where we gazed upon Poland's highest mountain, Mount Rysy, at just over 8,000 feet.

Lori navigating the rocky trail	Hiking up
Another hiking nun	Hiking towards the hiker's huts and lunchtime!
What an incredible view!	Hiking up
Ron at the trail crossroads

For tonight's dinner, a small subset of our group went to the restaurant next door to the hotel, Karczma Bialy Potok, where we were entertained by traditional Polish folk music and ate hearty, delicious pierogis stuffed with cabbage and mushrooms.

Dinner at Karczma Bialy Potok

Dinnertime entertainment

Zakopane Countryside

This morning we had a lovely countryside hike around Zakopane, starting off by walking through town, then ambling through pine tree forests, and past haystacks and farmers tending their sheep. The charming alpine wooden homes of the countryside reminded us of fairy tale villages.

Vendors selling smoked cheese	Smoked cheese close-up
Vendor selling bread at the trailhead	Pastoral Zakopane countryside

Onward Toward Krakow

After lunch, we drove to Krakow. Wow, what a cool city! The main Market Square (Rynek Glowny) in the city's Old Town is 200m X 200m and is considered the largest medieval square in Europe. There were easily several thousand people in the square, day and night, eating in cafes, shopping in the stores, taking old-fashioned horse-and-buggy rides around town, and listening/watching the many street performers. It was so much fun just to hang out there!

We also spent time visiting the Kazimierz, the old Jewish district of Krakow, where there are still many old/preserved synagogues dating back to the 16th century.

And of course, we visited the famed Wawel Hill, home of the 11th century Cathedral and the 10th century Castle, which overlooks the city and was the home of Poland's kings throughout its history.

Our last dinner as a group was at the Restaurant Wierzynek, dating back to 1364! (The restaurant and the building dates to 1364, not our dinner!). It was an elegant evening to end a fantastic trip!

St. Mary's Cathedral in Market Square	Lori checking out the large head statue called 'Eros Bendato' (Eros Tied) in Market Square
Picturesque Clock Tower and horse-n-buggy rides in Market Square	Lori watching puppeteer do Elvis
Strange-looking street performer	In front of the Cathedral and Palace on Wawel Hill
Market Square and Cloth Hall at night	Communist Car tours through Kazimierz, the old Jewish district
Yona and Angela inside Temple Remuh, built in 1553!	Centuries-old gravestones in the Jewish cemetary

THE END