We visited Slovakia during our 2011 Euro Trip. Myself, Dree and Sandy. We visited Trnva, Bratislava and took some day trips, and visited a shelter to play with some kids and do some art. I wish I had more photos from that time, but I’ll share what I had uploaded on Facebook.
Food– Bryndzové Halušky (Slovakian Potato Dumplings with Bryndza Cheese)
While in Trnva, Dree and I would wander around their little town, and visit the churches, public art and some pubs. With our host family, we would take day trips to other areas. Since the area has many catholic churches, is it nicknamed “Little Rome”.
One evening we were invited to a dinner at Castle Smolenice located in the Little Carpathians. I remember there being a several course meal and everyone was so nice to us. We felt like royalty! There was cute cat on the grounds and a tower we were able to go climb. Sandy spoke in french with one of the people at the dinner, so the girls could take a break translating for us.
Our host Andrea arranged for an English speaker to meet us at a hiking trail where we went to a monastery that had been unearthed. At the ruins they had a program where you could stay on the grounds and and learn how to do preservation techniques and help to restore the architecture, while camping off grid.
Another day trip our hosts took us to was Banská štiavnica. It was a medieval mining town and was home to prestigious college, now there a many cute shops selling handmade art and some nice cafes. Our host family told us it was one of their favorite places to visit and it was so nice they took us to experience this pretty little town.
Bratislava had a lot of really cool street art, pubs and cafes. Their castle is not that exciting, though the climb up there is fun. They still use the building for their government so we were not able to visit the inside. We stayed in a large historical hotel (Hotel Devin) and the halls reminded us of the Shining! Dree and i went to their pool which was in the basement where you had to rent a locker from the staff and you could order mixed drinks. From our room you could see the Novy Most that crosses the Danube river, which is a famous bridge in Bratislava.
