Hmmm, get your tongue around that one !
We are in the beautiful high mountains of Slovakia at the Grand Hotel Kempinski, High Tatras. The place we are staying is pretty plushy ! But more on that later.
It rained through the night and for most of today so the scenic mountains were more cloud and fog along the drive today. And what I told you about Polish roads – forget it ! We found all the roadworks today – miles and miles of it in fact. The southern part of Poland and into Slovakia is prime skiing in the winter months and a lot of the roads are fairly narrow and winding so I suspect it is traffic gridlock in the busy season. The extent of the roadwork is pretty major that’s for sure !
Part of our wet drive in the south of Poland
Despite the weather we made our way to our main stop for the day – Spis Castle. The ruins of Spiš Castle in eastern Slovakia form one of the largest castle sites in Central Europe. Settlement on the castle area is said to go back to even prehistoric times from artefacts which have been unearthed however the castle itself dates back to the 12th century. The complete castle area occupies over 40,000 sq metres.
Set for our hike up to Spis Castle
Part of the sprawling view from the top
In the late 1700’s the castle burned down and remained a ruin until the second part of the 20th century when extensive archeology work was undertaken and some reconstruction to accommodate a museum.
When we arrived there were ominous storm clouds and thunder rattling but we decided to trek up to take a look. Of course the rains came as we reached the top so we had to seek shelter in the museum for a while until it eased off. I don’t know that Adrienne’s choice to visit the top of the tower – complete with lightning rods and with her umbrella held high – was quite rational however we lived to tell the tale !
Part of the torture chamber !
With the weather fluctuating wildly between storms and sunshine we ventured into the mountains to our hotel at Strbske Pleso – the Grand Kempinski. To me it was conjuring thoughts of the movie – the Grand Budapest Hotel and the adventures of Gustave H – but quite the contrary ! Adrienne had booked it with “reward points” from previous holiday bookings plus a “top up” cost of $75. So it was a cheap option. Not so the result ! When we arrived at reception they asked us to take a seat with a glass of bubbly whilst they went through the formality of registering us. We then had one of the staff take us to our room and through every minor detail in relation to our hotel, our room and our stay. In the room waiting was fresh fruit and a huge blueberry macaroon.
The view across the lake from our balcony
Looking to the mountains on our walk
When I could finally drag Adrienne away from the leftover macaroon, we went for a walk around the lake outside the hotel. There are a couple of other hotels by the lake and a couple of apartment buildings but the Grand Hotel Kempinski sort of dominates the landscape. Oh, and then there is the nearby ski jump ramp – a bit out of season for us though. The weather was being kind to us if not perfect – we were getting glimpses of the snowy peaks in parts when the sun broke through the clouds but plenty of dramatic cloud also – and quite cool at only about 10 degrees. Still, it was a lovely walk around the lake.
Grand Hotel Kempinsky lit up at night
For dinner, we had a window seat overlooking the valley on the other side of the hotel. We were waited on hand and foot – from the maitre de bringing us prosecco to start, to the perfectly regimented delivery of our dinner courses, to the sommelier providing us details of “his friend” who owned the winery from which our Slovakian Pinot Grigio selection had come from, to the delicious food !
It was certainly a lovely surprise experience for us as our tour draws to a close.
Today’s “Tour Trivia” – Slovak Stefan Banic (1870-1941) invented the first actively used parachute, patenting it in 1913.