Danny Beer - Danny Beer. Tourist on Wheels. A European Adventure

A Castle.

So today you go to see Trencin castle. You could have made it in time for the tour yesterday but the caretaker was just being a prick. You are glad you stayed for the tour though. It is quite interesting and you get to see a lot of neat things about the castle’s history with the Habsburgs, etc. The road to Piestivany is busy with a lot of frequest trucks and no shoulders to ride on.

You take a short cut which turns out to be longer and up a hill. This time you make it to the castle about two hours too late. But if you saw Trencin castle yesterday instead of today then maybe you could have made it. Anyway, it opens at ten tomorrow so you will see it then before you leave for Martin.

Your pension room is really nice. You feel that it is going to waste on your own. You just found out. It is three degrees Celsius outside. That sounds about right. It was perhaps eight degrees in the day but conditions aren’t icy just yet. Looks like some hills tomorrow and then after that you’ll hang up your bike for a few days to go skiing.

A Castle.

The castle at Bojnice is a real delight. Of course as a ‘student’ you get your usual discount. You don’t know whether you are supposed to or not but you join a big group of tourists for the tour. Well it was difficult to get past them all. And the tour is in English anyway despite that you are probably the only native English speaker in the crowd.

It isn’t until 11:30 that you hit the road. You finally get to see snow. And as you keep riding you see more and more of it. You also see some locals riding Giants too. Must be a popular bike.

You get to Martin but the lack of accommodation forces you to keep going. It gets dark and the traffic gets heavy. You are aware of some beautiful scenery you are missing out on. Eventually you make it to Kralovany. If you can’t find a room here you’ll just have to pitch your tent somewhere. The previous two towns promised pensions. The first was closed for winter and the second was too obscure to find in the dark. But third time lucky you’re in luck. And only about twelve Euros. They even serve breakfast too.

What is it about Slovakia and breakfast? You can never find a restaurant open. You usually skip it in hope of an early lunch and some chocholate. As a consequence you have also been skipping coffee. Today you have your first cup since leaving Bratislava.

So you just discovered Martin pivo, a nice little beer with the added bonus of sharing your middle and last names. Well, it makes you happy anyway.

You wake up today to a Swedish table. This is a direct translation from the polish and means ‘buffet’. The fifty km to Liptovky Mikulas is easy enough. You see more and more snow but really never feel it with your warm clothes, including ski pants. But then it starts to rain not far from your destination so you are only interested in going there or finding a restaurant for lunch. You even elect to skip a detour to a wooden church! It probably wasn’t worth it though.

You get into town but the first thing you find is a bus to Jasna for the skiing. You look for the hotel but they are all booked out. This morning you try to call but their number had changed. It isn’t listed on the internet.

So from there you slowly descend down the mountain, stopping to ask for a free room wherever feasible. Twice your bike skids on the loose gravel throwing you off. The second time you come off one of the pannier clips break off. But the bag stays on okay. You do find one pension but you can only stay for one night. You need five.

There is a small village near the base of the mountain with a ton of ‘zimmer freis’ You stop at one and instant success. 400 Kroners a night. But maybe you said yes too quickly because now the price is 500. So you say only three nights. He tries to negotiate to four nights. You’ll stay for three and see if you can find something better after the weekend. It is very basic and you still need to catch the bus up the mountain in the morning to ski.

It is lonely up on them hills. You’ve been snowboarding these past three days. Then you hang out in a restaurant and bar in the evenings. There are a lot of people up on the slopes. You almost do your head in on the first day. It is a different kind of solitary to cycling. Your longest conversations are with the guys at the ski rental. The barman teaches you to say “One more pivo’ but you have already forgotten it.

Tomorrow is your last day. You plan to head up early so you can leave by two. Maybe you can make it to Poprad if you don’t encounter any problems.

Today is your last day of snowboarding but you want to get back on the bike again so you leave the pists by one. Your host tried to get you to stay another night last night and again this morning when it was snowing. It snows for most of the day on the board and on the bike. At times it is a nuisance but it also makes it a unique delight on the quiet roads.

You hand the board in to the ski shop. At first they give you a fifty per cent discount and then for free. You decide not to question why and continue on your way. Coming back down the mountain the bus skids on the road. But you were okay and everyone else on the bus seems non-plussed.

Today is also the day you test the new latch on your broken bag. It holds up okay and should last you as long as the bags.

Once you leave Liptovsky Mikulas and get onto the quiet roads you actually enjoy the snow. You are all wrapped up in four layers of clothes and the snow falling all around is beautiful. It hits your face. You try to catch some on your tongue but you seem to have better success when you don’t try at all.

Today is also the day you test the new latch on your broken bag. It holds up okay and should last you as long as the bags.

Once you leave Liptovsky Mikulas and get onto the quiet roads you actually enjoy the snow. You are all wrapped up in four layers of clothes and the snow falling all around is beautiful. It hits your face. You try to catch some on your tongue but you seem to have better success when you don’t try at all.