Entrenched in Trenčín

After teaching in Nitra, all five of us (Lisa, myself and our three new colleagues: Ryan, Jack & Robert) decided to head to Trenčín for the weekend. Trenčín is a town in northwestern Slovakia, near the Czech border, that has about 56,000 people and is known for its rich history—it has been around for nearly 2,000 years— and remarkable castle.

Fun fact: Zdeno Chára is from Trenčín, as well as some other notable Slovak hockey players in the NHL, and the Stanley Cup has visited the town on four separate occasions.

View of the finger-like trees lining the main street.

We arrived in the evening and, after taking the twenty or so minute walk to our accommodation—a cheap but certainly less than extravagant place run by a very welcoming man who spoke decent English—we decided to head to a pizzeria for dinner and then to a pub, both in the Old Town section of the city. Jack had made a weekend trip out of Trenčín before, so he was able to give us an elementary run-around of its nicer parts. We conversed for a while over beers, but we were pretty exhausted from a week’s worth of teaching. After one or two drinks, we all decided to call it a night. That is, all of us except for Robert. He was staying up to catch the overnight train to Košice, but he decided not to book a sleeper car—I hope he managed to catch some shut-eye in a quiet carriage.

***

After everyone’s renewing sleep-in session, Ryan, Lisa & I decided to survey the grounds of the castle. We slowly made our way up to the looming stone walls that surrounded the grounds, taking in the striking views of Trenčín below as we ascended. Luckily, it was brilliantly sunny that day and the clear skies offered us fantastic views from the castle of the city orthodoxly wrapped around the river below.

View of the town’s surrounding hills through one of the windows in the castle walls.

Taking in Trenčín.

Guardian of the Medieval fortress.

Upon reaching the threshold of the wall, we decided to take the mini-tour—no English tours were offered, only an English pamphlet with information that proved to be plenty when it came to interesting, historical tidbits about the castle and its bygone days. The mini-tour did not allow us to visit all of the galleries and exhibits inside the castle, but did give us authorization to explore the different levels of the famous Matúš Tower and its collection of weaponry and coats of arms. At the top of the tower, tourists can step out onto a 360° lookout platform. From one side you could look out over the city again, but the other side peered over the surrounding forest.

The Matúš Tower in all of its splendor.

Lisa & Ryan walking the castle grounds.

The sun pokes out from behind the sky-dominating castle.

Amazing view of the town below.

The castle is a beautiful structure—I would wholeheartedly recommend it as a worthwhile sight to anyone visiting Slovakia. It’s what you want when you think of a castle. In Slovakia, they seem to qualify any collection of structures enclosed in a wall as a castle (i.e. Bratislava Castle, Nitra Castle, etc.) In my opinion, if I can’t picture a dragon attacking it, it shouldn’t be called a castle.

I guess that might just be me, though.

***

After we explored a little bit more and Ryan ate a pretty sleazy looking cheeseburger next to a billboard with Beyoncé on it, we met back up with Jack and got some dinner. Now, what you have to understand is that we decided to visit Trenčín for the weekend because it is a delightful town. We also decided to visit because of Jack. He confessed to us during the week in Nitra that he is quite the football addict and was keen on getting to a match over the weekend to fulfill the needs of his self-proclaimed unhealthy addiction, regardless of how little he cared for the actual teams playing. Lisa, Ryan & I had all never been to a European football match (though, I imagine a match in Trenčín, Slovakia may not be entirely illustrative of the culture as a whole), so we were all down for a new experience.

To be frank, the match was sort of lackluster most of the time aside from the last minute goal that saved Trenčín’s club from a loss and us from having to deal with angry, local fans at the bars later that night. But, regardless, the experience was tremendous. It began right around the time the sun was setting; this made for one of the most scenic sporting events that I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. To the left, the day’s final golden rays were shining upward, creating a haunting silhouette of the castle that rose high above the whole town. To the right, the sun was nestling behind the rolling hills, spreading a warm, orange glow across the sky and in and out of the few clouds that hovered by lazily. And in the middle was the match—breathtaking.

The sun sets over the football pitch with the castle lazily looming off in the distance.

The atmosphere generated by the fans was quite like a high school sporting event—organized chanting/singing, bland but inspirational percussion provided by one kid with a drum, intense flag-waving & fans that were probably far too diehard about their team. It was viciously cold outside, but beers were only 1€, so that kept us warm enough.

***

Ryan (middle) chumming it up with some locals at the pub.

After the match, we reveled in the aftermath with some locals at a jam-packed pub. I was caught in a conversation with this guy who was pretty eager to practice his English. I normally don’t mind that, but this guy had this weird persistent smile that made it seem like he was planning to kill and eat me later that night. I don’t know—I think he was probably a pretty nice guy. He just had a weird smile.

The place had a foosball table, too. I rarely get the opportunity to play foosball while in Europe. One time, in Jaromer, Czech Republic, our company-provided accommodation had a foosball table and our ex-coworker Kevin and I played nearly every day.

In any event, the pub was an entertaining place.

Once we decided to move on, we took the short walk to the place where we had a couple drinks the night before. After ordering our drinks, we realized that the place was silent and everybody had their eyes glued to a small TV showing the movie Salt with Angelina Jolie. We just kept on conversing, though. It was a pub, after all. And I think the movie was in subtitles anyway. No one got mad at us, so I’m sure it was fine.

We ended the night at a late night sandwich shop—not quite the same as drunken pizza-eating in college, but still pretty delicious.

***

Getting artsy with my own reflection.

On Sunday, Ryan and Jack left to go teach in a nearby town and Lisa and I hung out for a few more days in Trenčín. Nothing too notable happened during that time except for a pretty relaxing walk through the forest that we had observed from the castle tower. Also, I had a pretty amazing salad with grilled salmon on it in a restaurant that was trying way too hard to be a Texas steakhouse. The food there was really good—they should lose the gimmick.

 

Today’s Recommended Song : Good Old War – “Woodie’s Hood Boogie Woogie”

Time for a salami sandwich, an orange & a hazelnut yogurt.