Re-encounters: Nitra & Brno

When we arrived back in Europe for our second round of teaching in March, Nitra was the first town in which we taught (check out my post “Nice To Meet Ya, Nitra” to read about my first visit.) Back in March, they told us that some teachers would be returning for a workshop in May—as it turned out, we were to fulfill that duty.

Our Trip to Slovak Paradise

After our week in Vranov nad Topľou, Lisa and I took a relatively short trip toward the center of Slovakia. Our plan was to meet up with our friend and colleague Jack for the weekend in a village called Smižany (pronounced: Smee-zha-nee.) Besides being the largest village in Slovakia—or so one of the teachers had told us—Smižany is better known for being adjacent to Slovenský Raj, one of Slovakia’s best national parks which literally translates into ‘Slovak Paradise.’

After traveling for several hours, we arrived in the village and had to walk about twenty minutes away from the train tracks to reach our accommodation—a cute little dwelling that sported comfy rooms, a very welcoming staff and an incredibly convenient proximity to the national park.

Some Slovak Hospitality: Part III

For one of our most eccentric weekend trips to date, Lisa and I traveled to the town of Terchová. Besides being home to Juraj Jánošík—Slovakia’s legendary Robin Hood-like revolutionary figure—Terchová sits against the edge of Malá Fatra National Park (check out my post “Journey to Minčol” to read about our first hike through this glorious Slovak wilderness reservation.) Our first trip was incredibly successful, but mostly because of chance. This time, we had done some more research to discover the best natural attractions in the park.

In the week leading up to this excursion, I had been teaching in Považská Bystrica and Lisa had been in Bilina, Czech Republic. Lisa didn’t arrive until about 11:30 that night; for this reason, I had to find the accommodation in Terchová on my own. I got off the bus in the center and, after glancing at a large map of the town for a couple minutes, located the street on which I needed to be. It wasn’t too far, but it was one of those bothersome streets that curls back on itself and doesn’t meet up with the main street—those weird hangnail roads that are always the most difficult to find.