Levitating towards Spis Castle

Driving in Central Europe is nothing like driving in Western Europe. Highways are practically non-existent and rest stops are not so easy to find. The drive from  from Budapest to Levoca took us quite a while, and we were glad when we finally arrived in Levoca.

We spent a night in Levoca as it was the nearest town to Spis Castle. It was quite an experience arriving in Levoca since we got there really late. The town was really really tiny and we were lucky that the hotel owner was nice enough to wait for us to arrive. If not, we might have had to spend the night in the car instead!

Other than being located near Spis Castle, Levoca also had a tourist attraction in its own right, St James Church, which has the largest Gothic altarpiece in Central Europe. There was a school excursion when we were there, but even without the school kids, we wouldn’t have managed to see it. It was under restoration so it was covered up and you can’t see the full height of it.  In any case, it was just somewhere we dropped by before heading to Spis Castle, the appetizer before the main course so to speak.

Spis Castle

Spis Castle is one of the largest castle complex in Europe and also on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites. It was a bit of a hike up from the car park but totally worth it. We also got to whip out our hiking sticks. Since it wasn’t summer yet, it wasn’t crowded which was nice for exploring the place. Still it was a pity that it wasn’t summer, cos apparently that’s when the castle has night tours and people dress up as in medieval times. Nevertheless, it was pretty pleasant to walk around the castle and enjoy the view. It may be in the middle of nowhere but definitely worth paying a visit for.

Our hiking sticks

Overlooked Slovakia

Slovakia was our next stop after Vienna. Bratislava, where we were headed, was literally across the river from Vienna, I guess you can swim there if you are really short of cash, haha…

The perfect bun

Followed by the perfect beef salad

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and former coronation city of the Austrian-Hungarian empire, thus it has played host to quite a few important people in its heyday. When we visited though, it was playing host to VIPs of another kind, namely the sporting kind as it was hosting the Ice Hockey World Championships, alongside Kosice. We didn’t catch any matches though and if any of the players were to walk past me, I wouldn’t have known any better. The whole town was rather festive though and there were various sculptures of players from the different nations which was quite fun for us to spot.

Ice Hockey World Cup!!! Woohoo!!!  

We did a walking tour of Bratislava with the tourist office which was pretty alright. The guide committed a boo boo at the beginning of the tour and she never seemed to really recover from it. It was still an interesting tour though and we learnt a bit of history like how the separation from Czech Republic was fairly amicable, unlike some other countries where it was more chaotic. The buildings were interesting but nothing really stood out for me. What I did enjoy though were the sculptures placed all over the city centre. There is Čumil the workman, also known as Rubberneck, who emerges from a manhole at the junction of two streets, protected by a 'Man at Work' sign; a paparazzo who spies on passersby through his camera lens, and a rather relaxed looking Napoleonic soldier lounging over a bench, and many more quirky sculptures. There was a busker there who did the exact same pose as ‘Rubberneck’ and it was quite hilarious to see people’s reaction when the busker moves. You have to give it to the busker though for being clever enough to station himself there.

Right place, right time...

Other than the walking tour, we also visited a castle. Bratislava had 2 castles, Bratislava Castle as well as Devin Castle and since we didn’t have enough time, we opted for Devin Castle after seeking the advice of the tourist information office. The lady there was really nice and what was most surprising was that she visited Singapore many years ago! It is quite a rarity for us to meet someone who actually knows where is Singapore and visited it, so it was a rather nice moment. In any case, Devin Castle was situated outside of Bratislava and there was only one bus from Bratislava to Devin Castle which runs rather infrequently. The castle was kind of in ruins but the view was pretty awesome. Though the castle was in ruins, the authorities still managed to have a pretty good exhibition about war in medieval times in one of the intact areas. The people working there were also pretty friendly and helped us understand a little about what the castle was like then. If not for the fact that we had to catch a bus back, it would have been nice to walk around a little longer.

Along the walls of Devin Castle

Food Glorious Food!!!

Bratislava was definitely a good introduction to Eastern Europe with its friendly locals and absolutely wonderful food. This is our first foray through the "Iron Curtain" and you immediately get a sense of how life changes, not necessarily for the worse, but definitely different. And from there, its on to Budapest!