High Tatras

 We took the train from Bratislava to Poprad on Sunday, about a 4.5 hour ride going from the flatlands to the mountains.  We passed lots of large farm fields with corn, sunflowers, some sorghum, and maybe soybeans or potatoes.  There were also lots of little country homes with small gardens and orchards where city dwellers escape to on the weekends.  Some towns had big factories including Kia and another car manufacturer and wood processing plants.  Ikea owns several wood production companies in Slovakia now.

In Poprad we changed trains to the smaller electric train that goes up along the base of the High Tatras.  It took less than an hour to get to our town of Novy Smokovec, next to the slightly larger Stary Smokovek.  We are staying at the Greenwood Hotel, just about a block uphill from the train station.  It’s a nice hotel with a big spiral staircase in the center.  It seems very family-friendly with kids toys in the hallways and dining area.  You just have to not be concerned about the giant staircase.  The dining room serves breakfast (included) and dinner (must reserve).  We have not reserved dinner because the restaurants of Stary Smokovek are only a short walk away.  Our first night we had dinner at Kolibri, a traditional Slovak style restaurant in an older wood building with walls hung with wood carvings and historic trappings, very cozy and good food.

Our first full day in town we took the cable car from Stary Smokovek up the mountain and then a trail to see a waterfall.  The cable car was packed and runs about every 30 minutes. The trail was also pretty busy.  It is “paved” with rock, making hiking dry but requiring precise foot placement. If you go past the waterfall, you eventually get to a chata, or hut, where they serve food. I turned around at the waterfall though and we all had lunch at the restaurant at the top of the cable car line outdoors on the deck after our hike. They have a cafeteria, and the food seemed pretty good.  How many ski lift restaurants offer roast duck leg on red cabbage with steamed yeast dumplings after all?  When we got back down, Jake and I checked out the local coop grocery and pharmacy (Jake has a cold and wanted some cold meds).  

Around 4pm, it started pouring rain, and my friend Olga Dzurova arrived by car.  I hadn’t seen her since we met at my dad's house in NC in 1992, but I have a  beloved lacework fern she made hanging in my office.  We had a cup of tea at the hotel and then walked over to Stary Smokovek.  It started raining again though, so we ducked into a very good Brasserie for a light dinner.  It was great to catch up with how her life had gone in the last 30 years!  She is a wonderful artist, working mainly in fabric, but also drawing and painting.  If you enjoy wool felting, check out her web site, https://olgadzurova.sk

Tuesday we took the local train to the end of the line,  Strebske Pleso, about 45 minutes away (Pleso means lake).  The original plan of taking the chair lift up and walking down was abandoned after discovering that the lift ticket was pretty pricey and that the walk back down might be rather steep. The hike around Strebske Pleso seemed too civilized, although it might have been just about right.  We did get to see some world class ski jumps though and a stone age burial/cult sacrifice site. We opted instead to walk to Popradske Pleso, a mere 2.5km walk.  Walks are designated by time rather than distance here, and this one was rated as taking the average walker 1:45 minutes. Clearly the average Slovakian walks faster than our group (however, in our group 2 people  have new knees and one has an aching hip). The first km was all uphill on a rocky slope. The second 1.5 km was on more rock “paving” including crossing old rock slides.  We did have a lovely stop for cake that Olga had given me halfway up the hill.   Just past a trail intersection I decided to go ahead more quickly, and just then one of our group fell and he and his wife decided to descend for bandages (the descent took far less time than the ascent fortunately, and you can get bandaids, antiseptic, and a referral to a dentist at the local pharmacy).  There were magnificent views of the mountains along the rest of the trail to the lake.  I passed a lot of large groups of school-age kids, maybe a hike to start off the school year?

The lake itself was a bit of letdown, because it seemed so populated.  There were lots of people there, a hotel, and a food kiosk. So I ordered a bowl of mushroom soup and apple strudel and sat at one of the picnic tables overlooking the small lake.  As I sat there, I realized there were some rather large strollers and people with bicycles. How on earth could they have traversed the rocky path?  Well, of course it turned out there is a paved bike route all the way down to the next train station.  As I was about to leave, Jim called out to me.  He and Linda had just arrived and Linda was off learning about the bike route.  The three of us took the paved path downhill, 2.5km, to the Popradske Pleso train station.

The High Tatras have had some foreign tourists, but it seems as though most people vacationing here are Slovak.  Granted, my distinction among eastern-European languages is practically non-existent.  Hotel and restaurant staff generally speak some English as do train ticket sellers and tourist-office staff.  Often people seem to speak very little English though, or maybe they are reluctant to speak English.  I have been very impressed by the helpfulness of translation apps.  You can now point your app at a sign and translate the words, have it listen to spoken words and give you a translation, or type in what you want to say in English and stumble through pronunciation in Slovak.

The forests at this elevation are mostly spruce and larch.  There are quite a few wildflowers.  This time of year, it has mostly been fireweed, a beautiful blue gentian called willow gentian, yarrow, and purple lettuce.  There are some raspberries, lingonberries and other blueberry relatives with fruits now too.  I’ve seen a few mushrooms, and yesterday’s rains may bring out more.   I think there have been too many people on the trails to see many animals or birds.   Once you find a trailhead, the trails are well-signed.