Tuesday, October 6th, was another incredibly beautiful day. I was thinking maybe it would be fun to go to Poprad, the local town, south of where we were. I wanted see if they had a nice old town we could visit, and perhaps look for something to bring home with us. We had heard there was a nice church there, and our host’s son had mentioned something about an old castle… I was in the shower when he visited, though, so I base that comment only on what Bill said.

I looked on the Internet, and I thought it looked like there was a proper centrum in Poprad, a city at the base of the Tatra Mountains. There’s an art gallery, and I knew there were some restaurants.

So we ate breakfast, and headed out, stopping to greet one of the several cats that live at the panoraMic Mountain Residence. But, when we got to Poprad, we had trouble finding exactly what we were hoping to find. The main thing we hoped for was parking, and that proved to be elusive. We followed the signs for the centrum, but never saw a place that invited us to stop. Instead, I got the feeling that Poprad hadn’t yet evolved from its communist history.

Before anyone comes at me… let me state that I’m sure that if you know where to look, the city of Poprad does have its charms. It has an airport, after all, and a connection to London’s Luton Airport, as well as a few other seemingly obscure and inconvenient destinations. But we were not successful in finding anything that made us want to explore. So we decided to head back to the mountains and search for something to do there. I got a few photos on the way.

We decided to stop at the apartment so Bill could pee, and on the way there, I got a couple of pictures of a deer near where we were staying. Maybe she was related to the gorgeous buck we saw the first night. Yeah… I was “horny”, too…

We decided to explore in the opposite direction of where we had gone on Monday. We got on the road, and soon found ourselves driving through some splendid scenery. At one point, we saw several men standing on the side of the road holding out baskets, as if they were offering treats.

Bill said, “It looks like they have goodies to share. What is that? Bread?”

Looking at the man who offered a basket on Bill’s side, I could see why he thought it was bread. It kind of looked like the guy was holding bread, based on the color. On my side, a different man held out his basket, and I got a better look at the wares, which were clearly visible– much to my horror. They were selling wild mushrooms! If you know me, you know that I would never consider that a treat! In fact, that’s my idea of a nightmare! But mushroom hunting is very popular in the region, so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.

In spite of the mushroom nightmare, it was a good decision to explore in the opposite direction, as we soon found several things to do. There were a couple of caves to visit, some traditional looking restaurants, and also the place where we ultimately decided to stop, Bachledka Ski & Sun.

We had no plans to stop at Bachledka before we stumbled across it. It simply looked like an appealing place to go. And it turned out to be a good decision to stop there, because besides a hotel and apartment rentals, this place offers a “tree top walk”, mountain carts, restaurants, shopping, and The Forest Kingdom, an adventure park for the whole family.

Bill and I are very familiar with treetop walks. We’ve done the one in the Schwarzwald. We’ve also done one in Bad Camberg, which is close to where we live now. The two treetop walks we had done before our visit to Slovakia were made by different companies, though. The one we encountered in Slovakia was made by the same people who made the treetop walk in the Black Forest (Schwarzwald). I noticed that the treetop walks in the Schwarzwald and the Tatras differed from the one in Bad Camberg, because they don’t have any steps, and they seem to be more focused toward education.

The treetop walk at Bachledka is very similar to the one in the Black Forest, in terms of its height and length. It started operations in 2017, and offers stunning views of the national park where it’s situated. Like the treetop walk in the Schwarzwald, the walk at Bachledka also has a slide to the bottom, although it wasn’t operating on the day we visited.

As we pulled into a parking space, we noticed a group of people parked near us. They started speaking and I realized I understood what they were saying, even though they weren’t speaking English. Sure enough, they were Germans, and they noticed our license plate. The father in the group said hello, noting that we were “neighbors”. For the second time on our trip, we’d run into people who live in Mainz… which is VERY close to Wiesbaden! 😁 And once again, we were mistaken for being Germans.

To get to the treetop walk, one can either take a mountain cart, or ride a cable car. We opted for the cable car, but having seen the mountain cart, I’m a little more curious about that option. I could see people on the little carts going up the mountain side from the cable car, where Bill and I were sitting.

Here are some photos from just before we started the treetop walk, which was a pleasant, and not too strenuous, activity for me and my fat ass.

I didn’t take any photos on the way up to the walk, because the cable car we were in was completely enclosed, and the view wasn’t very good. But once we got to the top, I had plenty of options for taking pictures, of which I took full advantage! Even the trail to the observation tower is a treat for the eyes, especially on a clear sunny day, like the one we enjoyed on the day of our visit!

As you can see, there is a real emphasis on education. There are a number of stops that are meant to engage youngsters and teach them about the environment, as well as help them burn off some steam. The tower itself is great if you have a stroller, or even a wheelchair. It’s just a 1250 meter ramp that doesn’t require taking any steps.

I got some pictures at the top of the tower, too… The net was stretched across the top, and I assume it was allowed to be on it. I did see one girl on the net, and there were signs advising not to jump on it. Of course, I wasn’t about to try it myself.

We walked down the tower and, after a quick stop in the gift shop, decided to have lunch in the restaurant. That was also a bit of an experience, as it was set up like a cafeteria. The guy who tried to help us was a teenager who spoke almost no English, and Bill was pointing at it and saying yes and no as the guy tried to figure out what we wanted. Fortunately, one of his co-workers was able to explain things. They didn’t didn’t have their whole menu available, but I was satisfied with my grilled salmon. Bill had lasagna. We bought some mustard and mead in the shop.

Soon it was time to come down off the mountain, since the cable cars were soon going to close. I did try to take a couple of pictures going down. I also noticed the tinkling of the cowbells on the cows grazing in the bucolic pastures below. But, as you can see, the views were a little marred by the enclosed car.

Since it was late afternoon by the time we finished our excursion, we decided to head back to the apartment. I was suddenly sorry we didn’t have another day or two to spend in the High Tatras, as there were other things I wanted to do. For instance, there are a couple of cool art galleries/museums in that area. And if you follow my travel blog, you know I love visiting caves and waterfalls. Ah well… now that I know what this area has to offer, perhaps we can visit again sometime.

For now, there are a few more photos to share… Slovakia is SO beautiful! Especially at this time of year!

For dinner, Bill decided to go out and get us a Hawaiian pizza. I don’t mind ham and pineapple on pizza, although it’s not my favorite. But here in Europe, I often get Hawaiian pizza, because it’s pretty much guaranteed to be mushroom free. I have a phobia of mushrooms and will not eat them under any circumstances. Consequently, I eat Hawaiian pizza… which is probably a nightmare for a lot of other people!

The next day, we went to Poland, and I’ll report more on that in the next post!