First Slovak Castle

Slovakia has many castles, and today we visited our first one.  Our friend and teaching colleague, Janka, (who took us to Martin for the medical checks), suggested this trip as a short trip we could manage on our own for the first time.  She looked up bus schedules for us and called the museum to make sure it was open, so we were all set!  Thanks, Janka!  :-)  

We waited for the bus at the appointed time, but no one else was waiting, and a bus never came, so we're wondering if it only ran on weekdays or something.  Undeterred, we walked to the train station, figured out the schedules ourselves, and bought tickets for the next train to Ruzomberok so we could still explore the castle ruins!  Tim got to use his new "senior rail pass" for a 40% discount too.  :-)  We had a little over an hour before departure, so we came back to the flat so I could do a load of towels and hang them outside on the clotheslines.  

The train to Ruzomberok

The train was great, except we couldn't figure out where to sit, as we didn't see any reserved seat numbers on our tickets, it was very crowded, and we couldn't find anyone who spoke English.  So we worked our way to the back of the train where there was a dining car, and we sat at a lovely table there and ordered hot tea - perfect!!  The only problem was, it was just a 20 minute ride, so Tim's hot tea was too hot to drink in time.  Just before we arrived at the station, a lady selling snacks and drinks from a cart came by, and I pantomimed that we needed one of her styrofoam cups for Tim's tea.  Just in the nick of time, we poured his tea into the to-go cup and jumped off the train - perfect again!  

Tim in the dining car - Liptovska Mara out the window!  

Tim with his "to-go" cup of tea at the train station in Ruzomberok - so pretty!! 

Next we needed to find the bus station, since Janka's original plans included another bus to Likava, near where the castle is.  Slovakia is so awesome ..... just like in Liptovsky Mikulas, the bus station is adjacent to the train station!!  Incredibly smart and convenient the way that concept works!!  LOL!!  We read the schedules posted by the different stops, and thought we had it figured out, then verified it with a young man who spoke English.  After a short wait, we boarded the bus, had a 4-minute ride, and were let off with a young couple who were also going up to the castle.  We hiked through the village and up the hill to the castle with them.  It was a beautiful hike, though parts were quite steep.  

A view of the castle from below

On our hike up the hill towards the castle

From below the castle walls, just before the first gate

Inside the second gate, in the inner courtyard of the castle
looking up towards the part being reconstructed now

The view from the inside the castle walls

The entrance to the restored tower that houses  the 3-story museum

View out the window of the museum to the next restoration project

The basement torture chamber was "hands-on"    :-)

The descriptions were all in Slovak, but we're guessing
this was the torture boot --- it had nails all over to be
pounded in once the boot was latched on!! 

My knight checking out the sword collection

This is to show how thick the castle walls are!  

Such a beautiful candle holder in the museum

I just thought this delicate flower was so pretty
growing out of the rocks of the castle walls

The castle dates to the 1300's, and obviously changed hands periodically through the centuries.  It was an important fortress on the trade routes from Hungary northward, and it was fortified and expanded several times through the 1700's.  Now it is ruins, but parts have been restored and turned into a museum.  The Likava Hrad (Hrad = castle) is built high up on a hill, and it's really impressive as it overlooks the valleys below.  After touring the inside and the museum areas, we hiked around the entire perimeter outside the castle walls.  Then we headed down and took a side trail to a large meadow with an amphitheater
where we rested a while, looking at the hills and valleys, and having some water and apples from our backpack.  

The only informational sign in English!  :-)  

Looking back through the first and second castle gates
after we headed out again

On our hike around the castle's perimeter - looking up at the chapel,
which has the only curved-top windows

There was a well dug outside the castle walls, so one owner had steps
carved down through the rock to access the water

The steps up to the castle from the well - very steep!

We felt like mountain goats on this steep part of the trail!

This is in the amphitheater area - wooden benches would be
placed on these stone supports - such a pretty setting!

Our rest stop, looking back up at the castle and over the valleys below

After hiking back down to the village, we found a charming touristy restaurant featuring local food specialties served on dishware unique to this region.  We had a scrumptious meal, ordering two different dinners (and desserts), and sharing them between us.  :-)  

Tim had deer goulash, with a white ball of something yummy kind of like cornbread texture??,  with onions and cranberry jelly --- and a Radler.  Mine made us think of a Slovak Yankee Clipper taco shell, but it was made of a thick potato pancake and filled with pork in a delicious sauce, with veggie salad on the side - corn, shredded carrots, and cucumbers ---- and white wine.  Gourmet meal all the way!!  

The desserts deserved a picture of their own - amazing!!  Tim's was hot apple strudel, and mine was a light textured honey walnut layer cake with creamy filling.  (We split them both of course!)  And hot tea with honey was perfect! 

View of the castle from the restaurant -
the leaves are beginning to turn colors already on the hillside behind the castle

The restaurant where we ate.  Awesome food!!   :-)

We decided to continue walking back from Likava to Ruzomberok, since it's only a couple of kilometers.  We had more beautiful views of the village and countryside along the way, and it was all downhill walking that direction.  We were a little early for the train, so we walked around the town center a while, then made it back in plenty of time for our train.  This one was a double-decker, so we sat up top - it was less than half full, and there didn't seem to be any reserved seat numbers!  

This was so cool --- a miniature "castle ruin" creation next to
the front steps of a house in Likava.  Darling!!  

The village of Likava on our walk back to Ruzomberok

A teeny-tiny church we walked by in the village!

So our adventure was a success - we negotiated trains and buses - we really enjoyed visiting the castle and eating our wonderful meal - and we are nicely tired from our hikes!