Košice & Train Trip Home

In the morning on Friday, we enjoyed breakfast at our hotel, then headed out to see more sights in Košice.  We were disappointed because several buildings/museums were closed for renovations, so we didn't get to see them.  Hopefully we can go back sometime!

Our first destination was the Executioner's Bastion, a remnant of the enormous complex of walls and fortifications
which once surrounded Košice for defensive purposes.  

There was a really excellent film in English to begin our tour, with graphics showing the development of the town's
fortifications over the centuries.  Walls, moats, drawbridges, and bastions were layered on through the years for extra protection.   The rounded section at left is what we saw in the previous photo - a bastion protecting one of the main city gates.  

This museum is the Mikluš Prison.  In earlier times, it was two gothic houses with a pottery workshop, but in the 17th century it turned into a prison, as well as the Executioner's house.  Inside we visited 3 floors including the basement dungeon and torture chambers - pretty spooky!  There were also interesting archeological finds and many historical artifacts from the 1400's to 1700's, including an executioner's chair and swords.  

This is a view from a room inside the executioner's lodgings, which was actually part of the last
remaining gatehouse from the original battlements of the city walls.  

We didn't realize until this morning that the Calvinist church in the background is next to the museum (which is just left of the church), and the church was built right next to the city walls where the city gate used to be.  The museum was originally a guard house next to the city gate.  

Here is another view of the small St. Michael Chapel next to the enormous St. Elizabeth Cathedral.  

This is the Košice coat of arms - a statue in the park - with the cathedral in the background.

This is the entrance to the Underground Archaeology Museum, which was closed, unfortunately.  It looks like it would be really cool.  Evidently a subterranean series of tunnels and rooms was discovered in the 20th century, and excavations created this museum underneath part of the main square.  We went down a set of stairs to reach the gates, but it was all locked up.  Bummer.  There are also about a dozen places back up in the square with glass-covered viewing portals to look down into, but they were fogged over and difficult to see through.  Great idea though!

Our train left at 1:30, so we had a lovely ride through the countryside on the IC, or fast train.  There was a mix of sun and clouds, but the scenery was beautiful.  We shared a baguette sandwich from the train station and some fruit from the hotel for a lunch on the train, which we always enjoy.  We were seated across from one another, both in window seats, so we played a few games of "Spades" with cards and "Greed" with dice to pass the time!  

 We planned our trip so we could be back in time to play volleyball at 5:00.  It was a little drizzly and windy on our 1/2-hour walk to the gym, but not too cold.  When we arrived, everyone was disappointed because there were tarps, ladders, paint supplies, and dirt all over the gym floor - evidently the gym is in the process of being painted.  I am totally confident that back home, everyone would have taken one look and figured we simply couldn't play, but here in Slovakia, it was decided that everyone had come a long way to play, so we'd all just clean up the mess, move things out of the way, and play volleyball!!  Which we did!  Then when the guys started arriving later for basketball, they re-arranged the sidelines to make it safer for their game on the larger sized court.  It was a great example of a "Let's get 'er done" attitude by everyone!!  And a fun time was had by all.     :-)