Ellen....continued!

Saturday was the only full day free to sight-see in Slovakia while Ellen was here, since we were teaching Thursday & Friday, and she had to catch a train back to Vienna after church on Sunday.  So of course we headed for the High Tatras bright and early!!  

We took the train to Poprad, but it was late and we missed the connection, so we had about 45 minutes to wait until the next train.  We walked into the centrum in Poprad, had some small breakfast pastries, and heard some Slovak folk entertainers as we walked back to the train.  We changed trains at Stary Smokovec and ended up in Tatranská Lomnica. 

It was sunny down in the village, but by the time we took a 4-person enclosed gondola ride part way up the side of Lomnicky Štít (a mountain peak) to Skalnate Pleso (a mountain lake), the clouds were rolling in.  

We hiked a little bit, but only had hazy views below, so I waited until later to take pictures.  This lake is above the tree line, and there's a nature trail around it with information boards telling about the plant and animal life in this unique mountain eco-system.

Right after we took this picture at Skalnate Pleso, it started to rain, so we pulled umbrellas out of our backpack and headed around the lake to shelter.   I never did get any pictures of the valley below, thanks to the rain and clouds.  Škoda!!  (It's a pity!)

The rain finally stopped, but the clouds were thick, so we finally decided to take the gondola back down.  We were up on this mountain, in the thick foggy part just over Ellen's head!!  LOL!!   Back down in Tatranská Lomnica the sun was shining, so we ate lunch on the outside terrace of a restaurant and dried out!  

We couldn't let Ellen leave without seeing the beauty of the High Tatras, so we took the train over to Štrbské Pleso, another beautiful mountain lake.  (Where we were a couple of times before.)  We finally got some nicer views there!   :-)

There were some storm clouds in the distance, but we hiked all the way around the lake with only a few light raindrops.  We also stopped for a cup of hot tea (Vinea for Ellen) at the quaint little chata on the lake.  

On the train ride back from Štrba, we passed by the picturesque Vychodná train station, where we had been the night before with Katarina and her dad. 

When we got back to L.M., we walked to the grocery store for a few things, then just had a light supper of sandwiches and fruit.  (Also the yummy cakes that Katarina made!!)   We double-checked train schedules online, skyped with Lute, and got to bed fairly early after our day of riding trains and hiking.  

Sunday morning we headed to church a half hour earlier than usual to warm up and practice with the choir.  Ján translated the sermon for us up in the balcony, then Tim and I hurried down to the front during the announcements in time to join the choir for our two numbers.  On the way back from church, we walked to the train station to get Ellen's tickets and seat reservation ahead of time.  I made hot chai tea latte for all of us, then we had omelets, toast and fruit for early lunch.  

All too soon, it was time to take Ellen back to the train station for her trip back to Vienna.   And of course the day was bright and sunny, so we took a couple of pictures just to prove we really DO live in the mountains.  HAHA!

It's hard to see, but the sign on the green bus station building says: Liptovsky Mikuláš.
And there are more mountains this direction too --- finally NOT covered by clouds!!  :-)  

Ellen with her front AND back packs, right before the train arrived.  

Ellen boarding her graffiti-covered wagon #9!!  

Right after we took this picture, I suddenly remembered that I was still holding the bag with the lunch I'd packed for Ellen to eat for supper on the train!!  YIKES!!  Thankfully, there were huge numbers of people boarding other cars further down the line which delayed the departure time, so I ran and opened the door, and handed off the bag to Ellen!!  WHEW!!  It was such fun having Ellen visit, and we're looking forward to connecting with her again in Vienna when we'll coincidentally all be there before flights on July 10!!  

It was an amazingly warm and beautiful day, so Tim and I headed out on a bike ride!!  We headed up to Trstené, across to Bobrovec, then north towards the mountains.  It was of course all uphill, but not very steep except in a few places.  

We crossed this mountain stream was just before heading into another village, Jalovec.  So pretty - it looked just like a calendar picture!!  :-)    

We did a lot of exploring - we would bike as far as we could go towards the mountains - then turn around and find another road to head out on.  

Eventually we got to this beautiful hotel/resort place out in the middle of nowhere, the Horsky Hotel Mnich - which must have something to do with monks and/or knights, because there were statues like this in several places on the grounds.  We decided to sit and have a cool drink on the outdoor patio, where I soaked up the sun while Tim sat right next to me in the shade of an umbrella.  Many other bicyclists came and did likewise while we were there, and there were other families out enjoying the park-like area too.
Here's a link with more pictures of the place:   http://www.hotelmnich.sk/slo

We really enjoyed our springtime bike ride because of many things - the sunshine, the warmth (it had to be about 80 degrees), the scenery, and the many flowers everywhere.  The flowers were absolutely glorious on both sides of the road for the whole trip.  

We continued up into the forest and noticed a tiny chapel up on a small hill.  Surrounding the chapel were the stations of the cross.  Not being Catholics, that's something we're aware of, but not very familiar with, so we decided to follow them around the circle.  It was easy to understand what Biblical scene was represented at each station, and as we stopped and considered each one, it was really meaningful to reflect on all that Jesus endured for us.  His suffering and death on the cross for our sins is incredibly precious!  We were very blessed by this powerful reminder of our Lord's sacrifice for our salvation!!  

One of the many beautiful scenes on our Sunday afternoon bike ride.  This is heading back from the Calvary hill, on the return to Bobrovec.  

Since the road through Bobrovec goes right past Saška's house, we decided to stop by for a quick visit.  But the only ones home to greet us were these lambs out in the back! 

This is looking back over Bobrovec from the edge of Trstené, before our descent back down the hill to Liptovsky Mikuláš.  Let's just say, the return journey took MUCH less time, since it was all downhill from where we finally got tired and turned around.  We really do enjoy biking as far as we can, then knowing we only have to coast the entire way back home.  Awesome!!  

We did stop at our favorite zmrzlina shop after getting back to the L.M. centrum, and ate our ice cream cones sitting at the outdoor tables in the sunshine.  :-)  Then we made a quick stop at the grocery store (because last night there were no bananas) before parking the bikes after a wonderful afternoon of riding through God's creation!!    

Ellen "Voxer-ed" (an app like a walkie-talkie) that she arrived at her hotel in Vienna, so she'll be meeting her cousin at the airport tomorrow and then they'll be heading off on more European adventures.  And we'll be heading to bed early again after all that bike riding!!  

Only three more weeks left of school!!  Hopefully the weather will stay nice for a while so that it actually feels like June.