Day Trip to Slovakia

"Looks like a Monopoly day to me," Scott said as the nonstop rain kept coming down. That darn rain did indeed change our plans - but not to a good game of "Tatry" Monopoly. We were on our way to Slovakia! Only 16 miles away, it had more enticing rainy day options than Zakopane.

Slovakia has one of Europe's largest concentrations of castles. Orava Castle, majestically perched on a cliff above the river, is one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Slovakia - and only an hour from Poland. It has a significant number of stairs, which is precisely what drew me in.

Constructed in the 13th century, Orava Castle features palaces, fortifications, and towers at varying levels

Having Orava Castle completely to ourselves, except for one other guy, made it particularly fun to explore

If you feel up to climbing at least 300 stairs, you can tour Orava Castle in an hour

View over Slavokia's countryside from the castle's high perch

A fun activity to combine with the castle - when it isn't raining - is a ride along the Orava River on a wooden raft, the only suitable and safe route through the Orava region until the construction of railways

We continued our rainy day adventure with a cave tour an hour away. With more than 8,100 caves, Slovakia is rich in the karstic natural wonders. Millions of years old, Demänovská Cave of Liberty is part of a natural and complicated cave system that stretches over 40km long. It is one of Slovakia's most valuable caves and a national underground nature reserve highly protected by law.

The first room along the tour, "Deep House" has a water feature called "Eternal Rain" because it has flowed nonstop since the cave's discovery

Demänovská Cave of Liberty is distinguished for its stalactites of attractive colors and formations. Seeing this massive masterpiece leaves you in awe; one cubic millimeter of dripstone can take 10 – 15 years to grow!

Emerald Bay is a beautiful, clear underground lake

Climbing deep into a cave is an adventure like no other. At one point you twist through a narrow passage, the "Corridor of Suffering", squished by the wondrous karstic formations. About 3/4 of the way through the tour, following Greg's untimely earthquake comment and a section called the Cemetery where the ceiling collapsed from its own weight, I am about ready to be done!

Demänovská Cave of Liberty logistics: their website, signage, and reviews don't reflect the recent changes here. They readily accept credit cards, offer a tour in English, and man the ticket office more than 15 minutes each hour.

Buy your cave tour tickets inside the building just past the yellow umbrella. That is where the cave entrance is too.

Between the castle and the cave, we walked 50 flights of stairs - and were ready to devour a hearty Slavic late lunch. I wanted to try halusky, a national meal of potato dumplings and soft sheep cheese topped with smoked bacon bits.

Don't be turned away by its name! Motorest Jelesna has delicious food: Oscypek smoked cheese, halusky, and goulash.

Although today's wet weather modified our plan, fortunately it didn't take away from it one bit. We were grateful to experience Slovakia. Making no reference to the 2" of rain coming down, the waitress told us "This is the coldest part of Slovakia. It is either cold or really cold. But that's ok because we ski here."