An important question.

Blips long overdue, including the last Central Europe ones and the whole Corsica set, soon to come. Most of the entries were written back then though, so I can say they're legit.
Today's entry has a mini-guide to Slovakia I figured I'd write to compact my post-trip observations, so check it out on the very improbable chance that you'll be visiting anytime soon.

peace

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Ever had a thermal bath at 42 degrees in a cave? Well I have... gets your heart pumping. But the 20 minutes of relaxation straight afterwards wrapped in a huge blanket while sitting on a long chair in a dark room, that's also an experience. I've figured one thing out after having three of these thermal baths, at varying temperatures. I'm too young for this type of therapy. But it definitely makes you and your muscles feel great afterwards.

So that's it for Slovakia. We dropped by a couple of places on the way back: a monument claiming that it's standing at exactly the center of Europe (as measured by Slovakians, of course) and the mining town of Kremnica. But otherwise, it was the drive back to Bratislava and then the rail to Vienna. The photo is of another beautiful mining landscape as seen from the top of a castle tower.

Went out with Stana and her friends in the evening, having drinks at her place in Vienna and then heading to a club near the ferris wheel! Ended up being a top notch night, our crowd was such a great international group. Vienna is turning out to be quite an awesome place.

peace

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MINIGUIDE TO SLOVAKIA

It's been a good trip. While Slovakia isn't the type of nation with landmarks and things to see which rivalize places like Australia, China or whatever, it still stands its ground for being a really pleasant low-key place to explore. Everyone is usually amicable, while eating and drinking are a pleasure (and really cheap). The landscape is amazing and there's countless hiking to do, with all the trails well mapped. Meanwhile, the country is strewn with caverns, old wooden churches, spas and castles in ruins to visit.

My Top 5 specific things to do in the country:

1) Visit the unique caverns of Dobsinska (ice cave) and Ochtinska (aragonite formations along rifts).
2) Hike in the High Tatras and Low Tatras mountains (shout out to Zdiar for being a great base to hike from).
3) Enjoy some beers in the centres of some of the nicer cities, namely Kosice, Banska Stiavnica and of course Bratislava.
4) Trek around Eastern Slovakia to visit the orthodox wooden churches, which are quite unique.
5) Visit the Hrads (castles) dotted all over the country, mainly Spis and Orava.

In order of most to least interesting of the six caves we visited:
1) Dobsinska Ice Cave
2) Ochtinska Aragonite Cave
3) Demanovska Cave of Liberty
4) Joint: Domica Cave and Harmanecka Cave
6) Demanovska Ice Cave

Banked a total of 1840km on the road during the two short weeks of travel in Slovakia. With that, we pretty much circled the whole country.