So for a quick summary of yesterday - I went from Prague to Bratislava on the train and found my hostel. I found a nearby pub for tea. A small meal, desert, two pints, and a cocktail cost me €18 - about $27!
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This is a really nice one,
they have tanks of it in the pub |
Now, for the exciting part. Today I took a couple of trains to Višnové, without too much trouble. My day was to be spent visiting Cachtice Castle, the seat of infamous Countess Elizabeth Bathory. When I got off at the station, I was worried I wouldn't know where to go, as my map didn't have street names and there were about four nearby mountains. Then I looked at the mountains...
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| It was rather obvious which one I had to climb |
So after walking down the road too far and missing my turnoff, I doubled back, found the right track, and started walking... and walking...
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| Such a fun looking track |
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This doesn't show how steep it was
It was...very steep |
It final evened out, and I had my first mountaintop glimpse.
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| Such beauty! |
I grew deeper in awe the closer I walked.
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| The oldest parts of the castle are 13th century |
I bought my ticket in to look inside the castle, and I had a guide show me around (once again, just me).
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| I think this was a battlement, from the middle castle |
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| Such a lovely view |
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These catacombs led down to the town -
Elizabeth used them to escape if necessary |
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| The chapel from the upper castle |
This next picture has a lot of significance. Through that hole is a prison made by Countess Bathory. This is where she tortured a lot of her victims. The room I stood in to take the photo was a meeting room. Covering the hole was some piece of furniture. If someone in the prison cried for help to the people in the meeting room, Elizabeth would say it was nothing, kill the prisoner, then kill her family, too (apparently).
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| Note the shape of the hole - an hourglass figure |
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| A beautiful view of the township from the upper castle |
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I can see the path I walked along from here
(it disappears into the left) |
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| Atop the upper castle |
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| Next to the Black Tower where Elizabeth died |
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| I got to see all this! |
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| With the chapel behind me |
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| I found a European spider with seven legs! |
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| So happy I could come up here! |
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| This is what I climbed for my incredible views |
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| The upper castle, and parts of the middle castle |
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| So lucious and green |
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| I walked through that arch to enter the castle |
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| Amazing windows |
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| Gorgeous architecture |
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| Poppies! |
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| Ruined, but beautiful |
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| Crenulations! |
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Middle castle, I think
You can see some of the reconstruction to the right |
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| Just amazing |
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What a view
(I left the wrong way and had to walk back towards the castle
to find my walking track) |
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| Astounding |
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| A hard goodbye |
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| This isn't so scary going down |
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| The view from near the station |
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| Majestic |
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No wonder they wanted them on mountains -
so everyone can revel in their splendour |
I learned a lot today, about the Countess, the castle, and the Hungarian Empire. I had a ball.
A more convoluted way back, and now preparations begin for leaving tomorrow. Goodbye, Slovakia!
