Terchová, and ranting about vaccination

At Christmas I had 5 days off, so me and my friend decided to get to the mountains somewhere. We were looking for places both in the Tatra mountains and the Mala Fatra mountains, and ended up in Terchova in the Mala Fatra mountains. That area is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, but very much unknown outside Slovakia. That might be a very good thing too! We rented a 2 bedroom very nice apartment, attached to a family home but still very separate from them, so we had total privacy. We had walking distance everywhere and it was very comfortable, and the price was also reasonable. 

The best way to get there from Bratislava is to take a train to Zilina, and then bus to Terchova. Terchova is in the Zilina district in northern Slovakia. The weather is of course unpredictable at that time of the year (when isn't it?) and we had some rain (and also snow!!) but also some sun, so it was ok. Main thing was just to relax and go somewhere instead of just staying at home. Hiking in the mud was not so much though :D We did some hiking and spent a lot of time on that comfy couch watching tv and cooking good food. I did the cooking mostly, my friend did the dishes, good deal!

If you are looking for great place to hike, remember this place, you won't find much better place to go! These pics are in no particular order, for some reason they download in different order than I click them.

Yea it was a little muddy... took a while to clean those shoes :D

The last day was the sunniest day, and of course that is the day we had to leave

There pics I took from the train on our way back to Bratislava

And then the covid-19 update... Things are definitely better here now, numbers have gone down A LOT. Daily new cases is about 200 to 300, and the death count increases about 20 or 30 a day anymore. So things are opening up... There is no curfew anymore, terraces are open and I think next week also restaurants open indoors. Mask is no longer mandatory outdoors, but indoors (shops and busses etc) you m must have FFP2 respirator still. They used to have color codes black, dark red, red and light red, but I guess that was not enough, so they added orange, yellow and green. They have a huge list of services, and every color has their own restrictions in everything, and the color depends on the district you live in. Until then I was able to follow the rules, now I don't have a clue what they are anymore! No district is on green yet, but next week some will be on yellow, and I think only a few are dark red. 

Then the vaccination, holy FUCK!!! I registered for vaccination, then I wanted to add more places where I could go take it, but couldn't sign in. My friend (local, because of the language), called to health service's service number, and first they complained why am I getting vaccine here because I am a foreigner. Then he couldn't find my registration. My friend called again, and IT cancelled my registration, that was the advice I was given by others who had the same issue. Then I registered again, at this time it had been about a month from my registration. I was on my first trip outside Bratislava when I got message that I have appointment in 4,5 hours (they say they will let you know 2 days in advance), so I had to cancel it. Cancelled and registered again. 

Then in a week, a week ago, I got a call from health services, first they complained that I don't have insurance. Yes I do, it is mandatory here, I have public health insurance that covers vaccination. They said the problem is my identification number, rodne cislo, is incorrect, in my insurance card it starts with 15, and it has to start with your birth year, in my case 71, and that I first have to get new insurance card with correct rodne cislo, and then register again. So they cancelled my registration. I asked how come I then got even the appointment if it was wrong, the answer was "I don't know", but she said they would have denied the vaccination if I had been there. Ok... so I messaged my insurance company that I need a new card with correct rodne cislo. Their reply was that I probably made a mistake in registration. No I did not. They called me and insisted about the registration, even though the issue has NOTHING to do with the registration, the registration was fine. They kept saying I must have put the number from insurance card (the wrong one starting with 15) to rodne cislo in registration. Which I didn't because IT IS NOT POSSIBLE IN THE SYSTEM! I said that at least 5 times but she just kept going... I even yelled at her that she is not listening, then she said she will listen, and interrupted me in 5 seconds. The result; I am not getting a new insurance card, they will do nothing (she said she will confirm and get back to me, never did), so I can't register again, can't get vaccine here. 

I read in the local foreigner's group that many received the same phone call, so they are cleaning the waiting list from foreigners. And all this happened right after they stopped using Astra Zeneca, but I am sure it is just a coincidence. Just some hospital managers have said they put citizens first and forget the foreigners, but sure it doesn't matter... I have read so many examples how health services here don't like foreigners at all but this is the first time I am experiencing it myself. But, a friend of mine told me I would get it in Romania, because they vaccine everybody who wants it, and I also my residence permit is still valid. I might get it also in Ireland, since I have my PPS card. 

But, then I checked, Romania is open for Slovakia! Already last summer my plan was to spend some time in Romania, and now I am going to do it this summer. Hopefully in a month I will be in Romania, spending some weeks there, working from there, meeting my friends and seeing my favorite places... First stop will be Brasov (duh), then I am planning on visiting Finland, and then maybe back to Romania, to Constanta by the Black Sea for a while. In Brasov I would also get my vaccine. So that is what I am planning now, it is good that I can work anywhere as long as I have my laptop and internet. I still have a "few" issues to solve and figure out, but I am sure it will be ok :)

I thought this would be a short post, and it was short about Terchova, then I started ranting about vaccination :D

Since I am so lazy in posting here, you can check my pics right away in my Instagram www.instagram.com/nomad.riitta

Kosice, Presov and Nitra

Oh boy, it actually took me so many months to get this post done... Note to self: stop being a lazy ass.

I had a 5 day weekend over half a year ago (!!!) and did a trip to Kosice. I wanted to do that trip already a year ago but because of the restrictions I had to postpone it. 

Kosice is in East Slovakia and it is the second biggest city with the population of 240 000. It takes by train about 5 hours from Bratislava, but it really is worth visiting. I stayed in hotel Dalia, an eco friendly hotel in good location, excellent price too and it was very nice! No, they are not paying me to say that :) My local friends told me that the dialect is very different in Kosice, and in east in general, and they can always tell if someone is from there. 

The first two are from the hotel yard

                                                 

St Elisabeth Cathedral is the largest church in Slovakia and one of the easternmost gothic cathedral sin all Eurpe. The capacity is over 5000 people! It was quite impressive I must say, a place to visit when in Kosice. 

Kosice has nice parks, fountains, and music was playing... I can imagine how nice it is to sit there at summer.

I also visited Presov, it takes about 40 mins by train from Kosice and the return ticket is just 3,80 €! It was absolutely lovely town, I was there just a few hours and saw only the city centre but I really enjoyed that short visit. It has about 100 000 inhabitants, and it is actually the 3rd largest city in Slovakia. I have to say it felt a lot smaller than that. 

November I did a day trip to Nitra with a friend. The train takes about 1h 45 mins with one change in Leopoldov, and the one way ticket is 5,15 €. Gotta love trains in Slovakia... Nitra was nice small town, a bit run down though and it was totally empty! There was no lockdown then, it was Saturday, the sun was shining, and it was like a ghost town not a soul in sight. Very odd. Nitra has about 78 000 inhabitants and it is the 5th largest city in Slovakia.

We had a nice day, walked around and visited Nitra Castle. If you are into castles, Slovakia is a good country for that, so many castles everywhere! The view from the castle is also very nice. The castle was built in the 11th century, most parts you can see there are from the following centuries, all the way til the 18th century

And of course the beautiful plants and flowers I like to take photos of :)

At Christmas just had to something, because of quarantine rules I didn't want to travel abroad, so me and my friend went to Terchova in Mala Fatra mountains. I will do a separate post about that so this won't be ridiculously long, but I sure am not giving any promises when that will happen :D In Easter we rented a car for a couple of days, it was allowed to move only in Bratislava region, but we saw as much as we could! I need to write about that too... And I have next week off, so I am going to Banska Stiavnica, so soon I will have yet another post I have not done! I seriously need to hurry up with these!

Updated situation; covid-19 situation got really bad here in the end of 2020, and especially when 2021 started. I think Slovakia was at some point nr 1 in deaths per capita, for a few months we had 100 deaths a day and thousands new cases daily. We had strict restrictions but many people didn't give a shit, that is why the numbers were not going down, so we got even more strict restrictions. Now the numbers are going down and things are opening, shops opened and services and hotels etc, with restrictions of course and you need a negative test no older than 7 days. So far I have not been asked to show it, but last time I tested last Friday to get a haircut. Finally I got rid of that cave woman style...

Until last week it was not allowed to take a holiday abroad, or even go to another district in Slovakia without a reason. I have registered for vaccination, and waiting for my first jab, I don't have the appointment yet. I hope we will also have vaccine passport, just to keep the moron anti-vaxxers crying. If I travel in EU, and some other countries too, there is no longer mandatory quarantine when coming back, just take a PCR test after coming back. I will still wait for a while before I cross any border, will see how the situation both here and neighboring countries develop, since many of the neighboring countries still have a bad situation. FFP2 respirators are mandatory in shops, but mask is no longer mandatory outdoors! First it felt like I am doing somethimg naughty and I kept forgetting it on 

Last but not least, the before and after hair cut :) Yep, was about time don't you think... :D

Since I am so lazy updating my blog, you can see the pics and short stories right away when I am on the road in my Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nomad.riitta/