Poprad, The High Tatras

2 weeks ago I took a couple of days off to have a long weekend, and I wanted to go to the mountains. Luckily the weather forecast was ok, so I chose Poprad and The High Tatras as my destination. I booked accommodation in Poprad, and did a day trip up to the mountains. I stayed in Penzion Slavia, good location near the train station, very basic but everything you need and the price was good. The train from Bratislava takes about 3,5 hours and costs 20-25 €. On Sunday the 17th it was important day here, Velvet revolution started 30 years ago! It ended the communist era, and a few years later it ended Czechoslovakia. The day is a public holiday both in Slovakia and Czech Republic.

That day I took the train up to the mountains, to Strbske Pselo (seriously Slovaks, vowels are good letters too). The train (Tatra Electric Railway) takes over an hour from Poprad and the return ticket is just 4 €. It was a bit cloudy up there, but still gorgeous views and there's a lovely mountain lake that I walked around. The High Tatras are both in Slovakia and Poland, but the major part and the highest peaks are in Slovakia. 29 peaks are over 2500 m.

On my way back I stopped at Stary Smokovec, that I actually liked more than Strbske Pselo. On my next visit I think I should stay there instead of Poprad. It was not the high season so it was very nice and peaceful, just as I like it :). First I took some pics from the train.

Then some pics of Stary Smokovec

I took a few more pics from the train, and the Poprad train station.

The High Tatras are just gorgeous, I also took some pics from the train, so the quality is not the best.

On Monday I stayed in Poprad to check what that town has to offer. It is not a big city, according to Wikipedia the population is about 50 000, so it is very easy to just walk around it. The city definitely has its charm!

Tuesday it was time to head back home, the day was gorgeous, so I took some pics from the train.

My next trip will be to Sofia, Bulgaria, on this Friday, just for the weekend, but that will be my next post, hopefully it won't take 2 weeks...  Wizzair flies there from Bratislava, and the return ticket was just about 43 €. And since I can crash on my friend's couch, that will be a very affordable weekend getaway!

Zilina

It took me a few weeks to get to Zilina, but finally 3 weeks ago I did it! The train from Bratislava takes 2 or 2,5 hours depending on if you take IC train (faster) or R train. The price is 10 to 13 euros. In IC trains, also in 2nd class, you get a free bottle of water! 1st class ticket is only a few euros more and there you also get tea or coffee. I took the IC train 2nd class ticket. I took this pic from the train, but I have completely forgotten the name of this castle :D
Edit: I have been informed this castle is Trencin:)

My friend met me at Zilina train station, even though I was waiting for him at the wrong place. Typical of me… The weather was quite nice all weekend and it was so nice to be outside after just sitting in the office all week. My previous visit to Zilina was over 5 years ago, don't remember that much of the city but it has changed a lot. On Saturday afternoon we walked to the castle. Budatin castle, as it is called, was built in the 13th century, and of course it has been renovated several times since that.

Some pics of Zilina

On Sunday we took the train to Strecno to visit the castle there, logically named Strecno Castle, or . It is only 10 mins train ride from Zilina, and the castle is not far from the station. It is just a bit uphill… note to self; you are totally out of shape! The view from there was just amazing and as you can see, it was very clear day. The first recorded mention of this castle is from 1316, and it is national cultural heritage of Slovakia. If you want to know more about this castle, here is a link to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stre%C4%8Dno_Castle

Below the castle they have Paseka, a reconstruction of a medieval village. They have several houses there; fisherman’s house, baker’s house, healer’s house and the shelter for pilgrims.

On Sunday afternoon I took the train back to Bratislava. The train was really full on the way back to Bratislava, had to stand first, and I already thought  have to stand the whole 2,5 hours (R train), but luckily I got a seat after about 30 mins when some people got off. At this point I already had 16 000 steps for the day according to my activity bracelet, so I did not want to stand any longer :D!

Zilina really is great place to visit if you like any outdoor activity. It is close to mountains, so you can go hiking, skiing, camping, rock climbing, paragliding etc. There are also rivers (Kysuca and Vah, which is the longest river in Slovakia) so you can go canoeing too. In Zilina not as many people speak English as in Bratislava I think, or at least I got this expression on my short visit. I guess it is because there are not that many foreigners, tourists or expats, there so people don't get to practice their English that much.

In my previous visit to Zilina we went to Vratna Valley to hike in Mala Fatra mountains, here's a few pics from there.

A week after that, 2 weeks ago I took a 4 day weekend, and went to Poprad, to the High Tatras to get some fresh mountain air. I will try to do my post from there this weekend, but don't hold your breath waiting for it :D. I am also writing a post about settling in to Bratislava, and all the things you have to get done when moving here. And next weekend I am going to Sofia, Bulgaria, just for the weekend though. So more posts to come, stay tuned... 

White privilege

I have been thinking about this issue quite some time now, so it is time to also write about this. This post will include some ranting, and several swear words, if you don't want to read it, stop now.

I am a Finnish middle aged white woman, naturally travelling with a Finnish passport, or ID in many European countries. Travelling is easy for me, I have a permanent job which enables my travelling financially. To most countries I don't need any visa, and even when I need one, a lot of times I can apply for it online, and in couple of days I get the visa in my email. Quite easy. Of course there's exceptions, but in most cases it goes like this. At the airports in passport controls I basically always get by really quickly, hardly ever I am asked anything.

Here's an example of it; I came back from my trip to Central Asia in May (where I was never really checked either, or asked anything at Borders or controls), I flew back via Frankfurt. When exiting the plane to the airport, there were 2 customs officers checking the passport already. Right next to me there was a Chinese family, parents, their son and I am assuming son's girlfriend. Parents spoke no English, but the son did. The parents showed their passports, the son was translating. This was their conversation (of course I don't remember exactly every word).
officer: passport please
parents: showing their passports
officer: is this your first trip to Europe?
son starts to translate: it is their first trip
officer: is it your first trip?
son: no it is not
officer: show me your passport, and checks the stamps and goes through the passport pages
officer: how long are you staying here
son: 3 days
officer: why only 3 days
son: we are going to Austria then

Didn't hear or see how long the conversation went on because it was my turn, and this is how it went:
me: hello, and handing my passport
officer: hello, looking at my passport pic for a few seconds and then look at me, then hands me my passport back, says thank you
me: thank you, and walked away

I am part of white privilege, and I am very well aware of it. Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of people who are not aware, or they think everybody has the same chances. I saw this pic in one of Facebook's travel groups I am a member of. A lot of people agreed with it, all white privilege folks, but luckily some actually see further than their own nose.

Everybody do NOT have the same opportunities. Millions of people struggle to eat anything every day, don't have a roof over their heads etc. Why don't you get off your high horse, and go tell them they just don't have the courage to travel? Some people even commented that yes, this is very true, because she is lower middle class in USA and she chooses to travel. Oh dear lord where to even begin when you face this kind of stupidity...  Another one commented that yes, very true, because she chose to sell her house to travel. What a f-ing MORON!!! How can someone be so utterly stupid not to realise that to own a nice house, to have a choise to sell it is already a privilege?? But oh no, it is just about courage, not about money at all... ARGH!!!

One thing I absolutely hate, is begpacking. Yes, it is an actual term, because in some countries it has become so common. It means that western people travel to poor countries (dude, you can afford a plane ticket!), and beg so they can continue travelling. This happens apparently a hell of a lot especially in Southeast Asia, but the beggers are almost always either Europeans or from US. They are doing this while next to them are local people going through thrashes to stay alive. There's even websites specialising on this, giving people tips and advice how to begpack and promoting how cool it is! Locals see it as an insult to them, I see it as an insult to humanity.

Another form of white privilege is volunteering in orphanages and similar places. Volunteers are usually white privileged, going to poor countries "because they want to good and help". Bitch please, you are doing that to shine your own halo, so you can take lots of selfies with African children behind you, all smiling, and then posting how amazing it is, waiting to get likes an people telling you what a good person you are. Then you go home telling how this experience of a lifetime changed you. Do you even remember the kids names? Do you have their permission to post their pics? And do you honestly believe that these kids need over and over again people leaving them?

I have also seen comments (I am a member of several travel groups in Facebook, so I follow these conversations a lot, I am not talking about I saw 1-2 comments but more like dozens or hundreds) where less privileged people feel that the opinion of white privilege people about this doesn't matter. That is also wrong, everyone's opinion matters as much. They are opinions and perspectives, not facts. When you state as a fact that everyone has an opportunity to travel, then you are wrong. My opinion matters even though I am white privilege myself.

Just my 2 cents on this subject. Rant over.

Going to Zilina this weekend, next post about that, and about settling in to Bratislava.