Thursday, December 20, 2018: Bojnice to Bratislava, Slovakia:  

            The Bojnice Castle opens at 9:00, so this morning we awoke at 7:30, giving us plenty of time to arrive at the Castle when it opened.  When Cherie turned on the lights, there was no electricity.  We could not believe it, but it appeared there was no electricity in the whole neighborhood.  We could also hear a generator running nearby.              

            We got ready in the dark!  It was getting brighter outside which helped, but today it is the shortest day of winter.  Thank goodness for flashlights.

            As we were loading the car, it began to snow!  Since we could not make coffee in our apartment kitchen, we needed to find a coffee shop - that had electricity.  We drove to the castle area, and yes, the homes and businesses in this area had lights.  We parked, walked in the snow that was fast accumulating, to a restaurant that did not look completely open, but there was a guy inside at the counter, and the door was not locked.  We asked if he was serving coffee. Well, not yet, but he would make coffee for us. He told us the kitchen was not open so there was no breakfast. We asked if we could bring our own breakfast items, and he said, “of course”.  We went to the car and brought our breakfast items to the booth and had a wonderful breakfast, and great coffee.

            We walked to the Castle in the snow, bought our tickets, but then had to wait until the tour began at 9:30.  The only way to see the Castle is going with a tour guide.  The 9:30 tour would be in the Slovak language. We waited, taking photos of the castle exterior.  We thought for a while we may be the only ones on the tour, but right before 9:30 a group showed up.  This Castle was well maintained during the Communist Era, with the USSR officials using it for parties, meetings, and special events.

            It is a lovely Castle, and a popular tourist attraction.  The tour first takes you to the caves below the castle, then you go up, seeing most of the rest of the castle. 

Bojnice Castle

           As soon as we could, we were on the road to the town of Banske Stiavnica, which was highly recommended.  It was still snowing, and at places, the road was not clear.  We turned off the main highway onto a secondary road which wound through the mountains.  The snow became deeper and deeper the higher we climbed. By the time we reached Banske Stiavnica the snow accumulation was becoming an issue.  Banske Stiavnica is a town build on two steep hillsides, with the valley in the center.  Everywhere you go, is on a slope.  We drove around the town, going up so we had a good view down over the town in the valley.  Due to the snow, cars were spinning and sliding.  Parking spots were not open for parking.  We stepped out for some photos but did not do any shopping.

            According to the GPS, in good weather, we have a 2-hour drive to Bratislava. With the snow and road conditions, we do not know how long it will take.  We continued south on the winding secondary road, which was completely snow covered.  We drove cautiously through the mountains, especially around the sharp curves.  We finally made it to the autobahn and rolled into Bratislava at 4:15. It was still snowing. 

We unloaded at our friends, before Cal & Cherie returned the car to the airport.  This evening was spent doing laundry, repacking, getting ready to leave tomorrow morning at 7:15 for the Vienna airport.  We will be flying to Bucharest, Romania tomorrow.