Gorgeous Gorges
Slovak Paradise National Park Hikes, Spis Castle
It’s a miracle! The Oldies are walking on water.
They finally bit the bullet and joined the hardy hikers on a couple of gorge walks in the Slovak Paradise National Park. Their first was the Zejmarska roklina gorge near Dedinky. I bet they chose this one because they had been told it was the shortest of the gorge walks. What they only realised afterwards was that ‘shortest’ certainly didn’t mean either easiest or least steep.
The drive there was lovely. I particularly like this view of Dedinky Lake. Chocolate-box pretty!
Now this is certainly not a walk for the faint-hearted, and it calls for suitable equipment, namely a stout pair of boots and a strong pair of knees. The Oldies had those alright – but only one set between the pair of them. I feared that Her Ladyship, with her leaky trainers and creaky knees, would never make it but she somehow managed to battle through. Not that she had a choice, mind you. These gorge walks are all one-way, so there is no turning back once you’ve started. The walk leads through the riverbed and up steep ladders alongside the waterfalls. I was surprised at how well the Oldies managed the ladders. All their years on building sites are finally paying off it seems.
Resting on their laurels – and to give the old knees a rest – the Dynamic Duo decided to get back on the tourist trail the following day. This time, they set out to visit the largest castle in Slovakia, Spissky Hrad, Spis Castle. You’d think they’d have noticed by now that Slovakian castles tend to be located on the top of hills. But what did the old eejits do? They parked in town rather than up on the hill, leaving themselves a steep climb up to the castle. So much for taking it easy!
This huge castle complex, one of the biggest in Europe, dates from the 12th century and it’s no surprise that it’s listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Parts of the interior have been restored and its chapel, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and armoury give a great insight into medieval life. I was delighted to see that the Oldies steered well clear of the torture chamber. That’s one side of medieval life I’d rather not know too much about!
My favourite part by far was the kitchen. I was intrigued by the 15th century rules of table etiquette posted up there:
‘Avoid arguing or whispering, always keep a tablecloth clean. Don’t wipe your nose into it and never spit. Take a pinch of salt with a knife only and never sleep. Sing little or avoid doing it… Don’t scratch your body too much and don’t pick your teeth.’ On top of all that, it was inadmissible to “…drop food on the table … to chomp, lick a spoon, burp or drink with one’s mouth unwiped.”
I’m not pointing any wingtips, but I sincerely hope the Oldies took note. Especially the bits about the scratching, burping and singing.
One thing’s for sure: the king of this castle had no need for CCTV. He would have had no problem keeping an eye on his territories from the top of the tower.
We also took a fascinating sidestep: to Spisska Kapitula, a walled ecclesiastical village otherwise known as the ‘Vatican of Slovakia’, only 5km further up the road. This village, with its well-preserved cathedral, bishop’s palace and clock tower is also part of the USESCO World Heritage Site. For me though, the highlight was the fantastic views of Spis Castle and the surrounding countryside from the hill beyond the village.
Emboldened by their successful conquest of the Zejmarska roklina gorge, the Oldies set out a couple of days later to tackle the most popular gorge walk in Podlesok, the Sucha Bela. This is listed as a four hour hike, but the Oldies found it a good bit easier than the Zejmarska roklina gorge walk, in spite of the fact that is longer, with a lot more steps and ladders to negotiate. In part, these were wooden and rather the worse for wear. Finally the Oldies know what it’s like for a wooden gull like me to live in constant fear of wood rot!
It was a bit of a tight squeeze too at times, with some parts of the gorge no wider than a seagull’s wingspan. Another miracle: His Lordship managed to squeeze through!
A key to campsite living is being adaptable. Today, for example, Himself went all cordon bleu on us. He declared he’d be cooking canard à l’orange for dinner and assigned Her Ladyship the job of filleting a pile of oranges. Unfortunately, she somehow managed to fillet one of her fingers in the process. His Lordship, fair dues to him, calmly came to the rescue. He changed the menu from ‘duck with orange sauce’ to ‘duck with blood orange sauce’.
