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11 July 2024 - Liptovský Michal
Yesterday when we crossed over the Carpathian Mountains into Slovakia it was my second time entering the country. The first was a couple years ago while visiting Zakopane, Poland I ran up Kasprowy Wierch and crossed just over the border on the peak. This time we are here for a week and staying at a cabin in Liptovský Michal with Mirek, Mirka, and their daugther Basia. It really takes me back to Iwona and my first trip together in Poland when we were just getting to know eachother and had no itinerary. She said, "would you like to stay with my childhood best friend and family at a cabin in the forest in eastern Poland", and I, as one does in improv, said "yes, and..." It was there that Paula escaped from Iwona when Mirek and I ran off into the forest with his dog Inka and we discovered Paula's love of running.
We managed to hit two UNESCO sites on our way here, the church of Saint-Nicolas at Bodružal and Spišský Hrad. The first of these was a wooden Greek-Catholic church dating from the mid-17th century. In the eastern Carpathian Mountains is a minority group who speak Rusyn and use the Cyrillic alphabet. Much like the Russians claim Ukrainian is just Russian, in Ukraine their language is not recognized as distinct from Ukrainian since it's also on the east Slavic branch of the Indo-European tree of languages. In Slovakia they are well recognized though and even the signage in the mountains is written in both Slovak and Rusyn. There was a lovely old local woman who let us into the church and shared its history with us and something about her language. Iwona, who is fluent in Polish and Russian, can communicate with most speakers of a Slavic language. I find it fanscinating to see these minority languages still in action, like Rhaeto-Romansch Graubunden in Switzerland. Our next stop was Spišský Hrad, a medieval castle build on a travertine hill 600 meters above the valley. Impressive views and partially restored to its former glory that allow in to be the sole holdout against the Mongols raids in the area.
Dogs are allowed but only on the leash, to keep them from eating the prairie dogs that live in the castle keep
