Monday, 21 May

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="044d4c00dduajq.gif"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 46 WIDTH="91"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="46" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="91" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <A HREF="id154.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sunday, 20 May"><U><IMG SRC="0450b0b0.gif" border=0 width="11" height="11" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>   <A HREF="id156.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tuesday, 22 May"><U><IMG SRC="0460b0b0.gif" border=0 width="11" height="11" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>       <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="11" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="11">   <A HREF="id133.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May"><U><IMG SRC="0480b0b0.gif" border=0 width="11" height="11" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="237af8b0.jpg" border=0 width="175" height="139" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Castle of Spis, Slovakia</div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#003333" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Gastropod's Trail</B></FONT>     |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Gastropods Trail"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> Monday, 21 May</div> <div> Presov, Slovakia to Dolny Kubin, Slovakia</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="238902c0.jpg" border=0 width="400" height="300" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5">From our hilltop campsite we had seen a hill in the center of the valley with the ruins of a majestic castle and small villages nestled among the patchwork of green and yellow fields around it. It did not take us long to arrive at Spissky hrad (Spis Castle or Zipser Burg in German) the largest castle in Slovakia. The dominant location of the hill has attracted settlers as early as the 5th millennium B.C. The strategic position on the old trade road connecting the south and north of Europe was the ideal spot to found a castle in 1209. It was wrecked by the Tatars in the 13th century and reconstructed in the 15th century. Although the castle burnt down in 1780, the ruins and the site are spectacular. The highest enclosure contains a round Gothic tower, a cistern, a chapel and a rectangular Romanesque palace perched over the abyss. </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> View of Spis Castle from Spis Chapter with lower gate</div> <bR> <div> On the hill facing the castle and just above the town of Spisske Pohardie is a walled in complex of buildings, Spisska Capitula (Spis Chapter), a center of church power and governance and the residence of the Provost since 1209. A Basilica was raised in the second half of the 13th century. Eventually a Jesuit Monastery and a seminary were added and the whole complex was being fortified with ramparts and towers as early as the 14th century. </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="23a90e90.jpg" border=0 width="400" height="233" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5">After climbing to the castle and visiting the three small villages surrounding it, Hodkovce with it's Baroque mansion where the castle barons found better comfort in the 18th century, Zehra with it's beautiful early Gothic church from the 13th century and Spisske Pohardie we traveled on along the road in the valley between the two mountain ranges of the High Tatras and the Low Tatras. </div> <bR> <div> The mix of forests and fields with the still snowcapped high Tatras on the right and the low Tatras on the left dotted with picturesque villages dominated by one or more churches made this one of the most relaxing and enjoyable drives so far and the new highway made for good progress. After passing the lake at Liptovsky Mikulas we reached the Fatras Mountains and decided to head a little further north to visit the Narodny Park. At Dolny Kubin we discovered this charming Camping on the bank of the Orava river and settled in for a day or two. (In spite of it's spectacular natural beauty, the Slovak tourist facilities (apart from hotels) are sparse and there are few camp sites.)</div> </td> </tr></table></body>