17th of January, 2022.
A van stops. The guy driving looks funny. Like a character from a movie or something. He can drive me until Ruzomberock, which is good. Kind of. During the trip, he calls his son, a young boy who can speak English, so we chat a little bit. His father asks if we can take a photograph together and if I could publish in my blog later. Funny.
It starts to rain a little bit and the wind is super strong. Luckily, in a few minutes a van with nuns passes by me and they stop a bit ahead. I am not expecting that, so when I look back and see one of the nuns calling me I get surprised!
Sisters Otilia, Natanaela and Ulrika are going from Sofia to Poprad. I am chatting a little bit with one of them, who can speak a bit of English. I have never though that one day I would be picked up by nuns! When they drop me outside of Poprad, it starts to snow a lot and the wind is crazy. After waiting for a while in a intersection, I decide to walk a little bit further, hoping to find a better spot.
I cannot believe that so many people pass by me and didn’t stop. Why would you leave someone freeze to death outside in the snow, when you could simply stop your car and help?
An elderly man stops. He cannot speak English so it is a bit difficult for us to understand each other. And he does not understand what the word “castle” means. So he drives me to Spišská Nová Ves. Once in there, we try to ask for some translation in a hotel. With a little bit of difficulty, the receptionist helps us to understand each other. And she show me the directions of how to get out of town.
At some point I get confused, so I decide to ask directions in a building. When I open the door, what a surprise! This gorgeous guy is sitting in a desk and talks in English with me. There is also another lady in another desk in front of him and I am so glad that it is him who gets up and come to talk with me. All I can think is how lucky is that lady for having such handsome man for co-worker. And sharing an office with him. He is polite and so well dressed. Oh, Loki, he is just so charming! Anyway, he walks with me outside and tells me I am in the right direction, just need to keep going straight. Come with me, please! Laugh.
After saying “goodbye” and many “thank you” to my Greek God, I keep walking and find a place for hitchhiking.
After a few minutes a couple stops. Nicol and Boris are going somewhere nearby so they decide to drive me to Spišské Podhradie, the small village at the bottom of Spiš Castle. They are so cute and so surprised about my travels. Nicol is such a sweet girl and she tells me that she was having a bad day but that now I have changed that. Owm!! They even say they would come with me to visit the castle but they have an appointment.
At the first church I ask for shelter, the lady says she will actually close soon, and she is more like responsible for the visit to the churches than connected to the church itself. I go then to the next church. A lady tells me that because of Covid they cannot let me stay. In the third church, a kind man hears me and tells me I can stay. Yay! I tell him I would like to go see the castle before gets dark and he says it is alright. So I leave The Hulk around and go with my small backpack.
The way up is all fine. At some point, there is a sign saying that walking around the castle it can be dangerous because of falling rocks. They don’t say it is forbidden, but only dangerous, so I decide to go anyway because I cannot go inside already. At some point it starts to snow. I think I will be fine so I keep going. When I reach the entrance of the castle the snow is super strong and everything is covered in snow. And there is not even a covered place where I can hide under for a while.
Instead of taking the same way back, I decide to keep going around the castle by the other side. Oh, my Loki! It gets so tricky to go down, that you have no idea. And it is slippery because of the snow. And the snow falling does not give me a break! I have an awful time! I get all covered in snow. I am freezing! And I have to be careful to not fall from here and die. With a lot of effort I manage to finally get back. When I get down and check my backpack, there is a thick layer of snow over it. But of course that when I get down to the town, the snow stops.
Back in the church, the nice man shows me a dinning room where I will be staying for the night. There is a couch! Couchsurfing in a church! He asks me if I want to eat something, and stupid as I am I say no. Why? You got me! I get changed and try to spread my clothes and my things around the heaters.
Around 7 o’clock, the nice man comes to tell me he is leaving. And again I don’t ask him for food. I think I don’t want to bother him even more. Later on I get really hungry and even when I hear some people around, I don’t go and ask for food. Next morning, I would figure that there is a church kitchen there, so I probably could have eaten something. Next time…
Oh yeah, in the morning, the nice man is back early and he offers me some coffee. Then he goes and buy me two chocolate croissants! And when I am leaving he gives me a bread! So kind of him!
