18th and 19th of January, 2022.
My next destination is Orava Castle and I write that in my sign. Stupid! Orava is barely the name of the whole region where the castle is located. So after a long and freezing hour waiting, I start to feel really sad. Plus my whole body is freezing. Mostly my feet.
Finally a man comes back and park across the road. He tells me he can drive me to Proprad, and from there I might have better chances. What is it with me and Proprad anyway?
I explain to him that once in Proprad I will simply look for a church and shelter All of sudden, he asks me if it is OK for me if he drives me to the village of Oravský Podzámok, where the castle is located. I say yes! But I tell him he does not need to do that because is about one hour driving. But he insists.
This nice man is with his young son in the car, they are spending some holidays skiing in the mountains. We stop at a gas station and he gets me a hot tea. I really needed that to warm up my soul! When we arrive in Oravský Podzámok, I tell him where the church is, so he drives me there. He tries to give me some money but I refuse.
At the church, the service has just finished. I find the priest and talk to him. He talks with another lady and she tells me to follow her. We are walking through some streets and I wonder where are we going. There is ice everywhere and I am scared.
Another lady join us. She stops by a house, her house, and grab some keys. She take me to a room in a pension, which now I believe it belongs to the church (?). The room is cosy and warm. There is a bathroom and a kitchen and a couch. I decide I will simply sleep in the couch, with my sleeping bag, and also only use my own towel, so at least I give them less work to do tomorrow.
I have only the bread from the priest in Spišské Podhradie for food. When I am getting read to have a shower, somebody knocks on my door. When I open I see this beautiful and smiley young lady with a plate of food in her hands. “This is our gift for you!”- she says. It is “my” baked pasta with white cheesy sauce. The only difference it is that mine I prepare only with cauliflower, while this one has also broccoli. Broccoli! I cannot believe it! I even ask the lady to come inside so I can show her what I was about to have for dinner: bread. Of course the meal is delicious!
Perhaps because life cannot be that good for anybody, I don’t sleep very well at night. I believe it has something to do with my body been way too cold before, so during the night it was way too hot.
I leave early in the morning but luckily I manage to find the lady who took me to the pension. She works in the restaurant there. Of course. I give her the plate back and the key.
The castle is only five minutes away. You can actually see it from mostly anywhere in the village. It is wonderful! But it is high in the mountain so all you can see it is the surroundings of the castle. I feel a bit sorry for not having planning this better. The castle opens only at 9 a.m. And it seems like a really nice medieval castle to see it from inside. Or at least from the courtyard. I could ask them for that. But now is only 8 a.m. So I cannot simply wait here outside in the cold. If I had thought this through, I could have stayed in the pension until 9 a.m. And then coming in here. Ai, ai… if only I had more experience as a traveller…
So after a few photographs I take my way out of town in direction to the village of Čičmany.