Who would have thought that a road trip will be the answer to all my travel woes. There was no traveling going on during the lock down and afterwards just a bit. Plans change, get canceled, or altogether turn out unrealistic. What one needs during these times is a certain flexibility. So a week before we left, we hashed out the idea to leave the country. Options were already limited, but Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia were still open. Also, they had better numbers than in Austria, so we had the best chance of enjoying a Covid free trip.
The trip lead us through Czech Republic where we only spent an afternoon. Way too short of course and not enough time to really visit a palace or castle. Although many lay on the way to Poland. We managed a stop for coffee and cake though, and isn’t that almost the same as a castle visit?
coffee and cake in Mikulov @Czechia
Okay, not true. We walked up to the castle of Mikulov and even stopped in a second town in Czechia in Kromeriz. Both towns boast beautiful castles and palaces, the second has even a large Baroque flower garden. We managed a walk through the old town and that was that for Czechia.
Next up was Poland which was the actual reason for this trip. The plan was always to visit Auschwitz, and then the rest just followed. As I said, during a pandemic one has to be flexible. We spent four nights on Polish soil, one in Auschwitz, two in Krakow, and one in Czorsztyn. If you don’t know where that is, no worries. It’s somewhere near the border to Slovakia. Spending four days in Poland on this road trip seems like a long time, but it was so worth it. The area around Krakow offers a lot do and see.
the Cloth Hall on the main square @Krakow
After Czorsztyn and a rafting tour on the Dunajec river we drove all the way to Kosice, in the south eastern part of Slovakia. Unfortunately we had only two more nights left on this road trip. One of them was spent in Kosice and the other in Tratranska Lomnica, a village in the Tatra region. This road trip was as varied as possible. Mountains, cities, museums, rafting, plus a couple of castles and palaces.
Tatranska Lomnica somewhere behind the clouds @Slovakia
In hindsight we had the perfect mix of everything. And, we were exceptionally lucky in regards to the pandemic and so enjoyed our road trip to the fullest. I wish I could have had more time though. My sightseeing list for these three countries was three pages long and we only managed a fraction of it. But better this than nothing. In the end I do know that I want to return to these areas and explore them in more detail. Yours, Pollybert
