Kosice, Slovakia

(pronounced Koh-shitz-uh)

So this was a very interesting trip for me and quite unique. This trip was for business as the manufacturer of one of our products is in Kosice. I was only there for 3 days (click here for the blog about it) for a 1 day product development meeting. I’d never met any of these people in person and the one person I was in communication with for everything, was unable to show up due to travel complications… Then I flew to Slovakia with a group of people I didn’t know, with only 1 of them speaking English well enough for us to have a conversation. That night I was checked in to the Hotel Yasmin (48.729580, 21.257056) and went to sleep (well I tried to anyhow) being the furthest away from any friend or family member I’d ever been and I didn’t know a single person in the entire country. I wasn’t lonely, but I was alone. It was a unique experience for me and I actually enjoyed it.

Halušky

A traditional Slovakian dish. Think of really small gnocchi with amazing cheese sauce… This particular dish was everything I ever dreamed of. They even served it with sour cream! Just in case there was not enough cheese on it. On the top of this particular dish was sautéed onions.

::drool::

The above image is St. Elisabeth Cathedral. It’s actually (per wikipedia) Slovakia’s largest church. I did get a chance to go inside, but I didn’t get any pictures of it because I didn’t want to be disrespectful. I thought this building was amazing. According to my research, this church burnt down in 1380, and has since been de-constructed and re-constructed 5 separate times. That would explain the vastly different stone used to build the outer walls.

– Danan

High Tatras

The High Tatras were really awesome. If I didn’t have my friend Noro with me, I guarantee I would never have made it. We had to take several trains and a bus to get there, and even he got confused along the way and we almost boarded the wrong train. Once we got there though, it was quite a sight to see. Gorgeous landscape that my pictures don’t do justice. Though it was very touristy, it was still quite beautiful. It was really cool to see a huge lake at this high altitude on what was, all things considered, a rather small area of land.

Kosice Castle

Kosice Castle was built in the early 1300’s. After about 100 years, the castle was given to the city of Kosice. Unfortunately, the only thing that remains is sections of the castles original foundation. This is not because it was razed to the ground. It was slowly pilfered from by the inhabitants of Kosice after the caste was given to the city. It was really cool to see what was there though. Visiting a structure so old as this, you can almost feel the history when looking at the rocks piled up to form a wall.

“There is so much of this planet that so many people haven’t the foggiest notion of. You should travel and learn of other cultures, partake in their customs (some of them) and deepen your understanding of mankind by experiencing it for yourself, not on the internet.”

DANAN COLEMAN