Trenčín

Day trip today on the speedy train to Trencin which is in the north west part of Slovakia. It only took an hour and a half to get there but we had to catch the early train so it was rise and shine at 6am. The little city is beautiful and a huge castle overlooks the whole city. Walking to the castle was only a 15 minute walk from the train and the weather was lovely. We took a guided tour because that was the only way we could see the whole castle and had a tour guide who talked so fast, non stop the whole time that I thought I was going to lose my mind. The city had a Roman sign engraved by Marcus Aurelius from the Roman Empire when they occupied Trencin with 885 Roman soldiers. The castle was also inhabited by the Hungarians, German s, Poles, Celts and the Slavs. The celts unified the territory of today's Slovakia and brought currency into use instead of trade. The castle burned down in the early 1700's and has been beautifully restored. There was a 79.2 m well dug but never functioned properly and only provided water when the Vah River was really high. The Vah River had palaeolithic finds of a mammoth 's lower and upper jaw. I climbed up to the bell tower and had a great view of the small city. Had my first hazelnut gelato in the whole time I've been away and it was fabulous. There were some interesting sculptures in the city park and incredible architecture. The region is known for copper works and wine.Read more