Before continuing, I should also note that in the car on the way to the V.AP Stužková, thanks to modern technology,
we were able to meet our new granddaughter for the very first time on a smartphone, via Facetime!! It was amazing to see our sweet, beautiful baby girl and her parents in the hospital back in Iowa, even though we were an ocean away.
After the Stužková, we stayed overnight in Liptovský Trnovec with Pat'ka. We celebrated her birthday in the morning with a delicious brunch she prepared for us. (We should have fixed the meal for HER instead!)
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| One place I had always wanted to visit is Havránok, an open-air archaeological museum very near to Liptovský Mikuláš. It was the site of some ancient Celtic ruins. |
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| Pat'ka took us to Havránok for the morning, and we walked up to the museum area. This is looking back at Liptovská Mara, the reservoir/lake, with this bell tower on the shore. |
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| The day was a little overcast, but the smiles were sunny! :-) |
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| Some autumn colors were still remaining. |
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| The museum area is up on the top of a hill overlooking the mara (reservoir), so the views became ever more beautiful as we ascended up the path. |
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| Our first view of some of the reconstructed ruins on the hillside. |
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| The fog and mist added mystery to the landscape below us on this cloudy morning! |
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| It looked like a Romantic era landscape painting! :-) |
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| Pat'ka and Tim heading up the path to the lookout area. |
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| Enjoying the views at Havránok. |
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| More fall colors on our walk. |
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| Our short climb to the top of the hill was rewarded with this view of the Low Tatras in the distance with the countryside and the Vah River in between. |
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| The views were almost surreal - like a painting for sure!! |
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| The thatched roof and wooden construction showing how the Celtic people lived. |
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| One tiny burst of color on our path. |
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| The vivid tree colors really brightened up the gloomy weather as we walked! |
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| A Celtic ceremonial area near the top of the hill. (Notice the animal skulls on top of the shorter poles at right.) |
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| The religious/ceremonial area and a watchtower. Some of the mosaic stone patterns are original from centuries ago. |
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| More bright colors on our path! |
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| Though the actual museum was closed, there was still plenty to see on our trip to Havránok! Thanks, Pat'ka!! |
Saturday afternoon, Pat'ka drove us to Východná, where we stayed with our Slovak daughter, Katarína Joy, and her
family for the rest of the weekend.
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KJ and Tim each wore their T-shirts from the other's home! (Katarína visited us in Iowa the summer of 2013, so she
understands the "Field of Dreams" quote now!!) :-) |
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| The whole family --- Janka, Juraj, Juraj (Jr.) holding little Jurko (also named Juraj), Anička, and Katarína. |
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| Tim and I were able to learn from these awesome Slovak grandparents about all the fun of a first grandchild!! |
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| Jurko liked to sleep outside in his stroller! |
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| Tim entertaining adorable little Jurko!! :-) |
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| While we were there, some of the Východná hunting group returned from the forest with a deer carcass. Notice the sprig of evergreen in the hat of the hunter who made the kill. |
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| A similar sprig of evergreen is placed in the deer's mouth to honor it. |
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Katarína's brother and father (both Juraj's) in their
hunting clothes. |
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Katarína's grandmother walking up from her house
at the other end of the lot. She is such a sweetie!! |
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| We took the baby out for a walk in the afternoon. The church at left is the Lutheran church where we worshipped with Katarína on Sunday. |
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The views of the High Tatras over the rooftops of Východná
were spectacularly beautiful in the evening light! |
Katarína let us borrow her 'new' car to drive back to Bobrovec,
for convenience sake, and we drove it to school the next morning
to return it to her. Thanks to Katarína Joy and the J's for such an
amazing weekend of fun, laughter, and delicious food!!
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| On our way back to Bobrovec, we got a call from one of Tim's Vrbica Bulls basketball buddies, Michal. Since he works in Prague now, it was great that we got an opportunity to visit with him before he returned there. |
With Christmas approaching, and many preparations still waiting to be done, I'm not sure if the next post will occur until the new year. (I only have 3 kinds of Christmas goodies baked so far --- 9 to go!) But rest assured, I will continue to blog about our November trip to Slovakia, in installments. It's really fun for me to re-live all the wonderful moments, encounters, and experiences while we were back in our second homeland! So for now, we wish a very Merry Christmas to anyone reading this. God bless you all!!
