Surprise!

I'm back in Kosice again. Who knew I'd return again in 2007. It's December and I've returned to attend one of the quarterly technology meetings with IT members from all of the plants. I snapped a few photos for Cathy. These ones were taken late on a rainy December evening. They are blurry, but fun.

See Kosice in the rain the easy way: Click Here!

Home Sweet Home

I'm back home and slowly recovering from 36 days of living in a different time zone. There's no time to rest because Brano's plane arrives around 6:30 PM tonight. Dan and I will pick up Brano and Jozef at the airport tonight and tomorrow we all head back to work for another three weeks of Exchange in the 'burgh.

Last night I published my last set of photos. These photographs are from Rome. I hope you enjoyed reading the blog and checking out the photos. I had a good time publishing, commenting, and revisiting all of the places I was lucky enough to visit.

See you all soon!

Hello Rome

Who says you can't see Rome in a day? You can, but be prepared to walk. Dan and I tried to see as much of the Rome as possible in one day and, after 11 hours of walking, I think we accomplished the impossible.

Our goal was to visit all sections of the city, see the city's most significant monuments, try some real Italian cuisine, and avoid getting run over by a scooter. If you are familiar with Rome, when you see our route, you will understand why we have blisters on our feet.

See Rome the easy way: Click Here!

Goodbye Kosice

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. I had a great time putting it together and I enjoyed sharing my adventures and photographs with everyone at home. This will probably be my last entry from Slovakia.

Today is my last work day in Kosice. Dan and I catch a 5:15AM flight tomorrow morning. We will land in Rome early Thursday morning for a one-day layover before heading back to the United States on Friday. Be sure to watch the blog for photos from Rome!

To close out my stay in Kosice, I am posting a set of miscellaneous pictures that I've taken during my stay. Please enjoy them.

Check out the odd-ball pictures: Click Here!

The Red Monastery (Červený Kláštor)

After our rafting trip, we went to see Červený Kláštor, a monastery that was founded in the 1300s. In 1319, a member of a rich Spiš noble family from Brezovica, donated around 1320 acres of land from the village of Lechnica to the Cartesian Monks for the establishment of a new monastery. King Charles Robert gave his approval of the monastery's founding charter in 1320.

The Red Monastery is situated in mountains close to the village of the same name. It was inhabited by Cartesian and Camaldulsian monks in two phases. Červený Kláštor was a Cartesian monastery during 1320 - 1563 and it was a Camaldulsian monastery during 1711 - 1782. The monastery was attacked and almost destroyed in the 1500's.

The monastery was built in the seclusion of the surrounding mountains because the monks required a calm place in order to practice meditation and their ascetic way of life.

Walk the monastery grounds with me: Click Here!

Rafting on the Dunajec

On Sunday, Dan, Jozef, his wife, their daughter, and I drove to the Northern border of Slovakia to go rafting on the Danujec river. The Dunajec river forms the border between Poland and Slovakia in the Pieniny region.

The raft ride starts in Cerveny Klastor (Red Monastery) and ends 9km later in Lesnica. The area in and around Lesnica and Pieniny is very rural and I got to see another side of Slovakia that I haven't seen. In the rural North, some people still live in old log or wooden homes.

The people in the Pieniny region share a lot of the same customs as the Polish who live on the other side of the river. They speak a special dialect of Polish which Jozef said he could not understand.

To float the Dunajec: Click Here!

Trapped in the tower

On Friday evening, Dan and I went to Saint Elisabeth's Cathedral and climbed the stairs to the top of the bell tower.

An elderly woman was responsible for unlocking and locking the tower door. She spoke no English and Dan and I speak very little Slovak. When we tried to enter the tower, she said something that I'm sure was very important in Slovak. We nodded, she unlocked the door, and we started our climb.

At 5:00PM, we decided leave the tower and begin our descent of the 160 stairs. About 30 stairs from the bottom, Dan and I heard the very distinct sound of a large key locking a very old but sturdy lock. I knew instantly that the old woman had forgotten about us, locked us in, and left for the day. What she was probably telling us in Slovak was "the tower closes at 5:00".

We got to the bottom of the unlit stairs, felt around for the door, and tried to open it without luck. A twinge of panic set it as I realized we might not get out until tomorrow. I climbed up a couple stories and there was a little portal to the outside with no glass. I pressed my face into the little hole and yelled “Ahoy” to the people passing below. They all stared up at the man in the portal, looked amused, and then went on their way.

After 5-10 panic stricken minutes, another woman from the church heard us and came to the rescue. Stupid tourists.

To reach the top of the tower: Click Here!

Another fun weekend

Hey everyone. I'm posting this entry via Blackberry email because my hotel Internet connection is not working. I'm bummed because I have some fun photos from the top of St. Elisabeth's bell tower, my Pieniny rafting trip, and our visit to the Red Monastry. I will try to post again tomorrow.

Slovak Paradise

It was such a nice weekend, Dan and I decided to head back to Slovensky Raj for another hike in the mountains. This time we tackled a much more challenging trail and, even though it was very difficult, it was a absolutely worth it.

After the hike, we went to the Cactus Pub to listen to one of Brano's friends spin Electro. The set was great and the people were even better. I can see why this is Brano's favorite pub.

It's VERY late at night but I wanted to make sure that I posted today's photos. Tomorrow we are going rafting and then we are going to head to Poland. I miss you all. See you soon.

Follow us up hill: Click Here!

Roasting in Budapest

Well, I finally got some time to post the pictures from Budapest. There are a bunch, but not enough. The battery in my camera was dying so I limited the number of photos that I took.

Budapest is another beautiful European city but, to be honest, I can't say that I know it well. Unlike other cities I've visited, Budapest was way too big to get any kind of a vibe from in one day. It was especially difficult because there is no "old town" or city center. There are many beautiful old buildings and landmarks but they are scattered all throughout the city.

This is not a city you can see on foot. You need a car to drive to each monument. Budapest is roughly the size of Chicago and it's surrounding neighborhoods. You really need a week to truly explore Budapest and all it has to offer.

Please explore Budapest yourself by: Click Here!

Vienna in all it's Glory

All right. I've just posted the Vienna photos and I'm about to run out to the Hlavna with Dan and Brano to get something to eat and enjoy the beautiful evening. I hope you will enjoy the pictures of poorly centered buildings and cropped off monuments.

Please enjoy Vienna: Click Here!

Pics from the Bratislava and the Danube

OK, here is the first set of pics from this past weekend's excursion. There is a set of photos from Bratislava and one taken on the boat as we made our way up the Danube towards Vienna.

Bratislava is the capital city of Slovakia. It is located on the western border, close to Vienna and Prague. It is a new city with an old heart. It has a small, but beautiful old town section.

The Danube is Europe's second longest river. It originates in the Black Forest in Germany and flows eastwards for a distance of some 2850 km (1771 miles), passing through several Central and Eastern European capitals, before emptying into the Black Sea in Romania.

I apologize for not posting Vienna and Budapest yet. It's 11:30 PM and I'm exhausted. I will try to post the rest of the pictures tomorrow.

Please enjoy Bratislava and the Danube: Click Here!

Bratislava, Vienna, and Budapest

After a very busy week at work - including delivering our mid term presentation to the Vice President and General Managers - we took a weekend trip to Bratislava, Vienna, and Budapest. Our friends from Kosice hired a driver and a van for the trip which made all of the driving very enjoyable.

We left Kosice late in the day on Friday and arrived in Bratislava around 10:30 PM. We spent the evening there before taking a boat up the Danube to Vienna on Saturday morning. We spent Saturday in Vienna and Sunday in Budapest. All three cities have a lot to offer so we were on the run (literally) all weekend long.

I have a bunch of pictures from each city and all of the country in between. I will try to post some this evening.

An evening on the lake

After work on Tuesday, Brano took Dan, Ross (Brano's faithful little furry companion), and I outside of town to the Ruzin dam. The lake is beautiful. It looked like the perfect place to go fishing although you'd need a boat because most of the shoreline is incredibly steep. I would love to kayak or canoe around the lake. There doesn't appear to be any houses along the shore but there are a few cabins set back from the shore.

We sat on the deck of a local pub, taking in the beautiful view, and sipping a beer. After the beer we took a walk with Ross and made our way down to the head end of the lake. On the way home we stopped off at a restaurant called Baranok for a great meal and another beer. Life is good.

I published a couple photos from the lake and a few selected photos from Kosice during the summer. The Hlavna really comes alive during the summer. The street is lined with summer gardens (outdoor pubs) where you can sit, and drink, and eat until late in the evening. The people watching is great.

Follow the link to the new pics: Click Here!

Visit to the Domica Cave System

After the castle, Jozef was kind enough to drive us to the Domica Cave in the Slovenske Rudohorie Mountains. It sits on the border of Hungary, 10 km south of the town of Plesivec. Passages of the cave cross the Slovak-Hungary state border and continue in Hungary as the Baradla Cave.

The Domica Cave is the upper part of the known Domica-Baradla Cave System, situated on the southwestern border of the Slovak karst. The cave was created in light limestone from the Middle Triassic Age. The passages of the Domica Cave were shaped by the waters of the underground stream Styx.

The Domica Cave also contains the richest cave finding of artifacts from the Bukk Culture (6400-6100 BC).

To explore the Domica cave: Click Here!

Krasna Horka Hrad

On Sunday, Jozef and his daughter took Dan and I to Krasna Horka Hrad (castle) about an hour outside of Kosice to the West.

Krasna Horka is a medieval castle first constructed in the early 13th century and finished in 1320 as a Gothic castle. It was subsequently fortified and extended in the 16th century. It was first owned by the Mariassi family, followed by the Bebeks, and finally (1642-1945) the Andrassy counts who established a family museum in the castle in 1867.

The castle controlled an important trade route that ran from Transylvania to Spis and on to Poland. The castle was never conquered.

Conquer the castle: Click Here!

Slovak Paradise

On Saturday, Brano took Dan and I hiking in Slovenský raj (Slovak Paradise) National Park. Slovak Paradise is a beautiful National park, with huge mountains, the Hornád and Hnilec rivers, numerous creeks, gorges, waterfalls, caves, and sinkholes.

The park contains a huge network of challenging hiking trains including some extremely technical trails where you have to use a series of metal ladders to negotiate the cliff faces. The whole area is breath taking.

It was a perfect day in the woods despite a torrential downpour that completely soaked us to the bone. Although the rain does not show up on film, you’ll see that the pictures get hazier as the day goes on. We didn’t let the rain get in to way although it did make the trails muddy and treacherous. The trails are very rocky and the granite was as slippery as ice.

Paradise awaits you: Click Here!

Update from Slovakia

Hey! I've been here a few days so I thought I'd give an update. Cathy stayed with me for the first few days and it was great having her here.

We spent our first night at Brano's flat having a delicious, home cooked, traditional Slovak meal. There was homemade sausage from his dad, cabbage soup, chicken, and home made gnocchi. Yummmm. Brano is an awesome cook.

Brano gave Cathy a tour of the town (with Ross at our side to protect us from other dogs) and we relaxed in one of the many summer gardens now lining the Hlavna. Kosice looks great in the summer. Cathy snapped some beautiful photos that I'll post in a bit. Cathy also got to see the Spis Castle, Levoca, and a whole lot of boutiques.

Lucky you!

When I posted the last set of pictures from Brugge, I didn't know that I still had a boat load of pictures still sitting in the camera. Since there were some pretty good ones, I thought I'd post a few more. I hope you enjoy them.

Why wait, check them out now: Click Here!

Pics from Brugge, Belgium

The pictures from Brugge have been published. Wow, what a city - I'd go back in a second. I might have to schedule a yearly pilgrimage. We had a great time but four days was not nearly enough time for me.

Anybody who knows me more than ten minutes knows that I am a Belgian beer fanatic. That's the original reason we made a detour to Brugge on our way back from Prague. It was a great decision. Brugge, and Belgium in general, has a lot more to offer than just great beer. The city is beautiful and amazingly well preserved. It doesn't have as many large buildings as Prague but it doesn't need to, because every single house is a gem.

A picture tells a thousand words so here you go: Click Here!

New photos from our Prague vacation

Here is the first set of photos from vacation. These were taken in Prague. The weather was beautiful the whole time so the pics should be pretty clear. I will post our photos from Brugge in a few days.

As always to see the photos, Click Here!

The blog is back!

Hey everyone.

Cathy and I are currently in Europe, on vacation with Mike and Michele. We will be here for 12 days before I head back to Slovakia for the second half of my Managers Exchange program. The four of us are currently hanging out in Brugge, Belgium after spending 6 days in Prague, Czech Republic. It's been a whirlwind tour of sightseeing, galleries, shopping, dining, wine and beer. Expect to see boatloads of pictures very soon.

Serbia and Munich at last

Hey, I'm home and I'm finally able to post the photos from Serbia and Munich. Please take a look.

I've really enjoyed blogging about my travels and it seems like everyone at home has enjoyed it. I've concluded phase one of my European exchange. Brano will fly to Pittsburgh on Monday to work with me for three weeks.

I will be returning to Slovakia on May 28. Please tune in then for more adventures.

As always to see the photos, Click Here!

Paleolithic Internet connection

At least I'm walking upright...

Anyone remember a 1200-baud modem? Well, today I clocked the speed of my Internet connection here in my room (yes, I'm that geeky) and 1200 baud is the MAXIMUM speed I'm getting. Ugh, this hotel's Internet connection is unbelievable. I've been here 3-1/2 days and I can't post any pictures of Belgrade.

Trying to use a VPN connection to the home office to access Lotus Notes or PlanView (our project management software) is slooooooow. Each email takes a minute to paint. God forbid there's an attachment.

I will continue to try to upload photos. I was able to post the final two Prague sets by waiting until after 11:30 PM in hopes that the 5,000 hotel residents will be in bed and not downloading illegal warez. I'll try again tonight, if I can stay awake.

Prague wrap-up

Posted from my blackberry because this hotel has a prehistoric Internet connection. I swear the whole hotel is sharing one 56KB dial-up connection. Trying to open one simple email takes a minute.

Late (far too late) last night I uploaded the final two sets of photos from Prague. I hope you enjoy them. Four hours doesn't give you much time to shoot such a large beautiful city.

I added the comments this afternoon so, the last two photo albums should be available now.

As always to see the photos, Click Here!

First day in Belgrade

I spent part of today exploring Belgrade, Serbia and it was a very different experience than my past two weeks. Although Belgrade is one of the oldest cities in Europe at 7,000 years old, most of the buildings here are no older than the 18th century. In its history, Belgrade was 36 times destroyed each time almost razed to the ground.

On April 6th, 1941 Hitler ordered that Belgrade should be razed and German bombers carpet-bombed the defenseless city in waves for three days and nights, killing 17,000 Belgrade Serbs.

Prague Pictures

The first three sets of Prague pictures are out there for you to view. Trying to post these has been extremely frustrating. My hotel in Serbia has the worst possible Internet connection and it fails several times while uploading each picture. The uploads have been running for almost 24 hours and only a fraction of the pictures has been posted.

I tried to post the pictures in sets. Since Picasa will NOT allow you to order the dang photo albums, I've numbered them. If you want to follow in my footsteps choose the sets in order. Currently sets 1,2, and 3 are posted. Look for sets 4 and 5 soon.

As always to see the photos, Click Here!

Prague

Posted via blackberry: Well, it's Sunday morning and Dan and I are sitting in the Prague airport waiting for our flight to Belgrade, Serbia.

We got into Prague's Old Town (Staré Město) around 1:30 Saturday afternoon. Katarina arranged for a guide to take us on a 4-hour historical tour of the city. We hit Old Town, Josefov (the Jewish Quarter), the Lesser Quarter, and the castle. It was a whirlwind tour that hit all of the most popular spots.

Two of Katarina's friends joined us and it was fun chatting with them. They are both residents of Prague but have spent a majority of their post university years abroad in Africa and Asia. They took us to a real gem - a local Czech restaurant where we enjoyed an excellent meal, great beer, and engaging conversation.

After checking out New Town for a bit, Dan and I hit the square for one last beer and some people watching.

Again, I have a load of photos to post. I have not found an internet connection here so I'll try to post from Belgrade.

A night out with friends

The work day is over and in an hour we are going out to a local traditional Slovakian restaurant for what I'm sure will be a great meal. There will probably be some slivovica, a fiery brandy made from plums. Traditionally, a meal starts with a shot of this strong drink. Similar distillates are made from cherries, pears, and raspberries. The goal, in addition to having fun and enjoying a good meal, will be to limit my intake of any or all of these. This is not often easy to do as our friends will often insist that we enjoy more throughout the meal.

It was a good week here. Brano and I got a lot accomplished and I feel that with each passing day our communication grows stronger and we each learn more. It's sad to think that tomorrow is my last day in Kosice but I know that Brano will be coming to work with me in the States in two weeks. A change in schedule is forcing me to go to Serbia next week and Brano can not go with me because he has a major project due by month end.

Look for more pictures coming soon. Dan and I fly to Prague in the Czech Republic on Saturday morning. It's supposed to be a great city. We'll be there through Sunday and then we fly to Belgrade, Serbia for a week of meetings. I'll try to snap loads of pictures in both Prague and Belgrade before flying to Munich for my last weekend in Europe. It's hard to believe that two weeks has gone by - 15 days down and 10 to go.

Workin' in a salt mine, Goin' down down...

A salt mine? Why would you want to tour a salt mine? This is no ordinary mine. The Wieliczka Salt Mine, on the southeast outskirts of Krakow, has been worked as a mine for 900 years but people have been gathering salt there for over 5,000 years. It was one of the worlds biggest and most profitable industrial establishments back when salt was the medieval equivalent of today's oil.

Krakow's Wieliczka salt mine has been a tourist attraction since the mid-18th century . Today visitors tour 1.25 miles of passages in the oldest part of the salt mine. Nine centuries of mining in Wieliczka have produced over 124 miles of passages as well as 2,040 caverns of various sizes. The tourist route starts 209 feet deep and ends 443 feet below the earth’s surface. Still below, at some 690 ft deep, there is a sanatorium for those suffering from asthma and allergy. Occasionally concerts and other events take place in the Wieliczka mine’s biggest chambers.

The most incredible part is not the mine itself but the dozens of delicately carved salt statues, monuments, and chapels. Mining was a dangerous job so early Polish miners decided to carve a chapel out of the rock hard salt so they would have a place to pray before work. This started a trend that lasted for hundreds of years culminating in one of the most amazing feats in history. This location is considered one of the top historical sites in the world. When you see the final photographs, you’ll know why.

Keep in mind, everything you see here is made of grey salt, EVERYTHING – stairs, statues, altars, chandeliers, everything. The only thing that isn’t salt in the mines are the millions of timbers that provide support.

As always to see the photos, Click Here!

A peck of pickled Polish pictures

Go get em. I've posted three out of four sets - the trip to Krakow, Krakow's Old Town, and the Jewish Quarter. There should be something for everyone, including Krakow's amazing Grand Center, the world's oldest shopping mall, a leaning tower, a picture for Eric, and more churches than you can shake a stick at.

We only spent Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning in Krakow so we only got a tiny taste of what the city has to offer. It's a huge city with lots to see. I could easily spend a week there. I'd love to make a trip back with Cathy. There's an angel there with her name on it.

As always to see the photos, Click Here!

Hey! I'm back.

I haven't had much time to post and for that, I apologize. Last week was a very busy week at work and over the weekend we drove up to Krakow, Poland with our friends Katarina and Brano. Tonight, I'll make up for the lack of posts with a vengeance. I have four new sets of pictures - Drive to Krakow, Old Town, The Jewish Sector, and The Salt Mine.

The drive to Krakow was quite an adventure. You don't appreciate interstates until you drive 10 hours without them. It takes about 5 hours to get to Krakow from Kosice via car. There is no easy direct route and the roads run from town to town in a zigzag pattern. Add to that the fact that some areas had speed limits as low at 40KPH and it made for a long ride.

What to do during such a long, rainy, trip? Take pictures out the car window! OK, with the rain, the haze, and the moving car, these aren't going to be the best shots but they are pretty good. I wanted to snap a bunch so you'd get a feel for the trip. Please enjoy.

As always to see the photos, Click Here!

Breakfast in Krakow

Posted from my blackberry: I'm sitting in a small cafe having the breakfast of champions - pierogies and coke light. Woot! This is a beautiful city filled with beautiful people.

We are in the Jewish sector, right around the corner from the square where Shindler's List was filmed. We spent the evening in the old town center. You could spend weeks in old town just exploring and looking at the architecture. Once again, I've taken tons of pictures. I'll post them when I get back to Kosice.

We are heading to the salt mines in a few minutes. I'll take more pics there. The carvings are supposed to be wonderful

Hockey Club Košice

Last night we went to see Hockey Club Košice at the Steel Aréna - Košice‘s L. Troják Stadium. The new arena is very nice. We had seats in the company box and we thoroughly enjoyed the game.

On this evening HC Košice beat Trenčín 6-2 during the second game of the semi-finals. The fans here are great - even more rabid and loud than home town fans. They have a dedicated "dog pound" section in the seating behind one of the goals. These people have no seats and stand the whole time pounding drums and chanting. At times, it's deafening. It was strange seeing thousands of people wearing USS blue jerseys with the USS logo.

HC Košice's cheerleaders are also quite talented and seem to be very popular.

Evening in Kosice

It was another nice day. The weather is warming up and Branislav (Brano) and I got a lot of work done. After work, Dan, Brano, Jozef, Katarina, and I met the city's local historian and went for a 2-hour walk around town. We heard some amazing stories and learned a lot about Kosice' impressive history.

We spent a good bit of time inside Saint Elisabeth's Cathedral. The inside of that church is unbelievable. Pictures are not allowed, and I did not want you to miss out on the best part, so I bought a book at the city government office that is filled with detailed photographs.

After the stroll, Brano and Jozef took Dan and I to a small traditional Czech restaurant for real Czech cuisine and a Budweiser... a what... a Budweiser. This was the real thing - the one that a certain American brewer stole the name from. It was as far from American Budweiser as grubs are to prime rib. We sampled three different beers – Budweiser Budvar Pilsner, Budweiser Budvar Premium Dark, and a black-n-tan made by floating the Pilsner on top of the dark.

Oh yeah there is also a boatload of new photos: Rick's pics

First day at work

If you've been following along, you know that today was my first day at U.S.S.K. I just wanted to tell everyone that things went really well. I couldn't have been teamed up with a nicer guy than Branislav (Brano). He's bright, articulate, and though he would disagree, his English is very good. When he comes to Pittsburgh, I think you will all like him.

I'm settled into my temporary home and I've begun the first week of the exchange. I've learned a lot already and I'm sure I'll learn more. U.S.S.K. is a very nice plant. The company cafeteria is much nicer than the one at home and most people seem to take advantage of it. During lunch, it's packed with people socializing and having fun.

Mountain photos

Well, this wraps up the weekend photos. I've posted all the pics I have of the High Tatras and a little map of the Northern part of the journey along E50. Click on the map and zoom in for a better view. Look for Spisske Podhradie (Spis Castle), Levoca, Poprad, and Stary Smokovec at the base of the Tatras.

Thanks for joining me on my journey. Please leave me a comment if you are enjoying the pics. I have three more weeks to go and I have a lot of things I want you to see. I miss you all. See you soon.

Teším sa na ďalšie stretnutie s vami. (I'm looking forward to seeing you again.)

As usual, the pictures can be found here: Rick's pics

Levoca, a walled city, with no wall photos

What was I thinking? I went to Slovakia's famous medieval walled city and I didn't take pictures of the wall and the beautiful fortified entrances. Not much of a tour guide...

Here's the thing, we zipped into Levoca on the way to the Tatras Mountains and we only had a few minutes to run around. We didn't do the city justice and I hope to correct that come June.

Anywho, I've posted the wall-less photos. Please enjoy.

As usual, the pictures can be found here: Rick's pics

A castle tour in 4,000 photos or less

OK, the castle pictures are out there. It took some doing but, I whittled them down from 100+ photos to under 40. Some of you would probably prefer that I whittle some more but I can't. I hope you enjoy them.

I realize that it's going to be impossible to figure out the shape of the place by looking at the photos. I have a blueprint of the castle, which I'm trying to post, but blogger.com isn't cooperating. I'll keep trying.

Edit: Here's the blueprint. Click on it to see it in all of it's glory. Use it to build your own.

As usual, the pictures can be found here: Rick's pics

Where are the pictures?

They are coming. I apologize but it's late and I need to get to bed to prepare for my first day at U.S.S.K. I promise to publish the Spis Castle, Levoca, and High Tatras pictures asap. I did publish a couple of road trip pics to hold you over.

As usual, the pictures can be found here: Rick's pics

A misunderstanding that lead to gunfire

It was getting late and we hadn’t eaten, so Dan and I drove around the base of the Tatras looking for a restaurant. We finally settled on a restaurant called Albas. The place was very rustic inside - kind of like a log cabin. The owner was extremely friendly but no one spoke English. We thought this was a good sign and hoped for some delicious local cuisine.

Some menu items were easy to recognize like goulash, pirogies, etc. I ordered a plate that came with both. The owner recommended a soup – so I chose garlic soup with goat cheese and raw egg. He also insisted on something else… what that something was, we didn’t know.

Using my impressive Slovak language skills, I determined that it was probably an appetizer. He insisted – so I said yes. Dan and I were quite pleased with our selections and we began to chat.

At this point, I had lost track of the owner who was quickly approaching with two flaming cups and a handgun. I never saw him until he fired the first of two shots into the ceiling – I saw him then – and quite intently.

Turns out, our “appetizer” was some kind of flaming 180 proof mulled cidery scotch-whiskey-bourbon thing. What the gunfire was about, we will never know but he seemed quite pleased and we were all laughing. The gun obviously had blanks loaded.

High on a hill was a lonely goat herd...

After a couple of hours of driving, castle spelunking, and a medieval town raid, we come to the High Tatras mountains on the border of Slovakia and Poland.

The High Tatras Mountains are one of the smallest mountain ranges in the world in length; nevertheless, they are the highest and the only mountain range of the alpine system in the Slovak Republic. The length of the main mountain ridge is 26.5 km. It begins with Laliove sedlo on the western side and ends with Kopske sedlo on the eastern side. The border of Slovakia and Poland runs along the main mountain ridge. I've heard that it is the second highest mountain range in Europe. The snow-covered peaks are beautiful and everyone in Slovakia seems to enjoy their grandeur and the excitement that they offer. It was an excellent day for skiing when we were there and plenty of people took advantage of that fact.

As usual, the pictures can be found here: Rick's pics

Castle's aren't your thing? How about a medieval city

After leaving Spis Castle, we drove north on E50 again and came across Levoca, a walled city. The well-preserved town square has retained its medieval shape: it is a rectangle with 3:1 sides, and it is one of the largest squares of its kind in Europe. In the square are situated 60 Renaissance style burghers' houses built in the 14th and 15th centuries. These structures testify to the riches of the town in the Middle Ages.

I think I'm going to make another trip back to Levoca during the summer. The park is beautiful and I want to see it in full bloom. Also, we had very little time to spend there because the day was flying by and we had to reach the northern border of Slovakia to see the High Tatras Mountains before dark.

As usual, the pictures can be found here: Rick's pics

Oh, mein got, it's a castle...

Hey look at that funny rock formation on the top of the mountain. It looks like a... CASTLE! A Spis Castle.

What a pleasant surprise. For me, it's not often that I drive down a country road, take a corner, and see a massive stone castle dominating the landscape. And I do mean dominate. How could you ever loose a war if you had a castle like this?

Spis Castle is one of the largest medieval castles in the Central Europe. It was first mentioned in historical documents from 12th century. The main body of the castle was surrounded by a stone fortification in the first half of the 13th century. This enabled the castle to resist the raids of the Tatars in 1241. In the same century Italian stonecutters who worked on the construction of the Spisska Kapitula strengthened the fortifications.

I'm going to post a boatload of castle picks. If you are castle fan, you'll love it. I know I went hickey-jig with the photos. Sorry - this is my first castle. I tried to document every stone. I'll pick some of the best shots and try to make a story. It's hard to picture a structure this large from a couple of photos.

Special treat alert: since I was really bummed to be touring my first castle without Cathy, my friends, and my family, I took some movies so you can feel like you are standing there. I'll try to find a way to post them. Mike U - just you wait for the double-secret D&D passageways. You’ll wanna roll a 2D-20

As usual, the pictures can be found here: Rick's pics

It just gets better

Wow! Today was another busy day. I think we squeezed a whole weekend worth of activities into one day. Dan and I were restless so, we decided to hit the road and try our hand at driving in Slovakia. I give the credit to Dan because he was behind the wheel but, it wasn't as difficult as you'd think. Slovakia has adopted standard EU signage so it's not too difficult to figure out what you are supposed to do. We almost got burned by a few things we didn't know:

1) You must drive with your headlights on from October through March
2) You need a "highway sticker" on your windshield if you want to drive on the highway
3) The highways have automated scanners to look for the above sticker.

There are some signs that we still haven't figured out.

OK, get ready for a boatload of updates - castles, mountains, medieval cities, etc.

As usual, the pictures can be found here: Rick's pics

An evening in Tokaj (pronounced toe-kie)

Our Slovakian friends took us to the Tokaj wine-producing region of Slovakia. This area produces special sweet desert type wines. They also produce a delicious selection of white wines.

We spent the evening at the J&J Ostrozovic winery in Tokaj. The winery sits at the foot of some ancient volcanoes and it is these volcanoes that give the region the perfect soil for growing grapes.

We spent most of the evening in the cellars and great hall of the Tokaj House. You have to see the pictures to believe how cool the cellars are. They are carved, by hand, out of volcanic rock 3-4 stories below the surface. We tried 15 different white wines including some extremely special Tokaj desert wines. Wow, we need to find an importer. I guarantee you’ve never had anything that tasted like this.

The cellar’s mold and the special growing technique of harvesting grapes that have been infected with “noble rot” give these wines their extremely sweet taste. The noble rot withers the effected grapes and concentrates the sugars. The final product is in a class all by itself.

With the wine, we were served all kind of delicious treats including two kinds of local sausage, red cabbage, pate, duck, and something very similar to pigs-in-a-blanket but much, much better. Our friends treated us to a very special night and it was much appreciated.

For more information on Tokaj sweet wines please follow this link: Tokaj wines

As usual, the pictures can be found here: Rick's pics

Saturday lunch

After walking around during the morning, Dan and I stopped in at the Keltska Krcma a Viking themed pub for a quick lunch. The food and service was very good. I had a steak with thinly sliced deep fried onions on toast and Dan had ribs. I took a couple of photos inside the dark restaurant but I didn't want to disturb the patrons, so I didn't use the flash. No good. Of the three shots (all blurry) only one gives you any idea what the place looked like.

Here it is. Mike, eat your heart out.

Saturday morning stroll

We got up early and had breakfast. Dan is familiar with the city so he took me all around Kosice. It's cloudy and a little rainy so I hope the pictures aren't too dark. I'll try to take a lot more pictures while I'm here.

Kosice's city center - the Hlavna - is beautiful. The pictures don't do it justice. I need to take a whole lot more so you get a feeling for how much is here. This place is a boutique shoppers paradise. Cathy and Susan would be going nuts. Plenty of fashion, furniture, shoe, and specialty stores.

I have to run off to meet my coworkers, I'll try to post more later. Meanwhile, check out these photos...

For more photos, see: Rick's photo log

Friday night in Kosice

So far, jetlag hasn't been too bad even though I haven't slept since Wednesday night. I tried to sleep on the plane but that really didn't work. I think I might have slept for an hour or two at the most. I was afraid that I'd snore and keep everyone else awake.

We attended a welcome dinner at Restaurant Le Colonial in Kosice. We met our counterparts for the first time. Branislav is very nice and he reminds me a whole lot of my buddy Mike. Everyone made us feel at home, It was a great way to start of the adventure. Dinner was delicious by the way. We also had our first glass(es) of Slivovice. It's one of the most popular drinks in Slovakia. It's a plum brandy by class but it tastes more like tequila or bourbon. It's potent stuff but quite good.

For more photos, see: Rick's photo log

Sunrise over the Alps

It's a sunny morning in Vienna and I'm sitting in Austrian Air's business lounge waiting for my afternoon flight. The flight was long but very comfortable. Business class is the way to go - the reclining seats are large and the food is delicious. I caught a couple hours of sleep and I spent the rest of the time listening to Mike's playlist.

The sun came up as we were flying past Zurich. The Alps were stunning. Their snow covered peaks rose above the clouds and stretched as far as I could see.

Wow! Publishing via email

I just discovered that blogger.com gives you the ability to publish new entries via email. This means I should be able to update the site from anywhere via blackberry. This entry was posted via my Nokia 770.

One more bug crushed...

Finally everyone seems to be able to get to my journal.

None of our home PCs could access http://www.furiouscylon.com/ from our home network. I was worried that Cathy wouldn't be able to check the site from home.

I spent four hours on the phone with my ISP and my hosting company but nothing worked. Long story short, I found a neat flag in the ipconfig command that cleared everything up. Thank you Joe for steering me in the right direction.

Big thanks

I wanted to send out a big "Thank you" to my friends and coworkers.

My buddy Mike, made an incredible iPod playlist for me to listen to during the 11 hour flight. It's an amazing 8 hour list containing songs from every possible genre. Mike is the zen master of playlists and compilations. I've already cheated and listened to the first couple of songs and I can't wait to hear the rest.

My friends from work took me out for a goodbye lunch today. They treated me to a huge bowl of pasta at Bruschettas. Yum. They even acted like they will miss me, although Tom is hoping that I will die over the Atlantic so that he can assume the role of Team Manager. ;)

The blog is working

Hey, I'm as surprised as anyone but, the blog is up and running. I'm hosting the blog on my own private URL - furiouscylon.com so that most of you should be able to see it from work. It seems like most companies are blocking blogger.com which is the blog hosting / creation site that I am using to prepare this site.

I have enabled anonymous comments so you wont have to sign up for a gmail account to leave me a note - please be nice. The comments and the email features use blogger.com so it may not work from your office. Please try it from home.

Getting ready for the trip

In a few more days, I'm off to Kosice, Slovakia for the first of two trips as a participant in the Managers Exchange program at my company.

I wanted to find some way to share my experiences with my family, friends, and coworkers back at home. For this reason, I have decided to create my first blog. Since I am a complete novice, this might pose some significant technical problems.

With any luck, you'll be able to tune in here for more updates.