BREZOVA POD BRADLOM, SLOVAKIA

We are heading to the birthhome of my mother,

Brezova pod Bradlom.

Nearby we will pass through the small hometown of Slovak national hero, 
Milan Rastislav Štefánik.
1880-1919

The area seems to be a geographic hotbed that nurtured certain individuals that went on to become significant figures in a seemingly never ending "war" towards the country's sovereignty and democracy. 

Brezova pod Bradlom

From the memoirs our father:

Without any detailed notes, 

I would just assume the nearly one hundred years ago our mother would have attended one of these churches.

ZILINA, SLOVAKIA. HOME OF THE BROTHERS SAGAN

March 7, 2020

Hey, that's three time World Cycling Champion 

Peter Sagan 

on that billboard.

As we are coming into his hometown, 

maybe he's promoting his:

Tour Petra Sagana

Zilina was also a temporary home to my father when he was working in the area in the late 1940's.

Before we came into town I took a look to see if there was anything of the Sagan brothers worth checking out.

What kept googling up were images, as below, of the house he was building.

Didn't really have any interest in inviting ourselves over, it was what possibly caught our eye as we drove thru. 

I like Peter and have respect for his approach to sport.

With three rainbow jerseys he is any obvious world beater but certainly demonstrates a lighter side to life when appropriate.

Editor's note: Zilina is also the birth home of  Jozo Weider. Founder of Blue Mountain Ski in Collingwood, Ontario. CANADA. He visited our parents once in Fonthill. 

TERCHOVA, SLOVAK REPUBLIC.

Vybrali sme Terchovú, aby sme preskúmali oblasť, vrátane toho, čo jesť.

VELKY ROZSUTEC, SLOVAKIA

Early March

In the words of our Father:

JANOSIKOVA VALASKA. PANSKA LUCA, SLOVAKIA

Early March.

JANOSIKOVA VALASKA PENZION

We've located ourselves in a region were my father went outdooring as a young man.

Before we go exploring we've located ourselves in this great guesthouse.

ORAVSKY CASTLE. SLOVAKIA

Early March.

We decided we would tour around Slovakia and see what we would see.

What we've seen a lot so far are castles in various states of repair and accessibility.

Here is one of the most famous of any castles in Europe.

Oravsky Hrad.

When your history is measured in the hundreds of years,

its close enough to say to that it has been here in some form for close to one thousand years.

In it's recent history, most noted for one of the filming locations for the cult classic:

"NOSFERATU"

The castlle is a very popular tourist attraction and open "most" days for touring.

Regretably today not.

Closed due to the filming of a movie.

Dam!

Chocholowskie Termy, Poland

Early March.

With the famous Orvana Castle in the area, we've found ourselves landed in Nizna, Slovakia for a couple of nights. 

After targeting our lodging we couldn't help noticing how close we were to Poland. 

With the ease of travel thru the EU, 
we are off to enjoy this famous thermal pool.

This is how they drive in Poland.

No joke.

Grabbed these images on-line.

Similar but not as green.