Day 13

Only one more day to go! It feels crazy that we've made it 13 days so far. Day 13 began with an early wake up call around 6:15am to finish packing and have breakfast before checking out of our forest cabin/chalet. Jessica and I discussed and we definitely think this was our favorite location that we stayed so far during the stop - so it was sad to be leaving. With the weather being a bit troublesome the last couple days, we were hoping that our fortunes would change. After checking the forecast for today and driving to our next destination about an hour away in Zdiar, it seemed it was going to be a cloudy day with light rain showers off and on. At this point, we deemed this weather acceptable because it still allowed us to be outside. We could not afford to be cooped up with the kids all day! 

Zdiar is located on the eastern side of the Tatras mountain range in northern Slovakia, right along the Polish border. Today our main plans included visiting the Bachledka treetop walk and forest kingdom! It was a little difficult getting there because the main road was undergoing significant repairs with only one side of traffic able to proceed at a time. This was compounded by the fact that we missed our turn, so we had to go back and do it all again. Finally at the treetop walk, we bought our tickets and headed to the gondola to take us up the mountain. We knew that the treetop walk and playgrounds were all stroller-friendly, but we were not sure whether our huge double stroller would fit on the gondola to take up the mountain. Thankfully, the seats in the gondola were able to fold up which allowed us to wheel the stroller in. 

After a short gondola ride, we arrived at the treetop walk. It began with a ramp path slowly winding up through the Bachledka forest with a lot of information regarding types of plants, trees, and animals that live in the forest. Once we followed the path all the way up to the treetops, it culminated in a ascending spiral that went around 7 or 8 times to reach a platform with a panoramic view over the forest below and the Belianska Tatra mountains in the distance. We hung out at the top for a while to take in the views. In the center of the spiral platform is a rope net that people can stand of lay down on. We opted to skip this scary-looking activity. The platform also has a slide that you can take down instead of walking, but it wasn't open yet at the time of our descent. 

It was a much easier walk back down - and we were in a rush because Luke had to go potty. We made it down just in time. Up next, we walked downhill over the the "Forest Kingdom" which is a gigantic area with many different playgrounds. The primary playground structures were multi-leveled netted catwalks with different traversing options and slides and spiral staircases to get up and down - Luke was in heaven. They also had some smaller play areas which Ryan was able to enjoy. Luke continued to explore and came across a big inflatable bounce area which he tried to go on, but the misty rain made this difficult. After his legs slipped out from under him a few times resulting in a "wet butt", he decided to go back over to the playgrounds. 

45 minutes later, we were able to convince the kids to head back up to the main area because it was time for the falconry show. At 11:00am on the dot a group of falconists(?) brought out a number of different owls and falcons and had them flying all over the place including right over all our heads. One must have come within inches from flying right into us. At the end, they brought a bunch of older kids up and had a smaller hawk do a trick where it hopped from one kids head to the next - which Luke thought was hilarious. 

At this point we were very hungry, so we went to the panorama restaurant for some lunch. It was and easy cafeteria style spot and we were able to get a table right next to the play area for small kids, which Luke and Ryan ran inside immediately. It included a netted maze and a bunch of toys. With the kids occupied, Jessica got us some food - baked salmon over veggies for her, and beef goulash with dumplings for me. We also got a big bowl of fruit and planned to share some of our food with the kids, but neither was too interested in eating with all the excitement of the play area. 

After lunch we went back down to the forest kingdom for another hour or so, where Luke primarily playing on the inflatable bouncer (which had dried out by now) along with a bunch of other kids. He also tried to go on a seated zip line, but I may have accidentally pushed him too fast and when he came to the end of the line, it swing him up in the air a bit too high followed by a crash landing. Thankfully, the ground was soft wood chips so no injury was sustained. Nevertheless, the following attempts on the zip line went much slower....

Finally it was about 1:00pm and time to go (our check-in for our next Airbnb cottage was 2:00pm). Overall, everyone had a blast at the Treetop Walk and Forest Kingdom and we were very thankful that the weather allowed us to be outside for so long. We took the gondola back down and hopped back in our car. On the drive through the town of Zdiar, we stopped at a small grocery store to stock up and then made the very quick drive to Chalet Strachan, where we would be staying the final two nights. 

Chalet Strachan was another nice chalet/cabin on top of a hill which overlooks the Zdiar valley below and mountains in the distance. The inside is very traditionally built and decorated which is kind of fun. It is also located a stone's throw from the Strachankovo Family Park which has farm animals and play areas for kids. Unfortunately, shortly after checking in, the rain picked up a good bit, so we would probably have to wait until tomorrow to visit this family park. So, we kicked back in the chalet for a few hours to recharge. Our Airbnb host had told us that the hotel down at the bottom of the hill was having a traditional Goral buffet dinner complete with folk music, so we thought we would try that out.

When dinnertime was upon up, we drove down and partook in the buffet. The food was great and included roasted veggies and potatoes, pierogis, pickled salads, duck, chicken, and roast beef. There was also a soup which we couldn't quite figure out what was in it (we were suspicious it was tripe) so we only had the broth. Finally, there was a lot of fruit and dessert options as well. Needless to say, there was something for everyone. Near the end of our dinner, the folk band showed up and we got to hear a couple songs. Ryan seemed quite interesting. Luke, however, thought it was too loud and hid under the table. 

Back at the chalet, we tried to get the kids to go to sleep, but neither seemed to interested. Eventually Jessica was able to get Ryan down after a half hour or so, but Luke took me at least a full hour to get to sleep. It didn't help that there were some cows grazing outside his window that he became very interested in. After getting him down, I was too tired to write up the blog which is the reason for the delay!

Stay tuned!!