Day 5

 Day 5!  Adam again.

For today, we had initially planned to have a relaxing off-day at the chalet because the the weather was not going to be good. However, upon waking up, we checked and the forecast had changed to yet another clear, sunny day. Unfortunately, this meant that we couldn't just relax at home all day....

After putting some breakfast together and getting the kids dressed, we left the house a little after 8 and made the relatively short (45 minutes) drive to the mountain town of Strebske Pleso. This is a little resort town located in the High Tatras mountains along Slovakia's northern border. Our main activity today was going to be a hike to the mountain lake - Popradske Pleso. Upon arriving, we were able to get a pretty good parking place just near the base of the hiking trail. We actually picked this hike specifically because the trail is fully-paved which means we can take the kids double stroller and push them all the way up. The hike is approx. 2.5 miles each way, so we knew it wasn't going to be easy. About 5 minutes in, we were already feeling the pain from having to push the stroller up hill. Eventually though, we found our stride and were taking turns pushing the boys - plus Luke would hop out from time to time and walk alongside us which made the stroller much easier to push. 

The steeper portions of the hike were rough but we made it up in about an hour and 15 minutes. Not too shabby. At the top, there is the lake surrounded by a number of Tatras peaks along with a hotel and a few restaurants. I rewarded myself with a beer, and got Jessica and the boys some snacks. At the top, we walked around the lake for a while and Luke threw some rocks in puddles. After about 45-50 minutes we decided it was time to walk back down. You would think this would be much easier than the way up, which is mostly correct, but "pushing" the stroller in certain steep downhill sections proved to be extremely difficult and is most certainly going to result in Jessica and I being very sore tomorrow. 

At the bottom of the trail, we hopped back into our car and made the short 7 minute drive to the town of Strebske Pleso. Here, lunch was the first order of business. We picked a placed we had looked it in advance and it turned out to be a great spot - even though the boys were being a little difficult. I had the garlic soup along with chicken topped with a local cheese and a side of placky (potato pancakes). Jessica ordered the pork medallions yet again with a side of sweet potato fries. Everything was shared with the boys and it was all very tasty. From there, we walked up to the Strebske Pleso lake to see it briefly. On the way back, Luke found a play area outside a different restaurant that had a trampoline, so we let him walk down and bounce around for 15 minutes or so before heading back to our car. He even made a friend who just so happened to speak English. 

We made the 45 minute drive back to our chalet, but because we knew we would be too tired to go out for dinner later, we made another pit stop at a grocery store on the way back to grab some food to cook up for dinner. Once we got back, the kids played around in the yard some more while Jessica and I tried to relax our sore bodies. Once dinner time came around, I put together another fire for the grill/outdoor fire pit and grilled up some veggies and chicken. It came out real good and it seemed everyone was full. The kids got baths and soon enough we had put them both to bed. Now Jessica and I are relaxing on the couch and making sure we are set for our day tomorrow. We are off to the capital city - Bratislava!

Stay tuned!! 






















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