After about four hours of driving out of Romania, we arrived in Kosice, the second biggest city in Slovakia.  It is a beautiful city with a huge downtown and a beautiful church right in the center.  The church also has a little brother church next to it.  Once while Burke was staggering along taking photos from half a block back he met a friend.  His new friend caught up to us all and met my family and showed us part of the city.

Big Church, Little Church

Our second evening in Kosice we partook in the holiday activities.  It was basically the equivalent of All Saints Day, where everyone goes to the cemetaries in quiet honor of their loved ones.  They bring candles and incredible flower arrangements to decorate the graves and memorials.   At the enterance of the cemetary was a huge cross with a breathtaking amount of candles and flowers surrounding it.  The site was so beautiful and moving.

DT Kosice

The final day of our holiday from school was spent at Spis Castle.  It is one of the biggest castles in Slovakia and all of Eastern Europe.

Spis Castle

B+L top of Spis Castle

Once back in Banska Bystrica we got resettled into seminormal life.  My parents generously came back to my English lesson and shared their opinions on the country and once again were able to help some Slovaks practice their English.  They also stopped in at school a few times.  I introduced them to some of the kids at school who were of course so nervous to speak to them.  One fourth grader Danielka really surprised me with her desire to speak to them despite being so nervous.  She did a great job though.  To further the English themed days, we played multiple games of scrabble.  I think overall I prevailed so if anyone wants a challenge, all you have to do is fly to Slovakia and it’s on.

Approaching the High Tatras

On several occasions we all experienced Nici’s wrath when no one wants to play with him between the hours of 3 and 6 am.  Scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch.

Mom put all of their "stuff we'll use everyday" stuff in this basket. Clearly Nici had some objections to that.