Winter can be a great time of the year. The key to enjoying it in Slovakia is getting out of the city and heading into one of many beautiful areas where the hills are located. Today was the perfect day for a winter hike: nice people, nice weather and wonderful nature. The temp was about 25 degrees with almost no wind. We drove about one hour from the city and started hiking about 9am. By the time we reached the end of the trail we had walked for 7 hours.

There were a few interesting things to see along the way. First we came upon what appeared to be a cave but in actuality was an old mine. We only had 2 small flashlights so the trek in (about 100 yards) was a bit on the blind side. We encountered bats, large icicles and extreme darkness along the way but it was an interesting part of the journey.

A tight squeeze to be sure.

Nice! There's serenity in them there hills.

After a few hours of walking we reached the highest point in this region ( about 1000 meters in elevation). This structure with the Slovak emblem is a tower which one can climb to get a better view. Nice place to have lunch.

A famous rocker once said, "I can see for miles and miles and miles and...."

Near the end of the journey we had more sun than clouds which of course makes everything more vibrant, including ones own mental disposition. This is a "chicken soup for the soul" moment.

Walking in the hills of Slovakia usually means that you will eventually stumble onto some castle ruins. Today was no exception. This is known as Plavecky Hrad (hrad means castle). I have visited this castle in the summer but never in the winter. The landscape takes on a whole different perspective with the snow and different light from the winter sun. Krasne (beautiful).

I was recently invited to 2 interesting speaking engagements. The first was at an elementary school where I spoke to 3 different classes of students, all of which are learning English. Unfortunately I was unable to get any photos of my time there. The ages of the students ranged from 9 to 14. I brought along a usb stick full of pictures from my life in Minnesota as well as my life in Slovakia. It was an enjoyable time and hopefully useful for the students. I encouraged the students to work hard at their education, including learning English. I also challenged them to consider the realities of God in an age dominated by science and secular logical.

The second event was at an oncology unit speaking to cancer patients. The social worker at this hospital tries to organize interesting activities for the people here to give them a break from the heavy and difficult process of trying to get well. This time, I was asked to share about some of my interesting experiences traveling around Slovakia. Mainly I shared with them my trips to some castle ruins and the national favorite Slovak Paradise which is a small mountain with amazing gorges and water falls. I enjoyed spending time with these people and hope they experienced a brief reprieve from their difficult plight.

After my sharing time I was asked if I was interested to do a little sight-seeing in the building. This facility has a long and storied history with Catholic order of Franciscan nuns and monks at the center of it. From what I understood, the church owns and operates this facility which is connected to a church building as well as a crypt and other facilities. The leader of the order of nuns was gracious enough to give us the tour.

This entire room is like a small museum for the history of pharmacueticals in this region. Everything you see there displayed on the walls are centuries old containers of medicines and remedies for various illnesses.

Have a closer look. There are metal containers as well as glass bottles and ceramic jars which contained the medicines.

These ledgers are the actual "cook books" for these medicines containing the actual recipies about how to concoct the remedies.

It was a brief but interesting tour.

I recently had the honor to attend the wedding of a well known pastor here in Bratislava. There were about 250 guests, a huge wedding by Slovakia standards. This is Paso (pah-sho) and Monika. Its a privilege to say that Paso has become a friend and a brother over the past year or so.

Fortunately for them they had a nice day and a long receiving line of friends and family.

Now thats a get-a-way car. Doing it in throw back style.

Many blessings on the happy couple.

Lately there have been multiple opportunities to speak in correctional facilities all around Slovakia. A couple of weeks ago we went to a large town in central Slovakia called Banska Bystrica, which means something like ‘miners stream.’ It’s a mountainous area and has a long history of mining. The pictures you will see in this post are from the town and the surrounding area. As usual, there’s no way to get pictures of the prison itself. Sorry about the small photos-technical difficulties:(