Recently I took a little road trip to a large town called Zilina which is in the north central region of Slovakia. There are about 100,000 people in this area a few of which are friends of mine. I had the privilege of spending a couple days visiting Zilina and seeing some of the beauty that lies in and around this community.

The highlight of the sight seeing was definately the castle ruins known as Strecno (pronounced stretch-no, except you have to roll the r when you say it). This castle , like many others, has a long and storied past. The site where this castle was built saw its first dwellings as early as the 9th century, probably a large residence. When the need arose for protection against enemy invaders around the 13th century the actual castle was built. Strecno is among the best known castles in Slovakia. Here we are walking up the road to the castle which you can see off in the distance.

Here is a model of the castle when it was built around 1358. The historical records say that there were 9 building stages spread out over more than a century. It came complete with a mote and a drawbridge, for security purposes of course. Throughout the centuries there were many different occupants of Strecno. In the early years it was mostly royalty. Later, wealthy commoners owned the castle. And as you might imagine many battles and wars have been fought here over the centuries.

We had no problem gaining access to the castle. There were no flaming arrows flying at us, no large boulders rolling down on us, no boiling oil poured on us from above and we didnt see any dragons today either. We only had to pay the $2.50 entrance fee.

The hills you see in the background are known as the Mala Fatra hills. There are 2 main mountain ranges here in SK. The Tatras and the Carpathians. This area is the foothills of the Carpathians.

This is one of those 'the picture doesnt do it justice' photos. What an amazing view of the Vah river and surrounding community. From this vantage point you could see your enemies approaching from a long way off. There was no sneaking up on the residents of this castle.

Thankfully we had a beautiful day so we could take in the sensational view.

After 3 centuries of deterioration the Slovaks began restoring certain portions of the castle so as to avoid losing the historical gem that is Strecno. Using the writings of past owners and occupants over the centuries they have the model for which they can accuratly restore portions of this historical treasure.

These are my friends Martin, Donna and Dada. They were kind enough to be my host for the weekend and show me around their nice little community. We had a great time together seeing the sights and enjoying the sun. Dada and Martin became friends at the Bojnice baseball camp and Donna is Martins mom.

As the Slovaks would say, Uzasny, which means awesome or awe inspiring.

The room with a view.

Each of the families who lived here, royalty and otherwise, had their own family symbol or seal. This was a common practice back in the day. Here are the symbols of the Strecno families from over the centuries.

This was the last king and queen to inhabit the castle which was around 1676.

Welcome to my “Jar Je Tu” (spring is here) segment. All the photos you will see here are related to the great things about spring. Enjoy!

All of these photos were actually taken as I walked around my neighborhood last weekend. People love their flowers here and put alot of time into cultivating them.

There is a wonderful variety of flowers, shrubs and trees all of which are flowering right now. The sights and smells are vyborne (excellent).

This is a park down in the city center near my church.

Spring is also a time to break out the bikes and start working off that winter bulge. This is my neighbor Mateo and I heading off for a trip to countryside. The weather here has been amazing for the better part of 2 months.

This was our destination. Mateo's grandparents have a cottage outside the city where they spend many of their summer days gardening and enjoying the quiet. This is quite typical for many Slovaks, to have a small place outside the city, mostly to enjoy as a get-a-way and a place to grow fresh produce and flowers.

We had a nice afternoon together eating lunch and having conversation. Lunch consisted of ham, sausages, chicken breast, cheese and assorted veggies. Being the carnivour that I am, I thoughroughly enjoyed the meal. There was also homemade soup and a decadent dessert, 2 peices of which were forced on me. Good thing the bike ride was a strenuous. Mateo had to translate most of the conversation but I learned alot about what it was like for these fine people to live through the communist years. The main 2 thoughts from their point of view was: that the worst part of communism in Slovakia was being unable to travel around Europe freely and the best part was that everyone had a job.

Spring also means Easter Sunday serivice. Cirkev Bratska (The Bretheren) is my home church here. The are many english speakers here although the service is in Slovak. For those of us still learning the language there is translation provided through wireless headphones.

This church is quite blessed with a variety of talented people who lend their gifts in service to enhance the worship experience. Here we have the harpsicord (?) Cello, violins and organ. There are also choirs for all age groups. I feel privileged and blessed to be a part of this worship community.

What better way to celebrate Easter and spring (new life)than to dedicate a new baby.

Easter Sunday meal. A wonderful banquet indeed. Great food and great fellowship graced this table and everyone had their fill. The bread was broken (and so were the eggs) and a deep gratefulness was expressed. The cross and the tomb are empty and new life, new covenant are available to all. Hallelujah indeed!
This was truly an international table as the representations included Slovakia, Russia, Romania, Czech Republic and the United States.

And of course the food was fantastic. We had egg hot dishes, fresh fruit and rolls, ham, salmon cakes and these dangerous desserts.

Egg art work is very popular in this part of the world. These hand painted eggs can be found in certain gift shops around town. Eggsquisite!

Here is another sure sign of spring. I just happen to be driving by these kids playing so I stopped to take a picture. They noticed me and were saying AHOJ(hello) and "Co Robit" which means "what are you doing?"