Ahoj!

Ako sa máš? (How are you?)

Welcome to the story of the workcamp in Brekov. Meet the participants: Cynthia, David, Caroline and Thomas from Mexico, Taiwan, France and Germany. And then there’s me, the sole leader of the camp. 😛

 

Work

On the way to work

We went to work quite early every morning, around 7. In some mornings, there was fog everywhere and it was so beautiful! The most amazing was the view from the castle when some of the fog had faded away and there were these clouds that looked like cotton candy.

Work

We were helping with digging up an archaeological site at the castle. There were a lot of stones and dirt we had to pile up or transport somewhere else, for example onto the road to fill the holes in it. Sometimes we were lucky and found some pieces of ceramics and bones among all the sand and rocks.

Archaeological findings

Breaks

Sometimes we were just chilling… In the second week, there was a break with singing. 🙂 And of course petting the village dog and during lunch breaks drinking coffee and eating sandwiches that we had prepared in the morning.

Trips & Free Time

There were a lot of opportunities to explore around the area. Stano, the local partner, knows what he’s doing, he had an amazing programme for us so we went somewhere almost every day.

Strázske

We walked along the riverside to Strázske, had a beer, ate some sausages and came back. In Strázske, there is also an amazing ice cream place. I forgot the name but there was a picture of Marilyn Monroe on the house. (Edit: Google says the place is called Cambera).

Humenné

It was supposed to rain on the second working day so instead we went to explore Humenné. There were two museums, one indoors and one outside. Apparently I didn’t take any photos in the first one but it looked like a manor house and used to be a castle before it was rebuilt.

Open air museum

At the train station

Thermalpark Šírava

The first Friday evening was reserved for a hike but then the weather started playing tricks on us. We needed to rearrange the plans a little bit. Instead, we went to a waterpark with thermal pools. Stano and both of his sons also joined us, we took two cars and rolled to Zemplínska Šírava. After the thermalpark, we explored a nearby night market a little bit before coming back home.

Jasenov Castle / Laundry Day

On Saturday, some of us wanted to rest and some of us wanted to hike and explore. So everyone did what they wished to do and in the evening we all went to see the performances in the Brekov cultural house.

Brekov Village Days

Poloniny National Park

On Sunday evening, we wanted to go to see the stars at night at the dark-sky park. Before that, we explored the drinkable water reservoir in Starina and two wooden churches in Topoľa and Uličské Krivé. At the last stop, there was a little bar where we ordered some Kofola, some of us more than others :D. I could practice my broken Slovak because of course nobody spoke English. We got what we ordered so I guess I did alright.

Wooden churches

Visit to the local vineyard

I have to be honest, this was a pleasant surprise for me. Since the weather forecast wasn’t promising anything better for the following nights, we had to give up or at least postpone the plan of seeing the stars. And then Stano proposed to go wine tasting! Amazing! :3

The wines were all natural and didn’t have the chemicals in them that shop wines do. I wish I’d bought some bottles to bring with but I missed the right moment to order some. Ah.. But such lovely atmosphere and memories!

Hike to Morské Oko & Sninský kameň

I was talking about this day in my previous blog. It was all worth the effort, the photos speak for themselves.

Morské Oko

There was a buffet next to the lake so we stopped for lunch, gathered some new strength and off we went again.

Sninský kameň

There was a point when some of us decided to go back down. I hesitated but finally decided to go and conquer the final tip.

Next morning, I was so weak that I felt quite ill. I went to work with the others but soon came back. I think it was a good decision not to strain myself more. I cleaned up the house a bit, had a shower and started to prepare the place for the evening.

Feast of Cultures

On the second Thursday, on August 1, we had the feast of cultures. Some of the workers came, we shared the food, songs, dances… The atmosphere of the night was elevating and warm. Authentic.

Final day at work

We worked a little bit, less than on other days. Then we started preparing the goulash that the workers cooked for us. Yum yum yum!

Goulash

By the end of the camp we had established a very special connection with the workers. We didn’t speak the same language at the beginning yet managed to communicate and learn something from each other. Sharing food, songs and dances during the two weeks really created a special bond. 🙂

I’m thinking of going back to Brekov in September to help to pick grapes in the vineyard. I’ll see how things work out but it would be lovely to see the workers as well as Stano and his family once again.

***

Košice

I’ll add this to the post even though it’s not exactly anymore a part of the camp. The final day, bye-byes…

Caroline, Thomas and David left earlier by Thomas’s car, Cynthia and I followed a couple of hours later by train but we all ended up in Košice. I managed to get a glimpse of Caroline and Thomas just before they headed to the airport. David had a bit more time so we went for a lunch and I introduced halušky to him. Later I explored the town alone for a little bit before it was also time for me to leave.

I arrived to Bratislava around 22, took all my stuff and dragged it home. I almost lost my sleeping bag on the way, it fell under the train :D. Luckily, there was a nice man who saved it for me. I was probably looking very sad and tired, maybe he felt sorry for me. I reached home, I survived.

Ooh, and there it is! Many great experiences, lot’s of amazing memories!

Until the next time!