Summer diaries V.- Hodruša and around

I guess I should really move on and finish this summer series, since we have November now and I should be posting about Christmas soon :-). So lets go: I spent couple more days with my sis in hotel Salamandra , a family friendly resort near Banská Štiavnica. Their food is one of the best and I always come home few pounds heavier - I just can not help myself!
We also invited my father and her mother to spend some time with us. The weather was just perfect. There is a lake (or better to say an artificial water reservoir), in this area called tajch, right in front of the hotel. There is nothing better than swimming in the lake surrounded by mountains!
Nearby mine town Banská Štiavnica is one of the nicest places in Slovakia, I would say it is a must to see if you happen to be around. The hills around it are just an icing on the cake. It is a perfect area for hiking, biking, swimming, and in the winter, you have a ski slope right next door to the hotel. I could spend here much more time...but then I would roll to Bratislava I guess :-)

Nuž hádam by som sa mala pohnúť a ukončiť túto letnú sériu. Už je november a asi by som mala začať písať pomaly o Vianociach :-). Takže poďme na to: 
Ďalších pár dní som strávila so svojou segrou v hoteli Salamandra, v takpovediac rodinnom rezorte neďaleko Štiavnice (Je to skôr v Hodruši, ale Štiavnica znie atraktívnejšie :-) ). Ich jedlo je skvelé a tak vždy prídem domov s pár kilami navyše :-).
Prizvali sme aj môjho tatu a jej mamu, aby s nami strávili pár chvíľ. Počasie bolo perfektné. Hneď pred hotelom je tajch a nie je nič lepšie ako sa vykúpať v obklopení hôr!
Blízke banské mesto - Banská Štiavnica - je jedno z najkrajších miest na Slovensku, ak sa ocitnete v jeho okolí, treba ísť. A tie kopčeky naokolo, to je len čerešnička na torte. Táto oblasť je perfektná na turistiku, bicyklovanie, plávanie, a v zime máte zjazdovku rovno pri hoteli! Vedela by som tu stráviť veľa času...ale potom by som sa už do Bratislavy naozaj len dogúľala...

Summer diaries II. - Vojka, Slovakia

This summer, I discovered a new place - a summer heaven on earth - resort Vojka. Vojka is a lake not far from Bratislava, around 40 km. Couple of years ago they started to selling land around it and made part of it a private resort of summer houses there. I am lucky enough to have couple of friends, who have summer houses there. In July, I was invited to spent a weekend there.
I met with Jana and Lucia, my beloved university classmates, and their families. We took a bike ride to the nearby village on Saturday night. There was a halászlé (a hungarian speciality - fish soup) competition going on, which means you can taste as much halászlé from different families serving it as you can and it is all free. We tried three and all of them were delicious. When we returned it was getting dark, but the look over the lake was stunning, with meadows covered in white flowers around it.
The next morning I went for a run around the lake, accompanied with Jana on the bike. Meanwhile Jana ś mom prepared another batch of the most delicious apricot cake - we lived on that stuff all weekend (at least I was).
We spent the rest of the day in the lake - my best swim of this season - or wandering between two houses - Jana ´s and Lucia´s. My man came in the evening and we showed him around the resort (it is him posing for a romantic picture with my friend Lucia :-) ).
For me, that weekend was the essence of summer. Kids (and me) jumping from pier into the lake, swimming, eating great food cakes, sun and friends... I could not wished for more. Thank you Jana and Lucia for introducing me to this amazing place!

Toto leto som objavila nové miesto - letný raj na Zemi - rezort Vojka. Vojka je jazero nie ďaleko od Bratislavy, asi 40 km. Pred pár rokmi tu začali predávať pozemky okolo jazera a na jednej časti urobili súkromné letovisko. Mám to šťastie, že zopár mojich priateľov tu má letné domy. A v júly som bola pozvaná stráviť s nimi víkend.
Stretla som sa s Janou a Luciou, mojimi milovanými spolužiačkami z výšky a ich rodinami.  V sobotu večer sme sa na bicykloch vybrali do dediny. Práve tam prebiehala súťaž vo varení halászlé (maďarská špecialita - rybia polievka), čo znamenalo, že ste mohli ochutnať toľko tanierov od rôznych rodín (kuchárov), koľko ste vládali, a celé to bolo zadarmo. Skúsili sme tri a všetky boli vynikajúce. Keď sme sa vrátili, pomaly bola tma, ale výhľad na jazero bol úchvatný. Všade naokolo lúky posiate bielimi kvietkami.
Na druhý deň ráno som šla behať okolo jazera, sprevádzaná Janou na bicykli.Medzitým Janina mama napiekla ďalšiu várku najlepšieho marhuľového koláča - v podstate sme na ňom ten víkend žili - minimálne teda ja.
Zvyšok dňa sme strávili vo vode - tu som si túto sezónu najlepšie zaplávala - alebo chodením medzi dvoma chatami - Janinou a Luciinou. Môj muž došiel navečer a tak sme mu s Luciou ukázali okolie  (to je on na poslednej romantickej fotke s Luciou :-) ).
pre mňa bol ten víkend esenciou leta. Deti (a ja) skákali z móla do jazera, plávanie, jedenie dobrého jedla koláčov, slnko a priatelia...viac som si nemohla želať.
Ďakujem Trtuš a Cuca že ste ma oboznámili s týmto skvelým miestom!