Central Europe: wines & Mountains

Running up the final few minutes of Poland's highest peak, Rysy.

The note on the chair read: Running up Rysy, Poland's highest peak via Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia. If you do not hear from me by 1700, I'm in trouble. Love, Laval.
In was 0115h in our hotel room in Eger, Hungary, I quietly got my kit together, slipped into my running gear and crept silently out the door for the 3.5 hour drive to the High Tatras mountains, the note was my 'flight plan', filed with Janet.

We weren't supposed to be here or even close to here, we were supposed to be in Corsica. Me: to run France's famous GR20 trail and Janet: to tour Corsican vineyards, but then this happened below: fires across Corsica and southern Europe, closing parts of the GR20.

With only hours to our flight, we quickly changed plans & set our sights on Central Europe for some wine touring, and mountain running.
Literally hours later we were in Budapest.

Budapest, wine touring, Central Europe

Budapest from Gellért Hill.

We now had a completely new plan - tour around Central Europe, tour vineyards or in Hungarian pincészet & I would add in some mountain running whenever & wherever possible.

West Carpathian mountains of Hungary with Hungary's highest peak, Kékes .

After a few days in stunning Budapest, including a wine tasting evening on the Danube, we had set off by rental car for a few days in the Eger and Tokaj wine regions. On the road to Eger, we diverted to Markaz, a village at the base of Hungary's highest mountain...hill to be accurate. A solitary 2 hour afternoon  run thru the oak forests of the West Carpathians along faint paths, often only marked by wild boar hoof prints, brought me to the top of Hungary, Kékes .

Kekes, Hungarian highest mountain, Carpathians, Mountain running Hungary, Trail running Hungary

Kékes

Seeing that Poland's highest peak, Rysy, was a mere 3.5 hr drive from Eger, across the breadth of Slovakia, that was now in my sights. Unfortunately, Slovakia's highest peak is directly adjacent to Rysy, but Slovakian rules dictate you must hire a guide for what is really a steep scramble with some exposure. I wasn't willing to pay someone to babysit me up a peak.
Just 6 hrs after standing on Kékes, I was off across Slovakia in a rental car  for Rysy. After a very sketchy drive thru the early morning darkness (sketchy because I nearly collided with about a dozen European red deer and roebuck on the roads in the predawn gloom). Arriving safely in Štrbské Pleso, I was running by 0615h, on a perfectly clear High Tatras day, for a breathtaking run to the top of Poland.

Rysy, Poland, Polish highest peak, Tatras mountain running, trail run Poland

The crowded summit of Rysy above and the view from the top into Poland below.

High Tatras scenery in Slovakia.

I arrived back in Eger for a great evening of wine touring and a nice dinner with Janet, the next morning we were off back to Budapest and the train to Vienna, Austria.

Not mad in Mád, Hungary

Hercules and Cerberus in Vienna.

A day in Vienna was followed by the train and a day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia. We were so impressed with this smaller, less chaotic capital city. Janet was especially impressed with a 70 wine tasting tour of Slovakian wines (she insists she spit most out), which I wisely avoided.

Above 20 meters away from 70 Slovakian wines...below, beautiful Bratislava street scenes.

One more night in Vienna and we were Prague-bound on the train early the next morning.

Prague

After a day of walking all over Prague, we had an early dinner as it was to be a short night again for me. The next morning came early at 0215h and I was once again off running across Prague to the Praha Hlavní Nádraží (Prague Main Train Station) where I had arranged the night before to pick up my rental car for the 2.5 hr drive to Pec pod Sněžkou a ski resort town in the Krkonoše Mountains.
Under skies threatening with rain and the base station reporting 6C and 96 km/h winds at the summit, I was off running up Czechia's/Czech Republic's highest mountain, Sněžka. An easy 6.5 km run up a beautiful trail led me to the top.

Easy running up the upper slopes of Sněžka. My route came up the valley to the left and then on to the plateau.

The mountains of Czechia were such a beautiful respite from the chaos and summer tourist crowds of Prague, but I was still happy to be back in time for a short nap and a wonderful final dinner at the Francouzská Restaurace Art Nouveau in Prague.
Bright and early the next morning we were headed back home to Calgary.
I absolutely love these types of trips with Janet. We get to see beautiful parts of the world and whenever possible get in some micro-adventures and time in nature, plus a bit of exercise.
My career as an airline pilot allows us to travel to Europe for less than a good dinner for two of us, and believe me we have taken advantage of these travel perks for years, having traveled as a couple and as a family from South America, to Africa, Asia and Europe. So incredibly fortunate to not only love flying, but to have these benefits.
Corsica will have to wait a bit longer, but many more adventures, big and small to come.