The High Tatra Mountains in Slovakia are among the most beautiful on earth
Trails fan out in various directions from Stary Smokovec, and within a few minutes you have left behind the world of concrete and polluting motor vehicles. It took some time last Saturday for me to expel the dense town air and the stubborn inflexibility of my limbs. But then I was at one with the wonder of nature.
The path was steep. My legs ached, and the heat of my exertion met the cool, moist pine-fragranced breeze that gently massaged my face. An autumnal sun danced between the trees and magnified the greens, yellows and reds of the foliage. From time to time the path crossed clear turquoise mountain streams that battled their way past granite boulders in their descent down the mountain. If I believed in Him, I would have said God had made this paradise.
And then we passed the tree line and entered a bleak but beautiful void. The majestic wonder of rugged mountain peaks, dense valleys and far away villages and fields filled the panorama. But ahead was a chata with its sweet Tatra tea, and if my wife allowed it, mad’arsky gulas a kndede.
