Rolling in the hills

To make most of our day we woke up early, made a quick breakfast and headed out in Patrick’s car with his friend Michel. Our destination was Banská Štiavnica, a small medieval town in the central region of Slovakia. It’s known for its historical buildings and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On the way, we made a few pit stops at scenic viewpoints. 

Rolling hills of Central Europe

We stopped at a restaurant on our way into town, which was recommended to us. Unlike the more traditional Slovakian restaurants that had similar menus, the Penzion Na Kopci not only had a female chef, but she was known to brake a few rules when it came to Slovakian cuisine. Her menu is less conventional, as it combines traditional dishes with a more international flair. We all started with some venison pate served with wildberry compote. The boys followed this up with the Pyramida: roasted chicken breast, pork fillet, chicken liver, Ermine cheese and a roquefort sauce. Laura had the baked camembert served with a creamy blueberry sauce, whilst I was glad to see some fish on the menu, so ordered potatoes stuffed with smoked salmon and sour cream.  

Venison pate

Pyramida

Baked camembert

Stuffed potatoes

The food was fantastic. It was fresh, different and really well thought out. The flavours were well balanced and the meal didn’t feel overly heavy compared to more traditional Slovakian cuisine we had tried before. Our view from where we were sat on the terrace of the restaurant was also rather breathtaking. 

Banská Štiavnica

After lunch we went to a cute little coffee shop where we ordered coffee as well as every cake on the menu. We had two cakes each. Gluttonous? Not at all! 

Time slipped away fast, and there was still so much to see. We hopped back in the car and headed to one of the nearby lakes, Velka Vindsachta. We chilled there for a little bit, then headed back towards Krupina to pick up Michel’s girlfriend then headed over to his family farm. 

Velka Vindsachta

On arriving to the farm, we were greeted by three of Michel’s family members sat outside around a large vat of boiling water, plucking three plump headless chickens. Their father was in the barn milking the family cow. We had a tour of the farm, but unfortunately I was unable to take any decent pictures as it was already dark by now. This is the best of a bad bunch. Some very cute curious sheep.

Curious sheep