Slovakia 02: Kosice

Sunday, January 19, 2025

The alarms on our phones rang at 05:00 – much too early for our linking, but we had to head out early today. We took the metro over to the train station and caught a train to the town of Kosice in Slovakia. The train departed at 06:25 and the journey took roughly three hours to reach Kosice. Thinh slept during much of the ride, while I watched NetFlix (as usual). At 10:15 we pulled into the Kosice train station, ready to see another town in this wonderful country. Before heading out into the town though, we walked to a nearby mall to get some coffee. It was another freezing cold day and the warm drink was desperately needed this morning.

Just outside the mall, as we headed into the town center, was a monument to the Soviet army (again, which was installed during the Cold War). It was made up of two identical sections, each with a large central pillar with plaques on either side commemorating various battles from the Second World War, and smaller pillars on the corners. The communist hammer and sickle was on all of the pillars, though some had been damaged (intentionally?).

Thinh and I then walked down the main street of the town so we could see more of Kosice. The town is very pretty, quiet and the walk around was pleasant (despite the cold). A small park ran through the center of town, which had a few statues and sculptures, the most impressive of which was of the coat of arms of Kosice. In the distance we could see St Elizabeth’s Cathedral. The streets still had some snow and ice on them, so I told Thinh to be careful while walking around. He was having fun walking on the ice and he slipped a little at one point, which was funny (he’s had so little exposure to icy conditions).

St Elizabeth’s Church is a pretty church in the center of town. Built between 1378 and 1508, it is an excellent example of Gothic architecture. The elaborate spires climbed up above the beautifully tiled rooftop. On one side of the cathedral was a stunning clock town adorned with gold at the top. It was one of my favorite churches that we had seen thus far on the trip. Next to it was the smaller Urban’s Tower, which was a simple brick tower.

We continued to walk along the central street until we reached the National Theatre. In front of the theatre is the so-called “Singing Fountain” which was unfortunately turned off for the winter season. Further along was the Fountain of Signs, which had small sculptures around it of the signs of the Zodiac. Just beyond that was the Plague Column – another memorial to the victims of the 1709/1710 plagues.

Since we had so thoroughly enjoyed our Slovakian meal when we had visited Bratislava, we decided to find a Slovak restaurant for lunch today. Happily they had the sheep cheese available today, so we ordered it for an appetizer. Thinh was still a bit uncertain about trying the sheep cheese and it was not at all what we had expected. It was an orange-brown color and was served with several slices of bread. It was amazingly delicious, as was the bread!! For our mains, I had perogies while Thinh had ‘dumplings’ (though it was more akin to German spaetzle). The food was very good and we both agreed that Slovakian food was the best of the trip.

After lunch, Thinh and I meandered around town for a bit more before heading back to the mall, where we returned to Starbucks to warm up. We had a short wait there before it was time to walk over to the bus station adjacent to the train station. The bus back to Budapest had a better schedule that the train, so we had opted to take FlixBus back today.

The bus left Kosice at 15:25 and lasted for four hours. The driver was a bit manic, swerving in and out of traffic, while talking on his phone most of the time. The temperature inside the bus was also very warm, so we had to take off our coats so we wouldn’t overheat. Our seats were at the very front of the bus, which allowed us nice views during the drive. I was glad when we got back to Budapest though; the bus ride back had not been as pleasant as the train journey out.

Thinh suggested getting kebabs for dinner tonight and we found a nice little shop near to our hotel to eat. The food was tasty and filling, though not as good as the kebabs we’d eaten in Vienna. The two of us then walked back to the hotel so we could get some rest. It had been a very long, but exciting, day and we both wanted to get to bed early tonight.