We woke up this morning in the clouds and while we were having breakfast the heavens opened. However once we'd got moving it was fresh and dry.
We had both been dissapointed by our meal last night, and felt a bit ikky afterwards - probably after eating too much, so we resolved to get some sensible food! Easier said than done - but what's the point of a challenge if you don't meet it head on?
The answer was to adjust our original plan for today.
Instead of taking the mountain train half way, we'd continue to the terminus at Poprad Tatry where Google insists there was a choice of supermarkets.
And this time, Google was right.
The train ride was a bit of a let down because of the cloud cover, and Poprad didn't delight either.
The area around many railway stations is rather grim, and so was this.
We sat in a park for a while watching nothing going on, and then walked through the grotty bus station to a grotty supermarket.
Grotty it may have been, but it had a choice of microwave meals (pasta or chilli) and a snack for lunch.
Getting back to the station, we had missed a train so had a 45 minute wait with a great view over the main line station and..... not a lot else.
We decided to change trains and go to Tatranská Polianka, which sounds better than it was. So we got the next train back to Starý Smokovec (I'm getting the hang of this!). Here we spent an hour dodging showers and listening to very dramatic thunder.
The trains are crowded the platforms are narrow, the passengers are ignorant - what a great mix that makes!
While I'm moaning - at every station there's a on board announcement in an Australian accent saying "Do not forget to validate your ticket in the ticket stamping machine" - at every bloody stop! (It's the Slovakian revenge for See it Say it Sorted).
It was a good time to get the train - once we got moving it rained hard - so we could watch it, not be in it.
We did see a few deer lurking in the trees at the side of the track, so that was a bonus.
Getting off the train at Štrbské Pleso it was like walking into a cloud - cold and damp.
Supermarket Chilli & Rice for tea.
I've no idea what this monument is, but I'd guess it's a Czechoslovak partisan war memorial in front of a typical old school mountain hotel in Starý Smokovec.
We've learned a few things about the Tatras today
- weather forecasts mean nothing here.
- the towns are nothing more than the bases for other activities, mainly hiking (&skiing in the winter)
- views are very limited in the towns and from the train, you need to go on the trails to get the views