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On Sunday we set out to visit Spis Castle. About 30 km north of Kosice is the town of Presov. We stopped at Presov University so Gabriela could take a few pictures of her old alma mater. Driving east from Presov we enjoyed the beautiful countryside and was amazed by the new 5 km long tunnel along the way, much nicer than any we have ever seen here in the states.
 

Spis Castle is one of the biggest castles in Slovakia. It was built in 1209 to protect the area from the invading Tatars. In the second half of 13th century it was rebuilt and a new Roman palace was erected. It was captured by Jiskra's army in the 15th century. King Matej Korvin donated the castle to the family of Zapolsky and it remained the property of Spis's county until its desolation.

We had lunch at a nice country restaurant, Spissky Salas, where again perogies (pirohy) were the choice for us while music played in the background. Afterwards on the way to Levoca we stopped at a mineral spring so Gabriela could top off her water jugs. She really loves her mineral water!

We then visited the town of Levoca where we saw the gothic St. James Roman Catholic Church. Picture taking inside the church was not permitted so we don't have any photos of the inside...but it was magnificent!

Then we visited Gabriela's parents home in Vysna Mysla. What a great bunch of people! The property was so beautiful with a big garden, fruit trees and Stefan even had 5 bee colonies of which we sampled some of the fresh honey.