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The High Tatras form part of the Carpathian mountain range, lying between Poland and Slovakia. The Polish Government founded Tatra National Park (Tatranský národný) in 1948. There are 29 peaks over 2,500m. We found the name romantic and had wanted to visit them for some time. An opportunity arose. Peter, a post-doctoral student at Cambridge, and his wife, Paulina and baby Palko lived in our house in Cambridge for a few months in 2007. After they had returned to Slovakia, they invited us to visit them in Bratislava.
Slovakia is green and hilly, and the woods cover the hills like a quilt, meeting the sloping fields in soft, wavy lines. The Tatras are ‘young’ mountains formed by Alpine-Himalayan folding and thrusting. Subsequently, ice-age glaciation sculpted them into the pinnacles and rocky summits we see today. Consequently, a thick layer of sedimentary rocks covers the crystalline massif core.
For the hiker and climber, they are something of a ‘hidden gem’, with their impressive spiky summits. The jewel is Kriváň (2,495 m), and its famous curved profile is an important symbol in Slovak culture. Rysy, straddles the border between Slovakia and Poland, and is Poland’s tallest peak. Lomnicky stit is the second highest peak in the High Tatras after Gerlach (2,655m).
After our adventures climbing the mountains, we went to Bratislava and wandered around the Old Town and got a feel for the history of a central European country emerging from Soviet dominance, now looking prosperous and modern.
