Erasmus stay is an extraordinary time in life and it is a must to discover your host country. Even that International Sausage Festival in Sládkovičovo was for sure an interesting experience, there is a lot of cities in Slovakia waiting for their visitors. One of the most beautiful ones is the city of Trenčín, lying on the longest Slovak river Váh, about one hour from Bratislava. The trip wasn’t just about the sightseeing of the city’s old town and castle, but also about being a fan on an Ice Hockey match.

More than 20 Erasmus students joined the ESN team to go to Trenčín and despite the cold weather, everybody was enjoying the trip. The Square of Peace and the City Tower have taken the attention of our Erasmus students. But what they didn’t know was the fact that the Trenčín Castle has never been conquered. How “unexpected” was the climbing of the mountain where the castle is located. J After a good lunch, it was a fight it-self but everybody has done it! The guide on the Castle was giving the sightseeing in English, with a little help from the ESN team, and the Erasmus students could discover the history of this castle, counting the love-story how the Castle Lord Štefan Zápoľský captured the sweetheart Fatima of the Ottoman general Omar. To liberate her, he had to dredge a well in the Castle. After three years of digging, the well was ready and he could leave the castle with Fatima. The sightseeing was finished by the view from the highest bastion of the Trenčín Castle, the highest point in the city.

The love-story was oriented mainly towards the woman-part of our Erasmus group. For boys, there was the Ice Hockey. This match was something what majority of our

Erasmus students had never experienced before. This sport is the most popular sport in Slovakia and the time of World championship, which is every May of the year, is waking up all of Slovakia. There is no way to avoid this sport in our country, so why not to see a match from the Slovak First League? J Three nice goals have given the opportunity to shout loudly, and even the loss of the home team Dukla Trenčín couldn’t take the smile and joy from the faces of our Erasmus students!

It was a difficult day, many students were sleeping during the way back to Bratislava in the train, but everybody knew this day was worth it!

Written by Marián Polášek, Local PR