Sunday 17th August 2008 – Brezno, Slovakia

Dion has marked a 3 hour circular walk from the site and given that it was a cool day with only a chance of showers, we decided that it was a good day to do it. Dion gave us some last minute advice, outlining the major turning places and the landmarks to look out for.
The walk did not start well. I heard a very loud and frenetic buzzing around my head and flailing my arms, I attempted to persuade whatever it was to go away and succeeded, only for it to attack Jane. It turned out to be two large bees that appeared to be fighting, something that I have never seen before. They went straight into Jane's hair and burrowed in. One eventually flew off but the other was in so deep that I couldn't even see it, although Jane assured me in no uncertain terms that it was still there. Having stung Jane in the head the bee finally escaped. I managed to find and remove the sting and Jane had some sting relief cream, which I applied liberally. We were able to continue the walk with more applications of cream.
The route took us up the hill behind the campsite to the trigonometry point at the top and then along the ridge. From here there were excellent views in all directions including over to the Low Tatra mountains and up and down the valley in which the campsite is located. Yesterday's rain had cleared the air and the visibility was good, only the tops of the mountains were shrouded in cloud. Butterflies were enjoying the huge number of wild flowers in the meadows; puffball mushrooms were sprouting up after the rain and a flock of sheep were resting after gorging themselves on the rich grass. The path then dropped down into the valley, turning left at the single-track railway line where tiny one-carriage trains very occasionally meandered they way, sounding their horns every few hundred metres.
We sat in the shade on a low bank opposite a small farm and ate our sandwiches, finishing just before we were overrun by the free-range hens that had stealthily approached from the farm. For the rest of the walk, we made our way between farms with tethered cows eating the rich meadow grass and farmers turning the cut grass or loading the hay onto carts. It was an excellent walk of 7 miles (11km), full of interest and in ideal conditions, cool, sunny and dry.
The evening was again very cool, especially in the breeze and we soon moved inside. We were preparing dinner when Monique, Dion's wife, arrived and gave us some home-made plum cake. We had it as desert and it was delicious. Dion and Monique are excellent host, they make a point of visiting everyone every day to make sure that all is in order and answer any questions.
Photos: We saw many of these beautiful beetles on our walk, the shell is like a mirror – if you look carefully, you can see my reflection in it; Sheep relaxing.