I have mentioned it a lot before that traveling is not just about far away and exotic places, nor just about expensive and popular spots. Those who have been following my journeys could observe that I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to see some common destinations like Italy, Spain or Greece, but I was not frightened either, when I had to explore some Slavic countries in the neighborhood of Hungary, such as the Czech Republic, Slovenia or Poland. 

I have also referred to it many times that we, unfortunately, often do not appreciate for the first sight the values and the heritage of areas lying close to us - mainly because we do not have the perspective of a tourist for whom everything is new and exciting. However, after visiting both very different cultures and countries of my own region, I could learn how to find the genuine beauty of places - even if they are not so far from my homeland. 

Actually, since my village is near to the Northern border and river Danube, Slovakia has always been just right before my eyes, but first of all, I tended to see it as something distant just because it is 'already abroad' - although it is closer to me then many great Hungarian cities in Transdanubia.

Secondly, a couple of years ago (until my Czech volunteer year) I was still unexperienced and blind to see that I do not have to always travel to the 'end of the world' to experience some interesting treasures of human culture and intact nature. There is always a lot to see if you look around, and trust me, if you learn how to value your own surroundings, it will also teach you how to value something which is distant for you.

However, in order to get to that point, I had to discover some far away parts of Europe like Italy, then the wonderful lands of Czechs and Poles to finally get back to something familiar that had always been floating in the air around me - not just due to the location of my birthplace, but also because of some supposed Slovak roots in my family, both from my great grandfather’s and grandmother’s side.

(To be precise, it is more complicated, because her family is related to a Hungarian subgroup called Palóc, which is influenced by Slavic phonetics, but it is genetically connected to Avars, Kabars, Khazars, Pechenegs and Cumans, thus nomadic people - excuse me for this little ethnographical intermezzo.) 

Anyhow it is, I have always been and I will always be a Hungarian and proud of it, but it does not mean that I should not dig under the surface of my personal origins. Additionally to this spiritual trip, as always, I had a strong desire to explore and wanted to grab every single opportunity to look for something fascinating.

That’s why after my friends had got a car, the idea immediately came to get to know more about Slovakia and visit some nearby towns, hills and cities which are reachable from our county, Komárom-Esztergom (in Slovak: Komárno-Ostrihom).

Maybe this time I do not have the chance to meet another society and language deeply by living there temporarily, but returning to Slovakia regularly might give me some perspective in the future about the local culture I can share with my readers. 

Thus, I am going to tell you about two of my Slovak trips now, starting with the enchanting ruins of the castle of Levice (in Hungarian: Léva), which used to be a very important fortification and also a key administrational center during the royal times.

The first story is connected to a famous ballad, Zách Klára written by Hungarian poet János Arany: it is said that the elder daughter of the unfortunate Felícián Zách, Sebe was beheaded here in this castle, and later on she became the White Lady (Biela Pani, common type of ghost in Slavic folklore) of Levice castle. This type of ghost is so widespread in the Upland (in Hungarian: Felvidék, mostly the present-day territory of Slovakia) that Hungarian writer Mór Jókai also uses this theme in his work The White Lady of Lőcs taking place in the same historical region.

The old castle itself nowadays can be seen only in its ruins, but the respectable and eerie vibes of the ancient walls and stones, standing on a green hill definitely drive us to a mysterious land of fairy tales and ghost stories. (This view inspired me so much that I even used a photo of it as an album cover for my own music. If you are interested, you can find it on YouTube under the name Short Heaven, Long Hell.) 

The other fact about the castle is also very scary: it is about the well of the castle yard which is called Bloody Well, based on the urban legend that prisoners were executed there by the knifes, razors, blades and swords put inside the tunnel of the well. Surely it is not something that we would call a 'wishing well'... 

If you feel that it is not enough of spooky stories, you should also hear about Siegfried Kollonich, a captain of Croatian origin, who also haunts as a ghost among the ruins: the reason is that, he had so many debts that he could not receive a proper religious funeral, and according to the law, if someone wanted to bury him, they were also supposed to pay for his debts.

Thus, Siegfried was not buried for more than 14 years, and although he was finally buried in a church, it happened with no ceremony which made his soul unrest in the Hereafter. 

Back to the sightseeing, if you leave the old castle behind, you can also find another building, which is the new part of the castle area, serving as the Museum of Bars county (a former county of the Kingdom of Hungary).

The rest of the town is relatively small, but I can certainly recommend you the Catholic and Evangelical churches and the main square with the town's hall and a couple of impressive town houses. 

The architecture partly resembles the one of the Hungarian cities in Transdanubia (used to be the ancient Pannonia in the Roman times), but you may find some socialist-realist monuments and functionalist buildings of the Czechoslovak era. There is also a small hill where it is worth going if you would like to have a view of the whole area of the city.

My overall impression is that Levice is a friendly place with everything necessary to live, and although you cannot feel the old medieval magic everywhere due to the wars and tragedies in history and the modern hustle and bustle of the city, it can be a nice stop for a couple of hours as a chapter of a bigger trip.

The same can be mentioned about Nové Zámky (in Hungarian: Érsekújvár), which is one of the most important cities in the South of Slovakia, still with a significant Hungarian population today.

While Levice lies more or less in the edge between the Hungarian- and Slovak speaking territories, Érsekújvár is full of Hungarian boards and signs and it also played and still plays a key role in the local Hungarian culture: it is enough to mention the Hungarian avant-garde poet Lajos Kassák, who was born in this city.

In general, you can visit most of the center within a few hours, but i nspite of the humble sizes of the place, the small streets with coffee shops, columns, statues, parks and flowers everywhere create a vivid, charming atmosphere for those who decide to come there. This is all I was planning for now, but please join me next time to read about the end of my first trip, when I was going to the legendary city of Nitra...