32nd Day - August 9th: Thanksgiving among chickens in Sulov

After the beautiful evening with pastors Lenka and Marian in Zilina, today we had to develop a rough plan for the further visits to Protestant communities in Slovakia with their help. It quickly became clear that the so-called West District of the Evangelical Church in Slovakia is better for me if I am traveling exclusively by bike. The East District is characterized by various mountains. It's constantly up and down, and cycling with luggage is very exhausting in the long run. In the first week, I can visit various communities downstream along the longest river in Slovakia, the Vah, starting from Zilina. Before the Vah flows through the Slovak part of the Pannonian Lowland and flows into the Danube, where I am more geographically flexible in the flatlands when choosing the communities.

The first place recommended to me was the country parsonage in Sulov, about 30km away. The place is known for its impressive rocks, which also attract many hikers. Marek works there as a pastor and I have already been pre-registered for the afternoon. Great! It couldn't be better, and I started cycling in the late morning. Marian took a photo of my departure in front of the church before that. It was almost always easy to ride along the Vah downhill. Only in the last 6km did I have to overcome the approximately 150 m altitude difference because Sulov is slightly elevated in a scenic side valley. The rocks greeted me from a distance. I rode almost without any longer breaks and arrived in Sulov around 1:30 p.m.

Marek was already waiting for me. A country pastor with many animals. He reported that he is responsible for around 800 congregation members in several places with 3 preaching venues. This also includes the town of Bytca. But there is no Protestant church there. That means the congregation members from the town are used to driving to Sulov in the countryside for worship. Around 30 visitors come to the worship service in Sulov. There is another preaching venue in another village, but I don't remember the number of visitors. In the summer, youth groups from urban communities often come to Sulov and use the beautiful and large community garden for camping and various activities. Then we visited his small and charming village church. He advised me - since I'm already there - to take a tour through the mountains and hike to the ruined castle. Because the weather was nice and Marek had other tasks to do, I started walking. The hike reminded me of a hiking holiday in the Slovak Paradise. When I came back after 2.5 hours, we worked together on his new chicken coop. A neighbor joined us. Marek said that he is Catholic, but now he always comes to the Protestant worship services. When the work was done, Marek spontaneously said a prayer in Slovak and English to thank between the running chickens.

Afterwards, we had dinner together, his eldest daughter Laura joined us, and I also talked a little about my family. After an hour, he said goodbye because he wants to be there when his children fall asleep. I wrote some text and then fell asleep on the community sofa satisfied with the course of the day.