On July 2, 2015, after a year of planning, I returned to the Muranska Planina region of Slovakia with several members of my extended family.  On July 3 we visited our ancestral village, Muranska Lehota, and had experiences beyond anything I had imagined for the trip.  Our adventures the following day were no less magical.

Saturday, July 4, 2015: Our guide Samuel led us to the heavily forested back entrance to the Muran Castle park.  Jergus, Samuel’s forest ranger friend, proceeded to lead our caravan into the park further than tourists are usually allowed to travel by car.  We slowly crept up a dirt path barely wide enough for a single car, let alone Jergus’s Land Rover.  There were few guardrails and many steep drop offs.  So when we reached a clearing, a large lush meadow, I exhaled.

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On July 2, 2015, after a year of planning, I returned to the Muranska Planina region of Slovakia with several members of my extended family.  Seven of us traveled from Budapest; the rest met in Bratislava to embark from there.  In all we were eighteen Americans representing three generations – could we pull this off?  As the organizer of this family reunion adventure, I wondered and worried – would this journey live up to everyone’s expectations?

Other than setting dates, sending a few emails to book lodging and a translator/guide and making a rough itinerary, I didn’t do much homework.  I went with all of the leads from my scouting trip in 2013.  The rest I left up to fate and modest expectations.  I would roll with whatever transpired.  Having traveled to this part of Europe 11 times, I knew the deal.  This was how I always travel.

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