A place where mobile phones click. Café in an old train just as attractive as the iconic viaduct

Skilled couple breathe new life into a railway carriage from the Austro-Hungarian era. There is an American school bus as well.

(Source: Archive of A.Š.)

Its history is unknown. One certainty is that it comes from the Austria-Hungary era, and till recently, few would have said that it would have been a great attraction for people from different corners of our country, even beyond its border.

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An old train carriage with no wheels stood for a long time near the Dobšinská ice cave. Despite appearing abandoned, it caught the attention of Andrej and Zuzka Šramko.

They knew that it was just what they had been looking for. For a long time, the couple had been dreaming of their own café, set amid beautiful mountains, with a view of perhaps the most photographed technical monument in Slovakia – the Chmarošský Viaduct. A café that would fit in a place located near the railway line from Červená Skala to Margecany, crossing one of the most beautiful areas of our country. The famous Telgárt loop is a part of it.

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"The idea of opening a café paradoxically came about during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. This was when many did not know how long it would last, which was not at all favorable for establishments of this type and for gastronomy in general," recalls Andrej Šramko, who returned to his hometown after years of working in Bratislava. His wife Zuzka comes from the town of Spišská Nová Ves.

It went according to plan

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