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MY
WINTER 2002 TRIP TO SLOVAKIA
Since
my booking with my favorite travel agent Sandy at Pacific Sun Holidays in
Vancouver I was under the impression that I am leaving at 10:30 in the
morning. Well, just the evening prior to my departure, same as I always do, I
did check my ticket only to discover that I am leaving at 4:15 in the
afternoon and that I will be arriving in Frankfurt on October 22 at 10:30 AM
and at 2:00 I will be in Vienna, Austria.
The
morning of my departure I checked the Lufthansa arrival and departure schedule
on the Internet found out that the arriving plane will be 15 minutes late and
the departure will be at least 15 minutes late as well. The Airline companies
tell you to be at the airport at least 3 hours prior to departure. Well I
don’t go for that. You end up standing in the line for over two hours. I
arrived at the airport about 45 minutes prior to my departure. There were no
lineups, no people, and no hassle. I went straight to the counter, checked in
my luggage, and went to the departure lounge. My suitcases were the last ones
on the plane and so they will be the first ones to get out in Frankfurt, ready
for my next flight. The flight as usual was excellent. The security check at
Vancouver International Airport. What a joke. In Canada since 9/11 a new tax
of about $24.00 is added to the ticket. Supposing for the extra security and
new equipment. What they have at Vancouver Airport is bunch of obsolete and
outdated technology equipment and highly incompetent personnel. If the
management of the airport security did their home work and some research and
bought the latest security equipment (for the extra tax that is being
collected strictly for this purpose), there would not be a need to open up any
of your carry on luggage and inspection of items in it, same as at airports in
Europe where they do have today’s state of the art technology. They
recognize all the items in your carry on luggage on the computer screen. The
security personnel at Vancouver airport don’t know what they are looking for
or what they are doing most of the times. I carry a lot of camera equipment,
well if I intend to check the equipment, then I will check every item and
won’t rush through it, as it was in my case on October 21. The security
checked few items and waved their hand over most of them.
At
an average speed of 609 miles per hour and an attitude of 37000 feet we made
it to Frankfurt almost on time a bit over 9 hours. I boarded another Lufthansa
flight to Vienna and arrived there at 2:00PM. I don’t know if I told you
before that in Europe with the exception of the countries of the European
Union, both countries check your passport. When leaving Austria you go through
their passport and custom control, followed by the same procedure at the
Slovak side. They do have passport scanners on the Slovak side to scan your
passport number and information to their computers and then you go through the
customs the customs officer sometimes asks you if you are bringing anything,
but most of the time just waves you through without asking any questions. A
bit different from what we are used to at USA or Canadian border crossings as
sometimes the questions seem to be endless on both sides. The border crossing
to Slovakia was smooth as usual. In fact I arrived at the Advantage Car Rental
Company headquarters ahead of schedule at 3:15. My car was ready and I was
mobile in few minutes. After unpacking and charging up my cell phone for a
while I went to the V-Klub. It was packed with young students. Soon after I
entered the office of director and my friend Maroš Veselský I learned that
tonight they had a school of folk dancing and they were teaching folk dances
from Zuberec in Orava region, which is in Northern Slovakia. My friend and
folklorist Jano Blaho was teaching anybody who wanted to learn: Polka, rabbit,
and simple dance of this region. After the training session the musicians kept
on playing and students were dancing and singing songs from many regions. This
continued until about 1:00 AM. I have met many of my folklorist friends here.
I also learned that on Friday night in the Mirror Forrest Cultural Center in
Petržalka, there would be the 36th folklore evening, introducing
the folklore and folk traditions of Upper Hron Region village POLOMKA. The
first part of the evening was a film about past and today’s Polomka. Second
part was a very interesting performance of their folklore group with the theme
of Village Market (Jarmok). Performing were little children, students and
adults. Third art was sampling of typical Polomka’s food. Starting with some
home made spirit and continuing with KROMPAK IN SAUERKRAUT and home made
sausage. Here is the recipe: We start by cooking smoked ham or smoked pork
hooks in water. When these first ingredients are cooked we add whole peeled
potatoes and we also add sauerkraut. This way there will be a thick skin
formed on the potatoes. We can add salt and pepper to taste. When everything
is cooked we take out the meat, potatoes and part of the sauerkraut and put it
in the bowl. We can sprinkle some fried bacon over the potatoes and sauerkraut
and we add some pre sifted flour to the remaining liquid and serve as soup or
we van pour it over the potatoes and the meat. This is a very simple meal, but
I can tell you it tasted fantastic. Following the meal there was a tasting of
Polomka’s poppy seed and raisins strudel. My friend Martin Mešša, former
director of the Slovak National Museum in Martin was there with me, and both
of us as many other people had a good time. There was a live music
and dancing and a draw as well. When we left at 2:00 AM, the party was
still going strong. The reason for our early departure was our morning trip to
Vienna, Austria as this was the day of free entrances to the museums during
their National Holiday. The parking in Vienna is free on the weekends and
holidays. We went straight to Belvedere Palace and Gardens to see the art
exhibits. To our surprise few days ago they opened an exhibit by one of mine
favorite Viennese artists secession painter GUSTAV KLIMT-LANDSCAPES. His works
from public and private collections from around the world were on Display. It
was very exiting to see it all under one roof. Of course in the last room his
famous KISS was on display. We started to leave and noticed that we missed one
section of the main floor and there to our surprise we found more Klimt’s
paintings and works by Renoir, Monet, Edward Munch, Egon Schiele just to
mention few. From Belvedere we dove to the center of town near the church of
St. Stefan and went for lunch at my favorite Viennese restaurant THE FIGLMÜLLER
and had the largest Wiener Schnitzel in the world with salad and their
excellent home wine. The lunch was as usual, perfect served by Slovak waiter
Igor. The kitchen staff is all from Slovakia and I think they have two
additional Austrian waiters at this location. I also learned that they do not
serve coffee. The restaurant is always packed. From there we went to the best
ice cream place in Vienna, ZANONI, just around the corner. We continued
through the old town and went to Hoff Burg and visited the Crown’s Jewels at
the Schatzkammer. We returned to Bratislava in the evening.
Next
day I went on the road traveling to Eastern Slovakia, stopping in Levoča
and visiting the church of St. James and found from my friends the guide
lecturers that the Dekan of Levoča Mons. Doc. ThDr. ICLic. František
Dlugoš PhD. is looking for me. I met him as he was going from his house to
the church to hear confessions. He wants his articles to be published in the
Slovak Heritage Live. So the first two are in this issue. This is in deed an
honor for me. I know Mons. Dlugoš for many years and he made it possible for
me to photograph all the altars of this magnificent church on many occasions
including the famous and closed to public the Chapel of Saint George in which
there are many altars from churches that were taken over by the previous
regime that made a military zone from the area north of Levoča. The
masterpiece by Master Pavol from Levoča St. George on the horse killing
the dragon is also stored here. So we set a date for our meeting later on in
November. I went to Myslina and Humenné where I had some Genealogical work
and Ancestral video to do there. In Humenné I also met my friend Jaroslav
Bohumile Onasisse Biroš from Okružná near Prešov with his wife Helenka as
they were installing some boxing and hockey games in the pub located under the
huge manor house of Humenné. They got married in early September. Later on we
returned to Prešov where they live and I went to the local grocery store BILA
and got some supplies and cooked a dinner for them. Next morning Jaroslav and
I went back to Humenné as both of us needed to finish the jobs. Through my
travels I stayed in HOTEL POĽANA high under the mount Poľana near
Hriňová. Then I was in Demänová and went to check the prices at Hotel
Grand. I stayed in this hotel on several occasions in the past and to my
surprise they increased their prices to over US$86.00 per night with extra
charges for the spa, swimming pool and outside parking. So I told them that
they aren’t worth that much money. I sat in the car and went half way down
the hill to the entrance of the Cave of Freedom and found a newly opened HOTEL
FIM that charges only US$38.00 per night with free use of spa, swimming pool,
sauna and parking. What a deal. This hotel has all the latest electronic hotel
gadgets in it, such as magnetic swipe cards as key for you room, magnetic
swipe cards for lighting, electronic sensors and motion detectors everywhere,
satellite color TV including programs in English, fridge with wet bar,
friendly staff and a superb restaurant as well. I liked my stay in this hotel
so much that I returned for another stay, later on during this trip.
November
1st, the All Saints Day I spent in Liptovská Teplička, visiting grave of
my late friend Stanka Bulavová and visiting her parents and family. It was a
time to remember her. All the graves at the cemetery were really nicely
decorated with flowers and flower arrangements and the candles were lit on
almost every grave. And yes I did stay again at my favorite PENSION
DOLINKA.
In the morning I made breakfast for the morning staff in attendance, the cook,
waitress and the manager. Diced crab fingers with mayonnaise, mustard, salt,
pepper, lemon and sugar and served on French bread with a glass HUBERT
sparkling wine. We had a blast. I returned to Bratislava on Sunday, November
3rd and went to the cemetery to the graves of my wife’s and my parents at
the crematorium cemetery. Here I met my long time friend journalist Milan
Rusko. Milan used to be the Press director at several folklore festivals over
the years.
Tuesday
November 5, I went to Vienna again for lunch at Figlmüller and upon my return
to Bratislava I went to another school of folk dancing at the V-Klub. Tonight
they were teaching the dances of KOKAVA and again I met many of my folklorist
friends there. This is becoming a very popular V-KLUB venue. Next day I went
to NITRA to see the musical ZORBA at the theater of Andrej Bagar. Anthony
Perkins immortalized the role of Zorba. This was a musical and it was great.
Next day I drove to Svit where I stayed for few days. Upon arrival at my
friend’s place I learned that their TV is broken. So I decided to take it to
the repair shop in the morning. Found location of the shop and went there.
There is a sign on the building informing you about the repair shop on the
second floor. So I decided to check out the place before dragging the TV up
there. Well there was a sign on the door informing prospective customers that
the shop doesn’t have regular hours and it opens whenever the owner feels
like it. So I went to look for a repair shop in Poprad. On my way, I made stop
at the newly opened TESCO department store and bought some supplies and
package of back bacon and two buns and some tomatoes for my lunch. I had a
lunch in my car and continued to Poprad to look for the TV repair shop. As I
was cruising around, suddenly I noticed that my valet that is usually in my
right jean pocket isn’t there. So I thought it must be under the rest of my
supplies on the seat, well it wasn’t there either. I had a flash with all
the potential problems as I realized that the valet is gone. So I thought I
must have left it at the cashier’s counter in TESCO. I started to recollect
what I had in the valet and I had over in US$400.00, 5000.00 Slovak Crowns,
85.00 EU, several credit cards and driving license. I went to the cashier and
she remembered me leaving the valet there and said that they went to look for
me immediately, but I was too quick in leaving and that my valet is at the
customer service counter. WOW. So I went to the customer service counter and
told the girls that I am the guy with the lost valet. So she asked me if I
know what was in it, after I told her the content she returned my valet to me
with a smile. Of course everything was in it!! So I went to a florist shop
located right there in TESCO and bought the most beautiful rose they had there
and gave it to the cashier, to her surprise. SO TO THE EMPLOYEES OF TESCO IN
POPRAD A BIG THANK YOU IS IN ORDER.
There
are many small stores and repair shops created out of storage areas in many of
the residential apartment pre cast concrete buildings and their sizes are very
small, sometimes only four by four yards. They seldom have a visible signs;
parking in front of them is impossible. Later on I found a repair shop located
in the PRIOR department store building. While we are on topic of driving,
there is a new law regarding the headlights. They have to be on at all times,
from October 15, till March 15, and there are heavy fines for violations. Also
there are more and more checks for the highway stamps on the highways. Fines
are heavy. Short term or a yearly stamp can be purchased at any gas station
and you must attach it to the windshield. Saturday I went to Humenné as I
wanted to finish the Ancestral Village Video in the open-air folk museum,
skanzen. This wasn’t my lucky day as they closed for winter season few days
ago. From Humenné I went to Vislanka, north of Prešov, where my friend Evka
Kačmarčik, from Folklore group Jánošík was visiting her parents.
You may recall my story about the 45th anniversary of Jánošík in the Spring
2002 issue where Marek publicly asked for her hand at the end of their
performance. Well they dig get married in August. From Vislanka we went to Údol,
where I visited family of a friend of mine again and we continued to Svit. We
got ready quickly and went to the 35th anniversary gala performance of
folklore group VAGONÁR from Poprad. The performance was great and a dinner
party followed right after the performance in near by hotel Satel. We left
about 4:00 AM after having great time. Sunday early morning we went to Levoča
for the early mass in the Black Church. After the mass I had a meeting with
Monsignor Dlugoš and he gave me the articles for publishing on disk and also
he gave me five books in which my pictures from Levoča are published.
From Levoča we went straight to Liptovská Teplička visiting my
friend and our correspondent Marcela Smolárová and her husband Jozef, who
just had an addition to their family with a birth of a baby girl on November
4. Her name is Andrejka.
I
went to Bratislava on Monday and made stop in Modra at the factory of Slovak
Folk Majolika, the manufacture of beautiful ceramics.
Tuesday
November 12 was the date of our friend Makši Dubrovay funeral and he was laid
into his final resting place in the grave of his parents at cemetery in Slávičie
valley in Bratilsava. Friends and family members came to pay their last
respects to Makši. I stay in Bratislava for next few days and then I went to
the castle Červený Kameň where folklore group Jánošík had a
performance for German tourist agencies in the way of a highwaymen robbery:
Zbojnícky Prepad. Their performance continued later on at Galbov Mlyn
(Galbov
Mill) near Pezinok. Everybody had a great time. Day prior to my departure I
went to Vienna, had lunch again at the famous Figlmüller and ice cream at
Zanoni’s and went walking and taking pictures in the old town. When I booked
my flight I never checked my time of departure from Vienna to Frankfurt. I
discovered in Bratislava that my plane leaves at 7:10 in the morning and that
is about 20 minutes after the bus arrival meaning that if I take bus I will
miss the plane. I really hate to bother people with my problems and this was
clearly my mistake for not checking the departure time in Vancouver prior to
my departure for Europe. So I learned yet a very valuable lesson to always
check the details of my travel plans. Lucky for me, my friend Milan Štefánik
who just bought a new car was kind enough to take me to the Vienna Airport and
even letting me to drive his new car. We left Bratislava around 5:00 AM and
were at the airport before 6:00. And thus another trip to Slovakia has come to
an end.
Vladimir
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BACK TO TRAVEL
Published in the
Slovak Heritage Live newsletter Volume 11, No. 1, Spring 2003
Copyright © Vladimir Linder 2003
3804 Yale
Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5C 1P6
The above article may not be copied,
reproduced, republished, or redistributed by any means including electronic,
without the express written permission of Vladimir
Linder. All rights
reserved.
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