MY SUMMER 1999 TRIP TO SLOVAKIA

As you are reading this 1999 trip report, I am happy to say that I am in Slovakia again. This is the fourth time this year. I visited Slovakia in February, April and then during the summer months I was there for over two months from June 5 until August 13. I can say that I was quite busy each trip. February trip was focused on Ancestral Village Video taping and genealogical research. The weather was really bad for most of the time I was over there, snowing and really cold. I did accomplish to film many villages and all clients are very happy to see their ancestral villages in Virtual reality on their TV screens. March–April trip was pretty well work, work, work, videotaping, and researching in many remote parts of Slovakia. And now to the summer trip. I flew with Canada 3000-charter airline to Stuttgart as their service to Munich started later and I had to be in Slovakia before June 12. I had arranged for a car from Sixt car rental company. They have changed their name from Sixt Budget recently. I got some kind of a new Citroen and since the central locking system wasn't working so I made a stop at Munich airport and changed it to Opel Astra with air conditioning and also this was a much bigger car. Soon after I was once again sailing my beloved German Autobahn. My first stop was at the Austrian border to buy the freeway vignette- highway tax sticker. The fines are very stiff so it is a good idea to buy it right away and not take any chances. Also the speeding fines in Austria are stiff, last summer I was pulled over near Linz. I was logged at 178 Km per hour and the fine was 500 ATS. The allowable speed limit in Austria is 135 Km per hour the police will tolerate your speeding up to 144 Km per hour. Anything over you are a goner if caught. BTW it is also illegal to have a radar detectors in Austria. If I had gone over 180 Km per hour, they would have suspended my driving license for a month and the fine would have been 2000 ATS. Little over four hours later I was in Bratislava. Last trip I had broken of a part of my tooth eating the last piece of grilled chicken in Žilina. Here in Vancouver I was told to get a golden cap to the tune of $650.00 CAD. Since I was in Canada for such a short time I couldn't get it done. So my first day in Slovakia I went to visit my cousin Dr. Peter Linder in Zvolen who is a dentist. He grind the tooth, made some moulds and few days later I had a ceramic cap for US$ 100.00. Not bad price at all. Friday June 11, I headed to do some ancestral village videos in Nova Lubovna, Tarnov and Mokroluh and arrived late afternoon in Presov, where my friends from folklore group Dubrava were celebrating their 20th anniversary with gala program followed by dinner and a ball. The gala performance was fantastic. We seen dances and heard songs from Saris and Zemplin regions of Slovakia. The party lasted till the morning. Next day it was videotaping again in Andrejova and Stebnicka Huta. June 15, I was photographing and videotaping the Inauguration of the first people elected president of the Slovak Republic Ing. Rudolf Schuster. Present at the Inauguration were the presidents of neighboring countries: Alexander Kwasniewki of Poland, Leonid Kucma of Ukraine, Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, Arpád Goncz of Hungary and Thomas Klestil of Austria. The Inauguration had taken place in the building of the Slovak Philharmony-Reduta. After the Inauguration the President and his entourage walked to the Basilica of St. Martin for the Te Deum Mass. From there they again walked through the medieval part of the town to the Primates or the Archbishop's Palace next to the old City Hall and after lunch they walked again through another part of the town to the Presidential Palace.

Next day I went to Nitra to see the musical "Fiddler on the roof." I had seen the original show in New York with Zero Mostel in 1971 and just few days prior to my trip, the students of Notre Dame Catholic High School in Vancouver, where our children go, had a performance of "Fiddler on the roof" as well. All I can say I did liked the Notre Dame performance a lot and I also liked the performance in Nitra. It was just great. If you are in Nitra make sure you go and see it. As a matter of fact, I will go and see it again if I get tickets during this fall trip for sure. Very good friend of mine actress Jana Valocka played the oldest daughter of Tevias, Cajtla and she was really great. Congratulations Jana.

Few days later I was videotaping again, this time Makov, Vysoka nad Kysucou and Velke Rovne and next day I went again to Bratislava to see Puccini's opera La Boheme at the Slovak National Theatre. What a performance.

Saturday early morning I arrived at my friends the Stasik family in Vitaz and took Paul the father of Lucka and Lenka with me to go folk festival in Raslavice and to do some videotaping in Poland. In Raslavice we found that the program will start in the evening, so we had all day for Poland. The village I was to videotape was deep in the mountains where the roads aren't marked with signs, the villages have no markers either, so you kind of go and use the rivers, creeks and bridges as your bearings. You can't imagine the roads. Most of them are in really bad shape and ending suddenly in middle of nowhere. The roads were so bad that in the whole day I only managed to do one village Myscowa. I was about two miles from Woloviec the same day, however the road just ended in the middle of a hill. So next day I had to return through Bardejov and from the western side and that is where the connecting mountain road was to Woloviec. No sign for the village at all, so I asked the local shepherd if we are in Woloviec and to our surprise we were. Woloviec has only few houses now and a wooden church. After the W.W.II there was an ethnic cleansing of the Lemko and Russyn people by the Polish army, the shepherd told me. The road to Woloviec was so bad that I had lost one bolt from the muffler and the other was hanging on last tread when I tried to find out where is the sudden big noise coming from. I burned my thumb while trying to tighten up the only remaining bolt to the engine with my bare hand covered only with facial tissue. At the border the friendly Slovak custom officers had lend me the proper wrench to tighten the bolt up. Anyway Saturday evening in RASLAVICE we went to an opening of woodcarving exhibit of my friend and the Director of the Slovak National museum in Martin, PhDr. Martin Messa and later on we had a really great time to the songs and dances of Folklore group Marina from Zvolen. Saturday's program started with the procession of all the participants through the village and continued with performances of folklore groups Vranovcan from Vranov nad Toplou and Raslavican you guest it, from Raslavice, my friends from Dubrava, Presov, mens' choir from Kapusany and others. This festival was celebrating its 31 anniversary. It is small but great and I will return here for sure in the future. Following days I did some more of the ancestral village videos in Trebisov and Velky Folkmar and then I went to Benkovce, Prikra and Udol. Then I was off to do some research in Topolcany and more videotaping in Velky Kliz near by. June 26, I visited the 14 anniversary of Upper Nitra Folk Festival in Cerenany. Cerenany are celebrating their 650 anniversary of the first written document about Cerenany this year. Three years ago I was there for the first time and promised to return, so I kept my promise. There were really good performances by the folklore group Hajicek from Chrenovec-Brusno and also Lubena from Poluvsie and the guest of festival folklore group Rozsutec from Zilina.

CONTINUE TO PART TWO

GO BACK TO TRAVEL

Published in the Slovak Heritage Live newsletter Volume 7, No. 3, Fall 1999
Copyright © Vladimir Linder 1999 
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