FROM THE MAIL BAG

Dear Pan Linder,
Please renew my subscription to “Slovak Heritage Live.” It is a fine publication, the best I’ve seen. Please send me the detailed Auto Atlas of the Slovak Republic and “The Slovakia Tourist Guide” by Jan Jacika. I may order more later, but I have to stay on budget. I very much enjoyed reading about “Marian Hill” and St. James church in Levoča. I am very partial to Spiš region.
Good Luck and God bless you in your travels.
Tom Geiss TX  USA

Dear Vladimir,
Enclosed is my check for $50.00. I am sorry I am late. I would like to tell you about my trip to Slovakia with my daughter. I had received an invitation to the opening of a new church in the village of Plavnica. The church was absolutely beautiful. The name of the church is Our Lady of Seven Sorrows. I do have many relatives in Plavnica. I stayed with Feri and Mary Ann Solecky who were the perfect hosts. This was my sixth trip to Slovakia and the most memorable. The old church will be used for a funeral home. Fr. Marchek is the pastor. My mother was born in the United States. My grandmother didn’t want to stay in America so grandma took my mother back to Slovakia. She came back in her twenties, not knowing the language. She resented this all her life. She married and did learn the language. My mother was the only one that came back to America because at the time they were closing the border and no Slovaks were allowed to come to the USA. I have many relatives there and have kept close contact with them. Also I do know the language so we can talk. We have a SKYPE at home and so do they so now we can see each other. Hope you can some day go to Plavnica and see the people and their beautiful church.
Sincerely,
Irene Sinanis CT USA 

Editor’s note: Dear Irene, I have been to Plavnica many times. I go visit a family of a friend of mine in near by Údol, I did research in Matysová, Hajtovka and Malý Lipník and Starina. I have seen the church being built through my travels. I also go to Agrokarpaty Plavnica to buy herbal tees.

Dear Mr. Linder,
I would like to renew my subscription to Slovak Heritage Live. It has been a while since my subscription expired and I have moved as well. Please note that I would like to give a gift subscription to my brother and sister in law as well. I am enclosing a check in the amount of $50.00 for the two subscriptions. Thank you so much for your most informative newsletter on our Slovak Heritage.
Regards,
Betty Kozley
NV  USA

MY SUMMER 2007 TRIP TO SLOVAKIA
Saturday June 2^nd was my day of departure. Early morning I wet to bank to get some US$ cash and did some last minute shopping and started to pack and repack and weighting the suitcases. This summer is the last time I can take two suitcases of 70 Lbs each as even the British Airways are adopting the new rule of two bags 51 Lbs each. That is significant drop of over 25%. I guess I will be bringing that much less presents from now on. It isn’t the presents that much as goodies you still can’t buy in Slovakia like wheat germ, cracked wheat, Jashida sauce, great macadamia nuts, granola bars we are used to here, some spices like papaya meat tenderizer. But it is getting better. There are more stores opening with specialty items there every day.

My son’s friend Simon took me to the airport. I asked him to wait for me just in case I am overweight. Sure enough I was and I had to remove few items. I was checked in on the second try. The flight to London was great as usual excellent service and food. We arrived on time. They changed the European departures to another terminal and I had to go through security check. I had two carry on bags. One tiny oyster shell plastic Samsonite suitcase containing my still camera, 4 lenses, flash and HP laptop and one camera bag with my video camera, extra hard drives and electronics. Passing by security officer with stone cold face I was told: “one bag only.” I asked her something several times and her answer to every one of my questions was: “one bag only.” Then I asked to see a supervisor as it used to be that if you had one carry on bag and the other was camera equipment which was my case, they would allow it. Not according to her. She told me that if a captain of the plane can only bring “one bag only” why would supervisor let me in with two bags? She gave me instructions how to check my carry on. That meant to actually go through the customs and enter England, taking train to Terminal 4 and trying to check my additional carry on. Well, what a task. The departure hall seems like barn with thousands of people checking in to all world destinations, but lucky for me there is a help counter and there was a really jolly fellow behind it. I told him my situation and he figured it all out. First he went to ask few near by security officers. No luck either. I moved all the wires and chargers, flash, and extra hard drives to my small carry on suitcase and put my video camera and still camera and all lenses into my camera bag and I inserted my laptop into the side pocket of the camera bag. I look like Christmas three. I checked the carry on and went through the security check which I passed to, my surprise. So I was at least on my way to Vienna. The plane was late in departing and than of course late in arriving. Vienna’s airport is undergoing a major expansion, therefore the plane parks on tarmac and you are bussed to the terminal.  The airport wasn’t designed to take large amount of arrivals at the same time as it is happening lately and they don’t have a cue system in place at all. You walk into a room that reminds you a barn and everybody is in and no lines or cues anywhere, you just kind of move towards the custom officer and you wait and wait and wait. Then you got through a narrow tunnel to get into the hall where you pick your suitcases. This was my lucky day as all three suitcases arrived at the same time as I did. This is not the rule when flying thorough London England, as they do lose suitcases in London some time. My friend Mirko was waiting for me and soon we were on the way to Milan’s place in Bratislava. I unpacked, we talked and I went to bed with the help of sleeping pills and had a good night sleep. Early Morning Milan took me to town visited my sister and later the owner of ADVANTAGE CAR RENTALS MILAN MJARTAN picked me up and soon I was mobile with my own car....

LET’S HELP MAGDALENA’S DREAM COME THROUGH

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Copyright © Vladimir Linder 2007 
3804 Yale Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5C 1P6
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