MY WINTER 1994 TRIP TO SLOVAKIA

In November of last year I have been to Slovakia again for three weeks. The price of my ticket was $ 11.00 Canadian, I couldn't refuse it. I had frequent flyer points with Canadian Airlines International and winter is a low season so I cashed in 40000 points and was on my way. This was a great trip. I attended folk dance performances of group Lipa and Technik. Anniversary performances of folk dance groups Ekonom in Bratislava and Hronka in Banska Bystrica. On the way to Banska Bystrica I made stop at the Basilica in Hronsky Benadik. It was sunny and really cold. Reluctantly they let me in and took me to the offices of father Vit Usak. After a brief conversation we have discovered that we have mutual friends: Father Juan Shutka from Ecuador, Mrs. Volentier from Vancouver and even our priest Father Kadlec from his days in Rome. I was allowed to photograph and I have some great shots. Went to my favorite village a World Heritage Site-Vlkolinec. The weather was so beautiful, it was sunny, I simply couldn't just pass by.

Close by Ruzomberok we stopped to photograph a Roman Catholic church in Ludrova and from there we went to the church in Liptovske Sliace. In Liptovske Sliace the most famous frescos are in the attic as the walls of the church were built and decorated with frescos many years prior to building the vaulted ceiling under the roof. There is the way of the cross and the most famous Madonna and children that is pictured on 1000 Sk bill.

In the afternoon we went to Vazec visiting Dr. Kapasny the director of the Vazec group and I presented him with a set of pictures of the two memorable summer days while attending the festival in Vazec and in Pribylina.

I stayed over in Liptovsky Hradok at my fiend Adriana's parents place. The next day we went to work. It was cold and cloudy. We went to Poprad and were trying to find Spisska Sobota, now a part of greater Poprad. After many wrong turns finally we found the church of St. George and its famous altar with the legend of St. Juraj on the horse killing a dragon by master Pavol from Levoca. Next was village of Mlynica near by and another altar by master Pavol from Levoca, altar of St. Mararet. From there we went to Martin to a rehearsal of children's group Turček where our friend the cymbal player Ludka Tumova is the music director. She was really surprised to see me in Martin as she wasn't aware that I was in Slovakia again.

After an hour in Martin we went to Terchova to visit my friend Fero Mucha of the famous musicians The Mucha Brothers from Terchova. Of course I missed the turn and ended up in Zazriva. It was fogy, and snowing. From the intersection at Zazriva a really steep hill will take you to the summit and than down the hill to Terchova. The fog was so thick I barely seen the front of the car. We made it in one piece and had a really nice evening with Fero's family. In the morning we continued to Levoca. Here I wanted to retake the pictures as I had now faster film and felt that I could do better close-ups of all the altars. The church of St. Jacob was really cold as most of the churches in Slovakia aren't heated in winter. Systematically I took detailed pictures of every altar. The guides were surprised at my speed. Late afternoon we continued to Vitaz in the Saris County to visit our friend and folk singer Lucka Stasikova and this time I met also her sister who is excellent singer, but her real love is piano. She is finishing high school and wants to attend conservatory in Kosice. On the way there the weather was really bad, snow mixed with rain, fogy so everything in the car was on, the lights, wipers, heat and the battery really didn't charge up. This I discovered the next morning when the car was totally dead. It is little bit harder to find anybody to fix your car in small village in Slovakia than in Canada or USA. Luckily I had a second battery with me so the car would start. Since the weather was so bad we decided to stay put and went shopping for post cards. This was really funny. They weren't expecting orders like mine. We went to all the little stores in the village, some of them situated in the garage or a room of a house. In Slovakia everyone it seems wants to try a business. That is great. Most of the post cards you, the members received were purchased in Vitaz and not many were left after my purchases. Same holds for the little post office, when I told the lady how many stamps I wanted she told me that quantity like that I may get at the main post office. I wasn't aware that such a small village would have two post offices. When I asked where is the other main post office she replied that it is in Presov. Well, we made compromise and after all she did sell me the stamps and thanks to her you got the post cards in time. The hardest thing with the post cards is that there is so many of them over 600 each time. This time I had no elf's and had to do everything by myself, mostly early in the morning. Next day we took Lucka and Lenka for a trip to Bardejov to photograph the altars in the church of 
St. Egidius. We met two really friendly guides and they made everything possible and enjoyable and we got to see places we haven's see before. We dropped the girls at home in Vitaz and went back east to visit our friend "Bohumil Stejskal," Miroslav Biros in Okruzna near Presov. My original plan was to attend the 35 anniversary performance of the folk dance group Zeleziar in Kosice, but after seeing the horrifying pictures of accidents on the icy roads of Kosice and worrying about the car, I have decided not to go to Kosice after all and go instead straight to Bojnice and the IV. Days of Christmas carols of Christians of Slovakia. Fist we made stop in the village of Zehra where I wanted to retake the picture of famous fresco "The Tree of Life," reluctantly father Krajnak has let us in. From there if is just few kilometers to Spisska Kapitula where I wanted to take details of the altar Death of Virgin Mary. As I finished the film in Zehra I re winded it here, put a new one in and discovered the camera winder arm has broken down. I kneeled down at the altar, prayed and cried, but it didn't help. The camera was finished. I was glad that it didn't happen sooner. We made stop in Liptovsky Hrádok and continued through Martin to Vysehradne. We stayed at our friend Rasto Haronik. They were all surprised and happy to see us. Rasto's mother was just celebrating her 80th birthday. Saturday morning the first performance of the folk groups was at old folk extended care hospital and residence. Groups from many regions of Slovakia were performing to the delight of the senior citizens. Many of them had tears in their eyes as this performance has reminded them the Christmases long ago. The next performance with different groups was early afternoon in village near by Prievidza called Sebedrazie at the local community hall. Surprisingly many of the children from different groups were fluent in English so I had given away numerous newsletters. They were all surprised that I was from Canada and that I spoke Slovak so good. They didn't believe me at first, but after identifying myself with my Canadian passport they started to believe. They sang and danced so beautifully. Too bad my camera wasn't working you would have seen some great pictures. The gala show was at the house of culture later on in the evening in Bojnice. The show included folk singers from many regions of Slovakia and some international participants. This was followed by the Christmas food sampling from many regions. Here one had a chance to sample at least ten different Kapustnica soups, numerous pastries and goodies. The next morning was a traditional performance in Chrenovec's Roman Catholic Church, followed by lunch in Lipník and final performance at the community hall in Zemianske Kostolany near Novaky. I arrived back in Bratislava late Sunday evening.

Bratislava was this year again all dressed up in Christmas decorations, color lights were everywhere not to much different from the North American ones. The main square in front of the old City hall was turned into Christmas one stop shopping market for folk crafts and all kinds of little goodies. It was so beautiful and it felt really warm like at home. Most of the buildings at the square are now repaired and nothing is distracting your eyes from the beauty of this square.

On Monday prior to returning the car to my friend I had a flat tire and later on few blocks from his residence the gear shift handle has broken off and the car couldn't move. What a horror story. This could have happened far away from Bratislava. So I was lucky that it happened now. I left some money for repairs and Tuesday, December 14, I was on my way home.

GO BACK TO TRAVEL

Published in the Slovak Heritage Live newsletter Volume 3, No. 1, Spring 1995
Copyright © Vladimir Linder 1995 
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.