Oostende (The Coast)

The original theme for this weekend trip was "Beach, Bike, and Band." Our friends, Clive and Maria, invited us to go to the West Flanders region of Belgium to hear a band. The lead guitar player in the band was Clive's guitar teacher. The band was playing in a small town that none of us ever heard of. Because there were no hotel accomodations in that town, we decided to stay in Oostende, which was close by. Oostende is a popular family beach destination on the North Sea.

The West Flanders area is well known for biking so we were thinking of finding a good bike trail to spend the day on. The weather ended up being okay, but looked a bit iffy at first so we left our bikes at home. There seemed to be a lot of crazy vehicles to rent along the beach so we decided to get one of those 4 person bikes. We had a blast, especially when we had our most reckless driver, Rick, behind the wheel!

The bar we went to at night was a total dive and the bands were all pretty terrible. Nevertheless, we had a great time during the day riding the bike and exploring a beer bar that we found in Rick’s trusty beer book. The next day we tried out another beer book recommendation, which was in a small town on our route back to Brussels. The tiny brewery had a café that looked like an old bingo hall—zero atmosphere, but we discovered delicious beer that can’t be found anywhere else in Belgium. We also got a tour of the brewery from the nice owners. So the weekend sort of lived up to it’s original theme, but I think the word "beer" should be added to the title.

Slovakia

I had the unique and wonderful opportunity to stay in a small village in Slovakia for 9 days. My friend, Maria, was going home to visit her family and she invited me to come along. The landscape of southern Slovakia is basically farmland with villages scattered throughout. There are also a few larger towns including the capital, Bratislava.

This was a very interesting experience for two reasons. One, none of Maria’s family members speak English (Maria did a lot of translating). I’m proud to say, however, that my Slovak vocabulary increased to 12 words by the end of the trip! And two, I got a really good taste of village life. When I say "taste" I mean it literally. Maria’s mother is an excellent cook and, although she was very nervous about cooking for a vegetarian, she pulled it off with no problem!

Almost all of the families in the village have gardens and keep animals, such as chickens and pigs. The food they eat comes from the garden and the animals. Everything is homemade. Only a few items are purchased from a grocery store and bread is bought in the village daily. Since it was early March and, therefore, not growing season, all of the fruits and vegetables we ate were canned the season before. The eggs come straight from the chickens back. Even the pasta is made from scratch! The family has a small vineyard on the perimeter of the village as well as winemaking facilities in the house. This is a very self-sustaining way of life in which nothing is wasted. Leftover food is either used in another recipe or fed to one of the animals.

The preparation of meals takes up a good part of the day. Lunch in many central/eastern European countries is served hot. It almost always starts with soup and bread and is followed by another hearty dish. A popular Slovakian saying is "A day without soup is not a proper day." Lunch was definitely a daily highlight for me. I really looked forward to trying the different homemade soups each day.

Another tradition is drinking an alcoholic beverage called Palenka, which is basically a type of schnapps made with apricots, plums and/or wine. It is served in shot glasses and is offered to guests regardless of the time of day. It is customary to take a shot in the morning to start ones day off right. It is also known to be good for the stomach. Maria’s family made this from scratch too.

Before going, I asked Maria’s boyfriend what to expect culturally, so I could avoid any big faux pas. He told me that I would be offered a lot of food and drink and that I could not refuse it. Slovak families are very warm and generous and they show their hospitality this way. It is not polite to refuse, regardless of how full or drunk you are!

While that may be a slight exaggeration, it is pretty close to the truth. There were many times when I said I was full, but was talked into eating more food. Also, my shot glass was often filled when my back was turned even after I declined more. There were some days where we visited two or three different sets of relatives. These days were tougher because each new home visited meant more food and alcohol offered. On two occasions, we visited Maria’s grandparents, who live in the same village as her parents. Her grandfather had me drinking shots (followed by beer) before 10:00 in the morning! One day, I had 3 shots in the morning with the grandparents, followed by 4 more in the afternoon with the cousins!

This hospitality went a bit further as I was given several things to take home—including two bottles of Palenka!
We spent most of the vacation visiting with people, but we also toured around a little. I have written about more interesting adventures below—with the pictures.

Some Pictures Of The Family

Palenka

Palenka

Palenka

The Village: Velke Lodce

Dad's Work

Maria's dad works on this farm where he takes care of some interesting animals.

A Fabulous Hike In Northern Slovakia

A Walk In The Woods Next To The Village

Maria's father used to work for the forest service where he managed these woods. Maria and her family knows these woods like the back of their hands so we strayed from the trail several times during our walk.

Historic House

Maria's uncle has restored this old house in traditional Slovakian style. He is passionate about his project and, therefore, has done a lot of research to assure that everything is authentic. Because this has been a hobby for him, commercial visits are limited. Nevertheless, the house is listed as a regional historic site. I had the good fortune to tour the house and have dinner there.

An Educational Experience

Probably the best part of the trip was when I got to teach an English class at Maria's nephew's school. Maria's nephew, Phillip, had been bugging her about this for a long time so the two of them made a plan. The only problem is that I was not let in on the plan until I was already in Slovakia. I was a little nervous because I had to prepare something on the fly and I had not spoken with the teacher. I had no idea what she expected or how much English the children already knew. In the end, it went very well.

The students (11 years old) were very cute and well-behaved. They were so excited to have a native English speaker visit their class that you would have thought I was a movie star!