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!

Weekend Trip To Paris With Friends

We got back from the U.S. on a Wednesday and got a call from our friends, Clive and Maria, inviting us to Paris for the weekend. Why not? We didn't take in any tourist attractions this time, which was kind of nice and relaxing. We mostly walked around and stopped for drinks in a couple of cafes. In the evening we went out to hear some music. We have found that sometimes, especially when we are with friends, that it's just fun to "hang out" in another city--and if that "other city" is Paris, than it's even better.

We took some pictures as we were walking around. This was a different part of Paris then we went to last time. I'm not sure what everything is because I was not at all in tourist mode.

We stopped in a Greek restaurant for dinner. The food was decent, but the decor was even better!

We found a hidden gem for listening to music. The top floor was a basic Irish pub, which was advertising a jazz concert in the "cave". We had no idea what to expect and couldn't see what the cave looked like until the concert started. We got there 30 minutes early and waited in the pub for the doors to open. As we waited, the queue for the concert kept getting longer and longer. We thought that was a good sign--and it was.

The cave was a really cool space and admission was only a 5 Euro drink purchase. The venue was called "Caveau Des Obliettes", which roughly translates to "The cellar of the forgotten". The band turned out to be a Hungarian folk band and not a jazz band at all--a good thing as far as Rick and I were concerned! They were a group of old guys who were very seasoned and talented musicians. I love when things work out like that!

Sunday morning we took a stroll through Montmartre, which is one of our favorite spots in Paris. Although touristy, it retains a nice, authentic vibe. There were a couple of bands playing on the steps of the Basilica du Sacre Coeur. However, the most exciting part of the trip was purhasing our first peice of real art!

au revior

Trip Home In February

We took a short trip to Atlanta and Virginia in February. We had a busy schedule in Atlanta visiting with friends and family. In Virginia, we celebrated the birthdays of our two nieces (Ashlyn & Emma) and our nephew (Jordan). All of them have birthdays within the same week and it's an annual event for Stephanie's parents and grandfather to travel to Virginia during that time. We were really happy to be able to join in the fun this year.

This first set of pictures are from a party that Stephanie's mom threw in Atlanta the day Stephanie arrived. Rick arrived a few days later. All of the family from Atlanta and surrounding areas was there. Stephanie's bloodshot, droopy eyes were a result of jet-lag and not alcohol as the party began at 6pm EST, which was midnight for her. Although tired, she hung in there and had a great time!

These pictures are from Emma's 4th birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheeze. This experience was most definitely a culture shock for us!

Some pictures from Jordan's soccer game. His team lost, but he played really hard.

Stephanie's sister (Aimee) surprised her oldest daughter, Ashlyn, with a girls trip to New York City for her 13th. So all of the girls (Ashlyn, Stephanie, Aimee, Stephanie's mother, and Aimee's mother-in-law) all took a weekend trip. They stayed right on Times Square and saw a Broadway play. Despite the freezing cold weather, a good time was had by all.