The Slovak National Museum is reconstructing its manor house in the village of Dolná Krupá near Trnava, which is part of the Music Museum. The renovation of the more than 200-year-old building is planned for 18 months and should open to visitors at the end of 2022. (source: Lukáš Grinaj for TASR)
With Valentine's Day just around the corner, we're writing about music and nature lovers, but also body-shaming and a village in trouble.
Snow removal from wooden houses in the Kysuce Museum in the Chmúra Valley (Nová Bystrica) on February 8, 2022. (source: Erika Ďurčová for TASR)
FEBRUARY 14
Slovaks and the worst gift ideas for Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day, a day when those in love are expected to give their partner a gift, is around the corner.
In Slovakia, 64 percent of people celebrate the day and 69 percent of people buy a gift for their other half, according to a Picodi.com survey from last February. The website surveyed 11,000 people from 38 countries.
In 2021, most Slovak men planned to buy flowers for their partners. Women went for sweets. Both sexes considered dinner in a restaurant and new underwear.
And what gifts did Slovaks actually expect last February?
As many as 32 percent of men expected sports equipment, followed by delivery food and sweets. In the case of women, almost 60 percent said flowers. A trip, cinema or concert ticket and delivery food were also mentioned by women.
A Happy Valentine's Day window on Michalská Street in Bratislava on February 14, 2020. (source: Jaroslav Novák for TASR)
Picodi also asked Slovaks about the worst Valentine’s Day gift ideas.
Men did not wish to receive delivery food, a toy, a Valentine’s Day card, handmade gifts, and money. Money would be the worst gift for 32 percent of women. Electronics, board games, and books are also bad ideas, women said.
On average, Slovaks spent €65 on Valentine’s Day gifts in 2021.
Related: Looking for a nice place to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Here are some ideas from our archives.
TRAVEL
The much-loved village’s dilemma
Čičmany, a village known for wooden houses painted with white markings, has fallen victim to its own popularity.
The village lacks money for basic operations and struggles to pay its bills because the number of inhabitants has shrunk over the decades. However, tourists regularly flood Čičmany.
“The interest of tourists in this unique village is creating a burden,” said Peter Slyško of the Rajecká Dolina regional tourist organisation.
Tourists come to Čičmany to take pictures and all that is left is waste which needs to be cleaned by the locals, he added.
How could the village be saved? Read more here.
Čičmany is a living village, not an open-air museum. (source: Ján Krošlák for Sme)
Other travel news:
Set out on a trip to Piešťany, a spa town in Trnava Region. Here is our guide on the places to see.
A 1909 Hungarian locomotive will return to the railroad in the Kysuce Region museum after its renovation.
Road construction workers made a surprising discovery recently – a cave. Another cave, with human remains, was discovered by a couple on their weekend walk.
Archaeologists have confirmed people used to mine gold in Tužiná, a village in Trenčín Region.
MUSIC
Like Adele, a Slovak attends the Brit School
“There were just a few moments when music wasn’t playing in our house,” the young Slovak artist Nina Kohout tells Jeremy Hill on his podcast Na Slovensku Aj Po Anglicky.
Following her experience with Slovak bands Fallgrapp and Autumnist, she released her first single ‘Blue Sunray’ in 2020. In the same year, she won a Radio_Head Award.
Kohout had the urge to complete her musical education, so she decided to leave for England. She studies music production at the prestigious Brit School. Notable alumni include Adele, Amy Winehouse, FKA Twigs and Leona Lewis.
Singer Nina Kohout during her performance at Art in Park in Trenčianske Teplice, Trenčín Region, on June 24, 2018. (source: Radovan Stoklasa for TASR)
Nina Kohout has a fanbase in Slovakia, but she is a big unknown to British people.
“It was such a humbling experience to see an audience who doesn’t give a sh** about me,” the artist says on the podcast.
In spite of the pandemic, Nina Kohout released her EP Pandemonium in early February. Listen to her single Moonlight.
Folk song: Argentina-based Slovak artist Vanda released her rendition of the popular upbeat Slovak folk song ‘A ja taká čárna’, turning it into a dark slow song with an Argentinian feel.
Talent show: Singer Viki Jahrl, an Austrian artist with Slovak roots, has won the Austrian talent show Das Grösste talent. Listen to her song ‘Sag mir’, which she decided to share with the audience.
BRATISLAVA
Will authentic Carpathian nature return to Vydrica?
Vydrica, a new Bratislava nature reserve sprawling over the wooded slopes of the Small Carpathians, is hoped to become a showcase of how the authentic Small Carpathian forest looks.
A map of Bratislava's new nature reserve Vydrica. (source: Dano Veselský for TASR)
Upgrading the protection status of this locality changes nothing in the way people can use it for sports and recreation. But the logging of trees, construction activities and hunting are now forbidden.
The aim of establishing the nature reserve is to protect habitats of European and national importance and animals of European importance in this Bratislava territory.
Learn more about Vydrica in Jana Liptáková’s story.
WEEKEND READ
Tabloids ruined first Slovak Idol winner’s confidence
Slovak singer Katarína Koščová, much like the first American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson, is often fat-shamed in the media.
Tabloids have never cared about her music, only her appearance.
Katarína Koščová is a Slovak singer from Prešov. She is the first winner of the Slovak version of Pop Idol. (source: Vlastimil Slávik)
“Over the years of making my own music, it has turned out that if something comes up about me in the tabloids, it’s just about how ugly I look, how terribly I dress, or how I have put on some weight,” Koščová said in an honest interview.
She speaks about her struggles with anxiety, panic attacks, and how sorting out her mental health gave her the power to deal with her physical health.
That is it for this week. Have a great pre-Valentine’s Dayweekend! - Peter
Do you have any tips? You can reach Peter at peter.dlhopolec@spectator.sk
