List of author's articles, page 2
Štrbské Pleso: High Tatra hub
HUNDREDS of years ago, when serfdom was abolished and land was passed to locals by the Hungarian royalty, Štrbské Pleso (Cleft Lake) and its surrounding forests were given to local Slovak peasants. They did not appreciate the gift.The Štrba locals were incensed at being given what they said was worthless land. Calling the lake itself a "useless pond", they threatened to drain it and use the reclaimed meadow for pastures to salvage some value.But the forests were not worthless at all, writes Ján Lacika, author of Tatras, a book about the mountain range. It's just that the 13th-century peasants did not realise the potential for tourism back then.
Kremnica: A well-kept secret
WITH EACH VISIT to Kremnica, my wonder grows at how a town this lovely and intriguing could be so routinely disregarded. But it seems that when people think of former mining towns, they are rarely able get past the uniqueness of nearby Banská Štiavnica. This is understandable, but unfair.The fact is, Kremnica has everything a traveller could ask for, in any season: plenty of hiking trails, superb skiing conditions, an achingly picturesque main square and castle, a celebrated history and the finest statue in Slovakia.Kremnica is today a secluded mountain town of 7,000 inhabitants. But from the 14th to the 19th centuries, it was one of the richest cities in the Hungarian kingdom. Because the surrounding hills were loaded with gold, King Karol Robert Anjou declared Kremnica the royal coin-minting town in 1328. The so-called Kremnica ducats produced here were among the most valuable coins in Europe. The town's minting past can still be viewed at the Museum of Coins and Medals on the main square, Štefánikovo námestie.
Slovak hotels: Expect the unexpected
Travelling for this year's Spectacular Slovakia travel magazine, I have stayed in dozens of hotels around the country. And while I have had my share of bizarre experiences - I once stayed in a hotel in Žilina that shared a building with a brothel - I have been overall quite pleased.Foreigners and Slovaks alike often talk about Slovakia as if it were a backwoods destination where the services are sorely lacking. This may be true in some cases. But Slovak hotels and pensions are typically clean and comfortable, if not austere, with employees that are almost always nothing short of charming.Concerning employees, many hotels have receptionists who speak English, at least enough to arrange the logistics of a foreigner's stay. But some don't. So here are some key phrases:
Piešťany: Take it easy
PIEŠŤANY, I discovered on my last visit, is the kind of place you limp into and skip out of.The most famous spa town in Slovakia, Piešťany has attracted visitors for two millennia. Roman soldiers are believed to have first bathed in its healing waters around the time of the birth of Christ. Then, in 1421, King Žigmund of Luxembourg travelled great distances to sample the waters for himself. Seemingly everyone who is anyone has been here, from Bulgarian Czar Ferdinand I to former PM Vladimír Mečiar, hockey star Jaromír Jágr and supermodel Claudia Schiffer.
Topoľčianky: Presidential treatment!
AMERICAN presidents holiday at Camp David, British royalty at the Balmoral castle retreat in Scotland. Normal people like you and me are not allowed to vacation there. We are not permitted to walk in the footsteps of world leaders like 'Dubya' or Prince Charles.But in Slovakia it's different. Since President Schuster spends his summers stalking panthers and getting kidnapped by natives in the Brazilian Amazon, the former Czechoslovak presidential summer retreat is available for other guests. Consequently, anyone with Sk2,000 ($40) to spare can sleep in the very bed that presidents of the first Czechoslovak state slept in, at the Topoľčianky manor house.
Arthur Bolstein takes Einstein to task
KOŠICE - ALBERT Einstein was an extraordinary man. Arthur Bolstein, according to a former teacher, "is a madman".But he may not be so mad after all. At least one thing is clear: while he is not (yet) in Einstein's league as a scientific mind, Arthur Bolstein is anything but ordinary.Four days a week, the 36-year-old scientist and mathematician is up before dawn running 16 kilometres "through snow, rain, or whatever", capped with an early morning beer. "I do a lot of thinking when I run," he said.
Culture Shock: Sports is a different game in Slovakia
The culture of sport, I have discovered, differs around the world. This probably explains why my Slovak friends don't share my enthusiasm for the upcoming Super Bowl. Of course, by the time most of you read this, it will have already occurred. But for me, pre-deadline and pre-Super Bowl, I'm just randy with anticipation.The first Super Bowl I watched in Slovakia was in 1999 when the Denver Broncos beat the Green Bay Packers. I stayed up late to catch the midnight kick-off, and stayed with the German telecast ('Das ist super diving catch!') until four in the morning.The following year, when my favourite team (St Louis Rams) made the Super Bowl, I made plans to travel to Prague because I'd heard of a sports bar that would show the game on live satellite feed with American commentators. Because of a lack of funds, I ended up settling for the German telecast in Bratislava again, but the will to travel five hours each way just to watch a football game was certainly there.
Phare funds get penzión off ground
SMIŽANY - Mária Kramárová happily acknowledges that she lives in one of the most beautiful areas in the world.The eastern Slovak town Smižany, where she and her husband Peter started the Penzion Mária in 1990, is sandwiched in the Hornád Valley between popular tourist destinations such as Slovenský raj (Slovak Paradise) national park, the Spišský hrad castle ruins, and the High Tatras mountain range.
Schuster is right: Trains are better
A FRIEND recently offered to drive me from Spišská Nová Ves to Bratislava. Thinking of the money I'd save on a train ticket, I gladly accepted.But no more than five minutes into the ride, regret set in. As we flew down ice-covered highways, dodging Škodas and passing delivery trucks at obscene speeds, I ached for the calm of a train. In Žilina, I begged out of the car and finished my journey by rail.I'm with President Schuster, who after surviving a car crash outside Nitra two weeks ago swore off driving in Slovakia during the winter. Car travel is just too dicey.
US to assist local economies
PREŠOV: THE US government has given $500,000 to four different Slovak cities to develop and implement a strategic plan for local economic development.In the eastern Slovak city of Prešov on January 16, US Ambassador to Slovakia, Ronald Weiser, signed a memorandum of understanding with the mayor, Juraj Kopčák, marking the final deal. Trnava, Šaľa and Humenné have also been granted funds, all to be provided by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Project Infovek funding 'not enough'
ORGANISERS of Project Infovek, a non-profit organisation of teachers and educational professionals trying to connect every Slovak basic and secondary school to the internet, say the programme is being stunted by inadequate funding.The state budget for 2002 calls for Sk265 million ($5.5 million) to be spent on the programme. Last year, Infovek received Sk210 million, while in its first year, 1999, it was allocated Sk80 million.The money is inadequate for the programme to reach its goal of connecting every school to the internet by 2004, said Beata Brestenská, Infovek co-founder and a member of the Ano non-parliamentary political party.
A guide to skiing the Slovak slopes
IT had been 12 years since I'd last skied, so staring up the steep mountainside was discomfiting to say the least. Masking my fear, I put on my bravest face and joined the queue for the chairlift.Getting on was no problem, which is more than my companion, a skiing veteran of the Slovak slopes, can say.After getting me to believe that the hill was not that steep and that I would have no problems remembering how to ski, she promptly got blindsided by the metal chair, losing both poles, a ski and her rucksack in the process. Confused and shouting in English and Slovak, she nearly fell off, but hung on for dear life and managed to get to the top, one ski and all.
2001: Old ghosts, new friends and constitutional reform
Again a year of contrasts, 2001 saw Slovakia make strong headway in European Union and Nato integration, and yet struggle with racial violence from fringe elements and police ranks. A squabble over introducing yoga to Slovak schools may have been the nadir, while getting agreement on Constitutional reform and regional elections will be remembered as major successes for the Mikuláš Dzurinda government. But as the year ended, fears over a comeback in 2002 by former PM Vladimír Mečiar remained.January 1: President Rudolf Schuster criticises the government in his New Year's address to parliament, attacking the coalition for internal bickering and slowing the pace of key reforms.
Vihorlat investment: It's about time
SNINA - The Vihorlat Snina factory, once the major employer in this far eastern Slovak region, has been bought by Vihorlat s.r.o., a firm co-owned by the Dutch firm Cebuwa (66%) and the Slovak Hubertus (34%).The sale, which occurred in the fifth round of a year-old bankruptcy tender, was reported to have brought Vihorlat creditors Sk220 million ($4.6 million). Local residents and town representatives said they hoped the change in ownership would mark the end of a long series of layoffs and the beginning of an economic upturn in the poor - and neglected - Snina region."The Vihorlat factory is very important to Snina and the whole region, therefore this investment is crucial for us," said an assistant to the town mayor, Štefan Milovčík, who refused to give her name.
Košice: Little interest, less info
KOŠICE - Less than 22% of the voting population in the Košice region cast ballots in regional elections, the second lowest turnout among Slovakia's eight regions. Of 581,798 registered voters only 126,803 participated. Pre-vote predictions had estimated a turnout of 40%.Zuzana Chovanová, the chairperson of the central Košice voting commission, blamed the low turnout on voter ignorance of the candidates."Right now only 13% of this district's voters have cast their ballots and we are expecting a low turnout, perhaps 25%," Chovanová said five hours after the polls had opened.
Foundation crosses Europe's borders
KOŠICE - The Carpathian Mountains region has traditionally been one of Europe's great cultural melting pots. Covering some 140,000 square kilometres, the land of Dracula is home to over 14.7 million people, eight different languages and five major religions.It is also the poorest region in modern Europe. Including eastern Slovakia and proximate regions of Poland, Ukraine, Hungary and Romania, the Carpathians have the highest birth-rate on the continent, the highest migration rate, plus the biggest European Roma population.What is more, the once unified geographic region is today dissected by a slew of national borders, complicating international cooperation and further isolating nearly forgotten villages. Which is where the eastern Slovakia-based Carpathian Foundation enters the picture.
The shopping basket rule debunked
For many foreigners, one of the more alien aspects of life in Slovakia is the grocery basket rule. Even when buying just one item, shoppers apparently must have a košik (meaning both a basket and a shopping trolley) in order to enter the retail area of a store.But according to a handful of shop owners and employees in Spišská Nová Ves, the rule is not a rule at all. "You don't need a basket. It's just normal in Slovakia for people to carry baskets," said one clerk."During socialism it was more or less a rule intended to keep people from stealing - if you only have one free hand, it's more difficult to pocket goods. Also, for smaller shops, it was a way to make sure that too many people weren't crowded into the store at once. But now there are so many grocery stores and so much competition that this is no longer a problem."
Pushing east: A low risk retail investment
The hypermarket rush has spread across the country to the eastern reaches of Slovakia. Virtually non-existent outside the Slovak capital three years ago, large supermarkets, or 'hypermarkets', can today be found in nearly every Slovak city.Tomáš Kmeť, an economic analyst at SLSP bank, is not surprised, saying that the Slovak market was "hungry" for large shops where customers could buy a wide variety of goods in a single location."These firms discovered that there was an opportunity in the east. A few years ago there were no malls, shopping centres or large supermarkets in the east of the country, but now they're everywhere," he said.
Students get interactive on the web
BARDEJOV: In a Vinbarg Basic School classroom in this north-eastern Slovak city, a sign hangs on the wall: 'The interactive classroom will connect Vinbarg Community to the world'.Today the school is connected. Thanks to a dedicated team of volunteers and a large donation by the US Peace Corps, what was once a barren classroom is now Bardejov's first interactive classroom, complete with two new computers with internet access, a CD player and a copy machine."We have created a viable and functioning resource centre which will help students learn more about the internet and the world, and will also help teachers better prepare for their lessons because they now have all necessary materials and resources within their reach," said Jozef Barborík, a Vinbarg teacher.
Students opening doors to employment
KOŠICE: How does a university graduate in the Košice region, home to some of the country's highest unemployment rates, gain the essential work experience many companies now demand of new employees? According to non-profit student organisations operating in the east, the answer is to leave the country."It's very hard to find a job here, but there are other ways to get students practical experience to make them more attractive for employees," said Ľubomír Žiak who works for Best (Board of European Students of Technology), an international student organisation focused on preparing students for the 'real world'.Best arranges international study programmes and internships aimed at giving students foreign work experience and a more attractive resume.
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- Culture minister, Betliar Museum employees blame each other for problems More articles ›
