Baba's Pierogies restaurant in Brooklyn. (source: Facebook/Baba's Pierogies)
Every week The Slovak Spectator brings you a selection of three short stories from across Slovakia from which pessimism and negativity are absent.
Brooklyn-based restaurant with Slovak roots
Situated in Brooklyn, the most populous borough of New York City, is a restaurant serving pierogi (normally known as pirohy in Slovak) whose recipes originate in the eastern Slovak village of Litmanová, situated near the border with Poland.
One of the owners of Baba’s Pierogies is Helena Fabiankovič, an American with Slovak-Ruthenian roots. When starting the restaurant with her partner Robert Gardiner, she took inspiration from her grandmother, Júlia Hlinková, who arrived in the US in 1969, with recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation.
Among the traditions the family kept after arriving in NYC was to cook pierogy every Friday, as Forbes magazine wrote in 2022.
“The only difference was that the ingredients on hand were a bit different than the ones she would find in her homeland of Slovakia,” the official website of the restaurant reads. “Thus, the ‘Baba’s Potato’ flavoured pierogi was created, which incorporates American cheese with potatoes as the filling.”
These days, the restaurant, opened in 2015 as Brooklyn’s first handmade pierogi restaurant, serves a variety of traditional and non-traditional fillings as well as vegan variations and a handful of innovative dessert options.
Parents and enthusiasts paid for the first public observatory in Bratislava
The new observatory is situated on the roof of a Bratislava-based school. (source: Deutsche Schule Bratislava)
A new public observatory was opened in Bratislava in late April.
Situated on the roof of Deutsche Schule Bratislava, a German international school, it is the very first to be located in the capital. Its ambassador is the first Slovak astronaut, Ivan Bella.
“I’m extremely happy that the rule that Bratislava is the only capital in Europe which does not have its own observatory intended for the public will cease to apply,” Bella said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
The DSB Observatory was built thanks to the efforts of parents of children who attend the Deutsche Schule Bratislava, the Education Ministry wrote on Facebook. They collected about €200,000 via various fundraisers.
The capacity of the observatory dome is 20 people, and it houses two telescopes – one for night observation and the other for observing the Sun, TASR reported.
It will be run in cooperation with the Slovenské Planetáriá civic organisation, and is set to be used by the astronomy club and its private members as well as children, young people and university students. It is expected to open its doors to the general public in autumn or at the end of the year.
The captivating beauty of poppies
Drivers and cyclists who take the road running between the districts of Lučenec and Rimavská Sobota in southern Slovakia are currently being rewarded with a magnificent view.
The road is lined with fields full of blossoming red and violet poppies.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the fields full of sunflowers, but blossoming poppy is also really beautiful,” Mirka Kovácsová, who passed by with her husband, told the MY Novohrad regional newspaper.
Those who stop by to take a picture should remember they should not enter the field, in order to avoid destroying the plants. Nice shots can be taken directly from the road, the newspaper noted.
Five feel-good stories published by The Slovak Spectator to read:
The fossil of a previously unknown species of gecko was found in south-west France in 2023 by an international team that included Slovak palaeontologist Andrej Čerňanský.
Afterburn, an action movie starring Oscar nominee Samuel L. Jackson, is currently being filmed at various locations around Slovakia. The film, set a decade after a solar flare ravages technology across the globe, has been adapted from a graphic novel series of the same name.
The museum in Červený Kláštor, eastern Slovakia, will take you back to the time when the buildings on the site, designed for quite contemplation and prayer, were first put to use. Those who find themselves enchanted by the cloisters can experience a monastic life for themselves.
Forests, mountain meadows, waterfalls, bison, wolves and complete darkness are all found in the Poloniny area. Besides its natural beauty, visitors can also experience the warm hospitality of the local people. Check out the tips for visiting this part of eastern Slovakia.
The European Commission added Trenčianska borovička ‘JUNIPERUS', a spirit drink from Slovakia, to the register of Protected Geographical Indications (PGI).
Political meme of the week
(source: SME/Mikuláš Sliacky)
With a meme titled “And what’s new with you?”, caricaturist Mikuláš Sliacky responds to the current situation in society following the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Robert Fico in Handlová, a mining town in western Slovakia, on May 15. Fico was taken to hospital where he underwent extended surgery. Even though his health condition has been stabilised, he remains in a serious condition. Meanwhile, the attacker has been charged with attempted murder.
You can send me your tips on good news stories about Slovakia or funny memes at: radka.minarechova@spectator.sk. Thank you!
