Every week The Slovak Spectator brings you a selection of three short stories from across Slovakia from which pessimism and negativity are absent.
US skiing star amazed by Slovak jewellery
After her victory in Jasná, US skier Mikaela Shiffrin took home a specially designed crown inspired by Slovak folklore. (source: TASR)
Points in the Alpine Skiing World Cup standing were not the only thing Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) and Sara Hector (Sweden) took home from Slovakia’s Jasná ski resort last weekend. The winners of the slalom and giant slalom races each received a specially designed crown made by jewellery maker Petra Toth.
Sweden's Sara Hector celebrates on the podium after winning women's World Cup giant slalom race in Jasná. (source: AP/SITA)
“It’s gorgeous! Ďakujem,” Shiffrin wrote on Facebook, and shared a video showing the making of the crown, whose design is inspired by the traditional folk costumes of three villages in the Liptov region, where Jasná is situated.
Apart from the crown for the winners, Toth made special jewellery boxes with earrings and a pendant with each competitor’s race number. Their design echoed that of the crowns awarded to the winners of the slalom and giant slalom.
The earrings and pendant given to alpine ski racers in Jasná. (source: Facebook/Petra Toth)
After the award ceremony, Toth posted a picture of Shiffrin, calling her reaction “absolutely brilliant”.
Traditional potato pancakes ranked among best snacks
Zemiakové placky (source: Fotolia.com)
Traditional crispy potato pancakes – zemiakové placky in Slovak – are among the five best snacks in Europe.
The dish ranked fifth in the list of Top 100 Snacks in Europe, compiled by the popular food website Taste Atlas.
“These rustic, crispy potato pancakes belong to the traditional Slovak cuisine,” the website reads, adding that they are usually enjoyed as a main course or a side dish, being served mostly with hearty Slovak stews.
Another popular snack are lokše, a kind of dry potato pancake (resembling tortillas), smeared with goose fat. These can also be served as a main dish, filled with goose paté, or as a sweet dish, filled with poppyseed and jam. Lokše ranked 23rd.
Bratislava welcomes new wolf family
Bratislava Zoo is welcoming some new residents. (source: Facebook/Zoo Bratislava)
Bratislava's zoo has acquired some new animal inhabitants.
It welcomed a Eurasian wolf pack from DierenPark Amersfoort in the Netherlands in mid-January. The family has five members: the nine-year old parents, and their three sons born in 2019, 2020 and 2021. They were placed in a part of the zoo complex called Karpatský les (Carpathian Forest).
“Since these wolves had a relatively long journey to an unknown environment, they needed us to give them peace to settle down,” said zoologist Magdaléna Hadová. “Right after their release, they intensively monitored and explored the entire enclosure, but they got used to their new living space relatively quickly.”
Bratislava Zoo is organising a special event to introduce its new inhabitants to the public tomorrow, January 27, on what they are calling Wolf Saturday.
Five feel-good stories published by The Slovak Spectator to read:
Our colleague climbed one of the most beautiful peaks in Slovakia, Veľký Rozsutec, in winter. Read more about the trip.
Nitra-based startup Ecol Trade is helping a major retail chain in Slovakia go greener by using insect larvae.
The hospital in Bojnice, western Slovakia, has recently undergone reconstruction. Its entrance to the main building shows how the hospital environment can be connected with art.
Castles and a theatre. Check out which sites in Žilina Region reported the highest number of tourists last year.
The world should be ready for the next pandemic – but in the case of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, not so much, says Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka in an interview.
Political meme of the week
(source: Sme/Mikuláš Sliacky)
Caption: “I think the meeting in Uzhhorod was useful for both sides.”
The Sme daily cartoonist Mikuláš Sliacky comments on Prime Minister Robert Fico’s official visit to Uzhhorod in Ukraine this week. Fico’s Kremlin-friendly rhetoric earned him reprimands in the Ukrainian media in the run-up to his visit; in particular, he was mocked for his assertion that life in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv (to which other leaders, including Slovakia’s, have previously travelled) is perfectly normal, despite it coming under frequent and deadly Russian missile and drone attacks. Uzhhorod is next to the Slovak border and the furthest place in Ukraine from Russia.
You can send me your tips on good news stories about Slovakia or funny memes at: radka.minarechova@spectator.sk. Thank you!
