(source: Image by Freepik)
Talk about doggedness. Every year, several dozen Slovaks wind up in hospital after poisoning themselves (otrávili sa) with bad mushrooms (jedovaté hríby). But for every death or green-faced patient, thousands of others take to the dripping fall forests, sure of their ability to tell edible mushrooms from their lethal cousins.
Mushroom picking (zbieranie húb or hríbov - the terms are interchangeable) is a national passion. If you can get out of bed early enough in October, you will hear the following conversation in train stations all over the country, with both pensioners and young people clutching baskets (košíky) and shouting across the platforms:
"Kam ste sa vybrali?" (Where are you heading to?)
"Na huby predsa." (To pick mushrooms, obviously.)
