THE PERFECT setting to try smoked knee.photo: Eric Smillie
THIS rare postcard of Važec from the early 20th century supports the notion that the social life in Slovak villages took place somewhere between the local church and the pub. You might think that it inclined toward the latter, for, as one can see through the windows of the pub (the big house on the right) it is full of people.
Three young women in traditional festive costumes pose in the middle of the road of this village near the north-eastern town of Poprad. The photographer probably intended to create an attractive postcard for tourists from the nearby High Tatras region. As fate would have it, the crowd of bystanders and their attire is probably more interesting, historically, than the three beauties.
In 1931, Važec was hit by a terrible tragedy. A huge fire reduced most of the village to ashes, leaving just a few attractive log cabins characteristic to the mountain regions.
Prepared by Branislav Chovan, Special to the Spectator
