Actors in front of the pool at the Eva swimming pool in Piešťany. (source: Facebook/Trnavský kraj zážitkov)
The functionalist Eva swimming pool in Piešťany, a cultural monument, plays host to an international water polo tournament each October, following the end of the summer season. However, for off-season visitors to the pool this year it wasn’t the water polo players in their caps who were the stars of the show, but actors in period costume who slowly walked from the indoor pool building to the diving boards above the athletes.
Water polo fans – wrapped in autumn jackets by the outdoor pool – watched in surprise, phones in hand, and recorded the silent scene. Opposite them, on the other side of the pool, a small group of tourists wearing headphones were listening intently to the final chapter of a story about Ľudovít Winter, the businessman who turned Piešťany into a world-renowned spa town.
“It was really cool. I liked the outfits,” said a young woman from Florida, who introduced herself as Belgica, speaking to The Slovak Spectator after the performance. She had come to Piešťany, a town just one hour by train from Bratislava, to support her father, a water polo player, at the Anti Kajlich Cup, named after a local water polo player and world champion who migrated to the United States during the communist era and later founded a successful aquatic equipment company in Australia.
The short scene that the American visitor had just witnessed, from the “Piešťany According to Winter” (Piešťany podľa Wintera) walking tour, which has been held regularly in spring and autumn since 2022, was a pleasant surprise. Belgica expressed an interest in attending the full tour in the future: “The story sounds interesting,” she added, after reading a leaflet about the tour in English.
The two-kilometre walking tour, which follows in Winter’s footsteps around the town, was previously offered in Slovak and Hungarian. It premiered in English at the end of September this year. The regional tourism board for Trnava Region confirmed to The Slovak Spectator that the English version will be available in upcoming seasons, with the next scheduled for spring 2025. “We are also working to include this walking tour in travel agency packages, aiming to attract organised groups of tourists,” said Martin Palkovič from the tourism board. For now, individuals can register online. Tickets cost €12-14, with a refundable deposit of €20 for rental of the audio headset. Tours run even in rainy weather, with umbrellas provided.
