Blogs from Slovakia, Europe - page 43

Today I had one of the more interesting experiences I have ever had. Syvlia's aunt is a teacher at a special school in Slovakia. While these schools were originally intended for students with learning difficulties, they quickly became schools in which Roma (gypsy) children were placed. The principal of the school agreed earlier this spring to give me a tour and talk to me about the school when I came this summer. We toured through the school which has an enrollment of 400 students. Of those 400, 389 are gypsies. Many of the children live in horrible conditions and attend the school irregularly. Many are often quite dirty and don't have adequate clothing. Some are always hungry. Sylvia's aunt told me that one of her children will eat everything he is given, including anything the other ... read more

Today Sylvia and I drove to the village of Stitnik to see one of the oldest remaining churches in the region. The church was built starting in the 1300's and unlike many others from the same period, the inside of the church has been largely untouched, including many of the original wall paintings, which date to the 1300s and were copied after Italian works. The church also houses the oldest remaining pipe organ in Slovakia, which is from the period and amazingly, still works. Each prominent family in the town had private boxes for services, and a place was saved high in the back balcony for villagers who had leprosy. We arrived in the afternoon and were just in time to see the church before it was to be used for a funeral. If we had ... read more

Sylvia's dad drove Joyce, Sylvia, and I to Bratislava for the day while he was in meetings. We spent the day walking around the Old Town. We started at the President's palace and took a bus up to the hill where the castle is located. Unfortunately it is being remodeled (it was burned in the 1800s and has never been fully restored). We walked down from the castle to the original part of Bratislava and saw the original square. The highlight of the day was St. Martin's Cathedral, which was the location of many famous Hungarian coronations, including Maximillian II and Maria Theresa. It is funny that in two days, we have visited the only two examples of gothic church architecture in Slovakia, as the other is located in Kosice. We ate a lunch of fried ... read more

Today we spent the day in the villages of Janik and Moldava. Sylvia's mother's family lives in these two towns. We ate lunch in Janik with her Aunt's family and one of her favorite cousins, Ka. For lunch was my favorite soup, liver dumplings. This area of Slovakia is very near the Hungarian border so most towns are heavily mixed between Slovaks and Hungarians. Most village signs are bi-lingual and most people speak both languages although they are quite unrelated. ... read more

Dobry Den everyone. We are now in Slovakia in the High Tatras. We got here last night and have been enjoying the views of the peaks above us. We have been enjoying local slovak foods including pasta with nuts, pierogis and something called the Robbers Purse. Today we took a cable car to the peak. We were up about 2634m. Beautiful views above the clouds and we even had a cup of tea at the peak. Took a ton of photos. Tomorrow we head to Bratislava and then onto Budapest. Missing you guys, wish you were here. Enjoying the cooler temperatures here in Slovakia. love Katy... read more