Cool it Down

The weather in Bratislava has been unbearably hot. Last week, temperatures got as high as +33C.The sweltering heat is far too much for me. I find it difficult to sleep and concentrate. I decided that I needed to cool down. One of the best places to cool down in Slovakia is Dobsinska Jaskyna (Dobsinska Ice Cave), which is situated in Slovensky Raj national park. All year round, Dobsinska Ice Cave enjoys cool temperatures of at least -1C. It has an impressive display of permanent ice and limestone, which makes it one of Slovakia's finest natural wonders. It looks like something from a setting of a science fiction film.

When in the cave, one can feel the cold, so it is advisable to wrap up warm. I felt my hands go totally numb for about 20 minutes, which made it difficult to operate my camera.

However, it is not that cheap. It costs 180sk for a 30 minute guided tour in Slovak and costs an additional 300sk (8GBP) to take a few pictures. Camera tripods in the cave are strictly forbidden, so don't expect to take any postcard-quality pictures. While I am used to paying extra in museums and caves to take pictures, 300sk seems a little pricey to take a few mediocre pictures on a digital camera. It is better value for money to enter the cave and buy a souvenir book with professionally taken pictures at 100sk.

Lost in Translation

I was recently in a Chinese restaurant when I kept on trying to say a very complicated word in Slovak. I kept on repeating the first part of it, trying to get it right. My slovak companion could not keep a straight face when I was tryiing to pronounce the name of a Chinese dish. The first part of the dish was called Vyhonky. I can't remember what I ordered, but it was some chicken dish with black bean sauce.
I kept on repeating 'Vyhon,' trying to get the pronunciation right. I was apparently saying something extremely rude, which would normally be heard in a Go Go Bar, not a Chinese restaurant. I checked out the meaning of the word, and I apparently asked the waitress for a 'w***'
The woman in the Chinese restaurant made no comments about my mispronunciation of this word. Instead, she patiently looked at me and asked me to point at what I wanted/

Eastern Paradise: The HighTatras and Slovensky Raj

On Saturday, we took a hike into the snow-capped High-Tatra mountains. Although the temperature in this region is over +15, there is still at least 3ft of snow in some areas. Before the snow completely disappears, locals are making the most of the ski season before it finally ends at the beginning of May. Walking in the Tatras is still pretty hazardous as you have to watch out for weak snow and hidden holes. I had to dig myself out of snow when I fell 3ft into some hole.

Slovensky Raj is another national park 20km south-east of Poprad. It is probably one of the most beautiful places in the country and has some impressive gorge walks and waterfalls. The gorge walks are treacherous as it consists of narrow ladders that can get slippery. To get through the gorge, one has to tread on narrow, slippery wet plates about 20ft above the bottom of the gorge. Dalibor, my companion managed to do this single-handedly with a 1-year-old baby strapped to him in an old bedsheet.

Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves

The most marginalised ethnic minority in Slovakia is the Roma. Roma people are frowned upon by even some of the most liberal of Slovaks. Many complain that Roma people are lazy, do not want to work and are thieves. Some also complain that no matter what people do to help them, they won't help themselves and will continue to steal and live in squalor. A large number of Slovaks also believe that the authorities have tried to do everything to help the Roma people to get into education and work.

Farmers have even tried to give the Roma vegetables so that they don't steal from their land. Yet, the attempt to stop them stealing potatoes from farmland has failed. Many Roma still continue to steal from lands, despite such handouts.

The Roma have a poor literacy rate, as many are excluded from state schools. According to statistics, only around 400 Roma out of a population of around 253,000 have made it into university.
Eastern Slovakia has the highest concentration of Roma settlements in the country.
The settlement in the first picture is in a village called Letanovce, close to Slovensky Raj National Park. The settlement consists of shack-like houses and is surrounded by heaps of rubbish. We managed to walk through the settlement without getting any hassle. A group of 5 kids just came and hassled us for sweets and one tried to go for my pockets. When I yelled 'bugger off' they seemed to understand.
This settlement is due to be demolished by local authorities who want to protect the nearby national park and want to move the Roma to better housing. However, many locals object to the Roma being resettled into new housing as the locals feel that Roma always get something for nothing at the expense of the taxpayer.

That said, there are a few succes stories of the Roma. My accompaniment told me how he know of the first ever Roma doctor who had to get past many levels of prejudice and discrimination. Furthermore, more Roma people are setting up legitimate businesses around the country, despite the obstacles they have to deal with from their peers and society.

http://www.slovakia.org/society-roma.htm

Goodbye ECB and The Driest April Ever??

It is a very sad day today. I am losing my favourite class: ECB (Energy Centre Bratislava) For now, the class has run out of budget for English classes for the rest of the year.
I will miss them dearly. If any ECB students are reading this, I would like to say that you are the best looking, most individualistic, the most demanding and most intelligent students I have ever taught. I will particularly miss my 'teacher's pet' who always made me tea, always turned up regularly and stayed after the lesson to talk to me. Sadly, that person is married.

The temperature has topped 25C, which must be a record for this region. It has put Spain and Britain in the shade. This is also worrying as it is the driest April I can remember. All month, we have had no more than 2 inches of rain. That said, the weather must be good for Slovakia's already fast growing economy. People are filling the beer patios, eating cheap ice cream and swilling gallons of Zlaty Bazant, Slovakia's finest beer.

St. George's Weekend

As most Britons know, or should know, yesterday (April 23rd) was St. George's Day. However, in England many still don't know who St.George was or when St.George's day is. In Slovakia, April 23rd is the name day of Jur (pron. yoor) , which is the equivalent of George. On name days, people of such names are given presents and cards by family and friends.
In Svaty Jur (Saint George) a festival was on the weekend to celebrate this day. For one weekend, this sleepy village was turned into a lively town with craft stalls and cheesy 'karaoke' singers doing renditions of songs such as Barbra Streisand's 'Woman in Love' and Allanah Miles' 'Black Velvet' to a few hundred individuals.

I like Birds

A couple of my favourite bird shots from Central Europe. The first three are pictures of the Stork - a common bird in Central Europe. Storks can be seen at the top of telegraph poles in rural areas. According to Polish folklore, the stork is meant to bring one good luck.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stork

Weekend break in Budapest

Vintage Hungarian Posters











Lenka enjoying a good value for money espresso

I have just got back from a weekend break Budapest. Although I have been here before, I thought that it would make a nice change of scene from Bratislava and would give me a chance to show my friends the beauty of the city.

On a previous post, I complained about the service in restaurants in Slovakia. However, in comparison to Hungarian service, they seem quite polite. Since I my arrival, I have many rude people who think they only owe themselves and don't seem to appreciate tourists in their city. To add to things, I've also had to deal with a hysterical Slovak companion who cannot be named for legal reasons.
She hates everything about Hungary and Hungarian people. She believes that they are rude, drably dressed and arrogant. What's more she feels that they are still hungover from the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

While I have complained about the service in Slovak restaurants, I have found that the service in many Budapest restaurants ten times as worse. We walked into one place and the woman threw the menu at us. She went mad when my friend politely asked what the price was for a small beer. The stroppy waitress just simply opened the menu and agressively pointed at the drinks. She went even more bizzerk when one of my friends politely asked after 30 minutes where our food was. She simply shouted 'Why???'

Our funniest moment has to be in an empty Chinese bistro. As we patiently waited to get served, the waiter continued to talk on his mobile phone for 15 minutes. After that time, we were in stitches, as it seemed that he was totally oblivious to the fact that we were there and wanted some food.

However, it was doom and gloom. Budapest is probably one of the most outstanding cities in Europe. The architecture is incredibly beautiful and there is so much to do here. Like elsewhere, there are good and bad people. Despite the extremely appalling service in some places, some Hungarians were actually hospitable and helpful. Members of the public are often willing to help out tourists who are lost and will sometimes translate.

I was so relieved to get back to Bratislava on Monday. The first thing I did was order a pizza from my local pizzeria. The waitress greeted me with a 'Dobry Vecor' (good eveveing) and a 'nech sapachi.' (for you.) She was so hospitable, welcoming and polite. It's good to be back.

raging universe and notes from Leah

I occasionally have time to search other people's blogs. Here are a couple of my favourite.

For a rival blog on Bratislava and other places, check out
http://notesfromleah.blogspot.com/

For a nice mish-mash of other stuff, check out
raging universe

Easter time

I haven't spent Easter in the UK for over 3 years. For most Britons, Easter time is just an excuse to clog up the roads and airports or to stay at home and do some DIY.
Easter time in Slovakia, on the other hand, is taken very seriously. The majority of Slovaks are devout Catholics who believe that Easter is more important than Christmas. For some, fasting up to Easter Sunday is part of the ritual. This is also the time where most churches are full.
It is also a time when Slovak women get cold water poured on them and get beaten with twigs. This is a pagan ritual which is meant to bring people good luck.

Springtime in the air

Spring is here at last!! After a few parky evenings earlier last week, the weather has finally got warmer and the tables are out again. The evenings are lighter and people are out in the hoardes to enjoy cold beer in the old town's patios. Yesterday, I decided to pay a visit to Devin Sands to enjoy the sunshine and the natural sandbergs in the cliffs. Sandberg is about 4km away from Devin Castle and can be reached from Devinska Nova Ves station

Spiš Castle

I am not normally a fan of castles. Castles are often overpriced and have very dull displays of old coins, heraldry and grumpy people running them. Many castles are also very similar to one another, especially in the Czech and Slovak Republics.
The ruins of Spiš Castle (pron. Spish) in eastern Slovakia, however, is one of the few exceptions. It is one of Slovakia's most well-known landmarks and has tremendous views of the town of Spisske Podhradie from the top.
The castle is situated in the town of Spisske Podhradie, and is a UNESCO landmark. Getting there is easy as it is on the road from Spisske Nova Ves to Poprad.

In 'loving' memory of a fascist

March 14th marked the 68th anniversary of the founding of the Nazi puppet state of Slovakia. 2007 also sees the 60th anniversary of the execution of it's Catholic priest leader, Jozef Tiso. Tiso founded the independent state of Slovakia in 1941. Slovakia's first wave of independence lasted until 1945 when it became reunited with the Czech Republic. Tiso was finally executed by Czechoslovak authorities on 18th April 1947.

He was a supporter of Hitler and ordered the deportation of 700,000 Slovak Jews to Germany in March 1942. To mark the anniversary, 150 young neo-Nazis and older-generation Slovaks gathered to his grave. According to a recent survey, 16% of Slovaks believed that he did a lot for Slovakia. Yet over 40% of Slovaks condemned Tiso's support for Hitler and the fact that he declared war on Britain and America.

Kosice: Full of Eastern Promise

Kosice (pron. Ko-Shit-Se) is Slovakia's second largest city and is situated around 450km away from Bratislava. It has a population of no more than 250,000 and has a small-town feel about the place. Unlike Bratislava, it is pretty laid-back, relatively quiet and friendly.

One of the nicest things about Kosice is that it is so compact that you don't need to take any buses or trams anywhere. Just hop off the train and the old town is 5 minutes away. What's more, it's old town is a lot better kept than Bratislava. There is less graffiti than in Bratislava and its buildings in the old town are well-preserved.

It also has its fair share of quality pubs such as the Kelt pub on the main street. The Kelt pub is a medieval theme pub that looks like something out of Lord of the Rings and sells traditional Slovak cuisine and fine white beer.

For a cheap, nostalgic pint, check out the Communist pub, close to the centre. Only 10sk for 0,3l and 15sk for a 0,5l pint. It's a bit smoky, but is a fave with older-generation proletariat.

Despite Kosice's beauty, some may find it too compact as everything is centred around one long street. There is not much to see outside the city apart from the natural geyser in a place called Her'lany. Her'lany is supposed to be Europe's only natural geyser that sprouts water up to 30metres in the air every 32 hours. I never made it to Her'lany because buses are infrequent and it takes 45 minutes to see a sprout of water.
By train, it takes about 6 hours to get there. I travelled on the painfully uncomfortable, dirty and slow night train from Bratislava, which cost me about 600sk.

Rip-off merchant bankers

The last couple of months have seen many newspaper reports about how British banks have been overcharging its customers with hefty overdraft fees. Banks have been charging customers £30 a time every time they go over their overdraft limits. According to consumer watchdogs, British banks have been acting illegally. As a result, people have been claiming back such charges.

However, there is one thing to be said about British banks: They don't charge people for having money in the bank, providing they are in credit. In Slovakia and the Czech Republic, however, the banks sting you for every penny, whether you are in credit or in debt. They charge 100sk for opening an accuont. You get charged extortionate amounts for withdrawing money from their machines. If you withdraw money from a cashpoint machine that isn't from the bank you belong, you get charged even more.

The Tatra Bank in particular are ruthless and crafty with their customers, despite their excellent reputation as an award winning bank. I recently learned about how the bank often adds extra money to people's accounts. This 'extra' money into people's accounts isn't actually theirs. It is a loan that the bank puts into people's accounts, even when they don't ask for it. This is so that they can sting the customers for interest on such loans. This recently happened to me when I found I had 7,000sk more than I actually should.

Despite such charges, most Slovaks seem to grin and bear it and say this is the way it is. When I mentioned to my boss about how such charges may be illegal, she said that the top banks would never act illegally.

Do's and Don'ts.

• DO NOT take out small amounts of money at a time. Instead, take out large sums in one go. This is because they will charge you every time they use the machines.
• DO NOT go for the internet banking option unless you really have to. The fee is very pricey
• DO NOT choose weekly or monthly bank statements. Go for quarterly statements, as they sting you for statements.

Slovakia's Healthcare

My migraine is still killing me, despite having taken strong migraine tablets, the doctor prescribed to me.
I decided to pay a second visit to the village doctor, as my migraine was not getting any better. My boss quickly wrote out a Slovak translation of my problem as the doctor could not speak any English whatsoever. He gave me a quick assessment and summoned me to Bratislava's top neurology department in a 1930s hospital in Americke Namesti, close to the centre .
The hospital waiting room was drab, grey and needed a lick of paint. The stretchers and wheelchairs seemed to date from the 1930s. As the place needed modernising, I wondered what the system was going to be like.

I was fortunate that I only had to wait 30 minutes for an English speaking neurologist to see me. She took my blood pressure and gave me a headscan. Fortunately, the headscan was negative as they could find no blood clot or tumour. She also gave me an x ray on my spine and injected some strong painkiller into my arm. On the whole, I was very impressed with how quickly they dealt with the problem and their good use of English. The neurologist also told me how people in the UK would have to wait for around 6 weeks to see a neurologist as the waiting list his huge.

The next day, I received a phone call from a woman in the village. She told me how concerned she was about my illness. I asked how she knew about this. She said that the village doctor told her everything. Doctors are not supposed to reveal anything, but this doctor couldn't resist bragging about how he dealt with an English patient. Although Slovaks tend to be reserved to foreigners, they apparently like to gossip and find out about other peoples' business.

Being ill in bratislava

I've had a hectic week this week. I've had a really nasty migraine for the last week or so. Went to the doctor's for the first time in Svaty Jur. Although I have healthcare insurance, I have to fork out 200sk if I want to make an appointment. Otherwise I just have to sit with a load of other people and wait to be called.
Fortunately, I didn't have to wait too long. The doctor did a very quick diagnosis of my migraine and ordered me some new pills called IBALGIN that would supposedly sort my migraine out straight away. He wrote out the prescrition and I went off to the Lekaren (Chemist) to get it. I tried 3 different chemists and they said they had never heard of this pill. I eventually found one chemist and they told me they would get it for me the next day.
Unfortunately, this wonder drug did very little for me as my migraines continue to wake me up in the middle of the night and interrupt my daily life.

Brno by train

Brno is Czech Republic's second largest city. It takes about 90 minutes by train from Bratislava and is well worth a visit. Brno is a lot quieter and more laid-back than Prague, but still has enough stuff to do and see in the daytime and a good variety of bars for the evening. Furthermore, it's cleaner than Bratislava as there is less graffiti and fewer winos on the streets. This city is also pretty vibrant and has many Herna bars and seedy joints. Just ask a taxi driver.

You should be warned about buying a return ticket to Brno. I thought that I could get on any train back to Bratislava. This was not the case. I planned on returning to Bratislava on the 18.21 train. Naturally, I got sidetracked in Brno's streets and missed it by 1 minute. I ended up taking a supertrain, which was ten times more modern an comfortable than the usual graffiti-daubed, squeaking train. Yet I didn't expect to be stung for a further 200sk. This train was a special train for reservations only.

Wherever you are, you are with the BBC. Or so I thought

When I arrived home after a hard day's teaching on 23rd January, I tried to tune into the BBC world Service only to find that hid had been taken off the air. I tried so hard to find it, thinking that the frequency may have moved. It was nowhere to be heard.
ON 93.8FM, the BBC's station had been replaced by Lumen, a Slovak talk station. I later found out that the reason that the reliable BBC world Service was taken off the air was because the govwernment decided that all radio stations need to be understood by the entire Slovak population. This legislation means that stations can only broadcast in Czech or Slovak. It's a shame when the socialist government wants to encourage more people to learn other languages. It is also a shame for those who tuned in especially for the station's Learning English programme.
Although programmes on this station are often dull, it provides a service and also enbales me to sleep at night. Since it was taken off the air, my insomnia has gradually got worse.

The BBC World Service is still available on TV, and of course online. I am now dependent on 5-minute podcasts of the latest news.

Goodbye to The Kyjev (1973-2007): The end of an Era (or error)

The Kyjev: So beautiful they had to cover it up with advertising

I heard some very sad news last night. The Hotel Kyjev, one of Bratislava's finest landmarks is to be demolished in April to make way for yet another glass building shopping and hotel complex. Fans of Bratislava's modernist architecture are said to be devastated to see such an important landmark go. In its prime, this was a five-star hotel where many VIPs stayed. However, due to lack of funds and interest in the place, the hotel has not been modernised since the 1980s.
When I walked into the lobby bar to use the wi fi facility, a prostitute sat next to me and gave me a light for a cigarette. I thought nothing of it, until she tried to kiss me. I instantly backed off. The woman then had the cheek to order a coke and get me to pay for it. When the bar man insisted that I should pay 40sk, I refused. She then asked if I wanted a solo. I declined and told her that I was married. She then asked me if I spoke German and started swearing at me, calling me AN ARSCHLOCH.

Enjoy it while you can. Enjoy the sleazy lobby bar with scraggy-looking prostitutes lurking around the reception, waiting to pray on desperate westerners who don't know any better.
Enjoy the super-high prices for very basic rooms with poor-quality bathrooms and radios that don't work. If you are interested in staying, they are accepting reservations until March.
The Tesco store is also likely to topple with the Kyjev, which is a blessing.