Stužková and Christmas Markets

According to Google Translate, stužková means "graduations"--whatever that means. Mostly, it's a formal party, a combination prom and graduation bash, a kind of promissory note event at which fifth-year students are honored, and sign up for doing well for the rest of the year. The party comes in the fall because students are too busy (or they should be) studying for their maturita, the big test in multiple parts which determines how successful they've been as students and what path they can continue on. Since Paula is a teacher of fifth years, she got invited. Certain things happen at all of the events--the students get their green ribbons, they dance with teachers, there is a cake, and so forth. Each event goes on until the wee hours--Paula got home about 1:30AM from the 5B party in late October, and about 2:30AM from the 5A party in late November.

The Christmas Markets (Christkindlmarkt or Adventsmarkt in Vienna; Vianochné Trhy in Bratislava) opened between the parties--November 13 in Vienna and the next Friday in Bratislava. We didn't get to Vienna until yesterday, December 10. We enjoy both a lot. Advocates of Bratislava's say that the planners and participants keep it much more traditional, and the emphasis is on food. You can see them both; Bratislava on the left, Vienna on the right.Vienna has eleven(!) markets; we saw three; to be fair, each had its own character, and all were more commercial than Bratislava. Of course, we have been to Bratislava's much more often; not every day, as some local folks do, but a couple of times a week, anyway. Both feature great sausage, as you might imagine, and both have wonderful hot wine (glühwein in Vienna; veréne vino in Bratislava) in either red or white, spiced and sweetened. The white stuff in the picture is hlušky, Slovakia's national dish. Bratislava has more traditional crafts. In Vienna, we went to the large, traditional market first, then to the Spittelberg (about a kilometer), and last to the Altwiener Christkindlmarkt in Freyung, about half a kilometer. The central market is very impressive; the Spittelberg market, on several pedestrian streets, is very artsy; and the Freyung market, very upscale. Come visit us next Christmastime--we'll show you!

And the extra picture--we went to Pieštany last weekend with the International Church choir to sing in a choir festival. The town is flat, at least compared to Bratislava, so instead of taking children around in prams as they do here, people pull little sleighs! The sleighs can be rigged to carry a cradle-like apparatus for the very young, through sitting up. Grandpa was pulling grandson along and Paula snapped a picture. Yes, we've had snow. But more about that in January!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...Thanksgiving? Christmas? Holidays, Anyway

This little guy frequently meets us as we go from the bus stop to the school. He has nothing to do with the blog, but he's cute so his image comes to you. He has a couple of siblings and the mother apparently lives one street over.


Has it really been since November 7 since we posted last? Well, it has been busy. We went to the Slovak Wine Institute and got a tour, including tastes of ten wines. The institute is housed in an old castle that was used as a winery in the 19th and 20th Centuries. The Soviets, of course, had to try to make it more efficient with steel barrels for aging. Nevertheless, the Slovaks preserved several of the old wooden barrels, some of which had religious carvings on them. Many had wooden bungs; one had a glass stopper, so we had to take a picture.

The hunt was on--for sweet potatoes. What are they called in Slovakia? Sladke zemiaky, translated--sweet potatoes. Tesco had them, and then they didn't, and then they had them. Not exactly a widespread phenomenon here, but of course they have them all the time now! Maybe we'll get some and bake them. Paula made two casseroles, the first for
the American teachers' Thanksgiving, held in Bratislava on November 20, the Saturday before Thanksgiving Day. ELCA teachers came in from schools in Central Slovakia and Poland, and the American teachers in Bratislava invited guests as well. There were about 26 people there. The cook at the school prepared the turkey and cooked the potatoes; we mashed them. Paula also made green bean casserole with cream of mushroom soup from Marks & Spencer, the British department store, and French's dried onions from Janna Haug, wife of the pastor. Janna usually has coordinated the food and participation, but this year she was taking a river cruise with her father and brother, so Paula got that privilege. She also made the display with stuff from our flat, the open-air market, and Tesco. We also learned about the "It" game. Everybody contributes gag or white elephant gifts (wrapped). Each player has dice and rolls, and passes them quickly to the right. If the player rolls doubles, he or she claims a prize. After all of the prizes are claimed, winners open and describe them and then comes part 2. Players roll and pass as before, and if they roll doubles they "steal" a prize from another player. If the player rolls double sixes, the player calls "it!" and gets a soft toy thrown to them. The one who ends up as "it" at the end of the game gets a special prize, in this case, 20 euros.On Thanksgiving Day, after classes, the Student Council hosted a Turkey Party for the American teachers (and, truth be known, for the students themselves). One of the posters is pictured above; in case you can't read it, the little guy in the corner is saying, "Save a turkey--Order a Pizza!" Other posters will undoubtedly show up on Facebook. This was the occasion for Paula's second sweet potato casserole, which got eaten up post-haste. Needless to say, the spread for this party equaled the first feast; once again, the cook made the turkeys. Six in two weeks, in an apartment-sized oven! Some of the students did a "man (person?) on the street" video asking if their interviewees knew what "Thanksgiving" was, what got eaten, and whether Slovakia should adopt the holiday. Pretty much universally, the Slovaks interviewed said, "No." The sentiment would be lost. (Nobody ever takes a picture of the guy who takes pictures--hence the "deer in the headlights" look).

Then last weekend the Bratislava Christmas Festival Market opened. The Vienna market opened the weekend before, but we've not gone yet, so perhaps we'll devote a future blog to that. This is the night of the second Stuzkova event too, so that also will be a future topic. It's not as if we lack for things to write about; we just lack for the time!

Oh--Paula continues teaching, and Jim in the library. We spend most of our time doing that, truly we do! We got our first snow today; just a dusting, the sun came out, and it was gone by noon.

A Visit to Prague

Prague to English speakers, Praha in Slovenska and related languages, Prag to the eminently practical German speakers--whatever it's called, a beautiful city. We went there last weekend during Fall break, Friday to Tuesday. Prague has nearly 2 million inhabitants of the metropolitan area, about four times the size of Bratislava. Compare Denver to Chicago; each has its own flavor, but size does make a difference.

We'll let pictures do most of the communication. We stayed in a boutique hotel, the Dom Henrici, about a half kilometer from the castle, which means we climbed up stairs after each time we went to the center of the city. You will see the hotel, the stairs, the castle including the changing of the guard, the Charles Bridge over the Vltava River, and the parts of the city that we saw--the Old Town, the "New (from the 14th Century) city, and the Jewish Quarter. A few words will accompany the pictures to keep you oriented, but this is not a travel blog, so if you have questions, you'll have to ask us.

The church in the castle is named for St. Wenceslaus (as in the King o' the song, except he was a prince, not a king). You'll see a statue of him also in front of the National Museum; he's the patron saint of the Czech Republic (of Bohemia, actually). The Swartzenburg Palace, on our way to the castle from the hotel, has sgraffiti on it; no, not bad words or slogans. It's trompe l'oeil painting or etching meant to fool you into seeing stone.

Paula took a beautiful picture from the balcony of the cafe in the Lobkowicz Palace in the castle. Not heard of the Lobkowicz family? Neither had we, until we saw their stunning collections. Google them. Oh, by the way, we ate well, not only in the Lobkowicz (a little something pictured) but all five days.

We also seem to collect Frank Gehry buildings. The one(s) shown (there are actually two in the picture, not one) are called the dancing buildings, known locally as "Fred and Ginger" for Astaire and Rogers.

The bottom line is, we found, you can't compare the two cities. Both had important roles in former days, in former empires. One never had much of an industrial base, but even as it faded a little, kept its beauty for the tourists. The other had many industries, and outside interests pushed them at the expense of its beauty. In an era, and under a regime focused on industry, one stayed a tourist mecca and the other became even more a haven for industry. Now, when nations covet ideas more than ideologies, the smaller city encourages tourism and works to make up for lost time. We're glad to be here and watch it all happen. And we're glad to be back to meatloaf in our favorite restaurant.

Living in Bratislava (Part 3)

A couple of entries ago the first part of this "Living in..." series ended with a photo of the back end of a paparazzo, or what might have been one, or a performance artist, or something. We asked you to guess. Well, here's the front end, and it is indeed a sculpture! Do you feel shot?

If the temperature soars to 60 degrees in your area on October 24, do you think about shorts and a t-shirt? Well, Fahrenheit thermometers did get to about 60 today, and that led to an excursion (with the photographer properly attired in a jacket) to get some more photos of some of the outdoor art, mostly in the historical center of town amid the museums, shops, and restaurants. Of course, the restaurateurs in Bratislava prepare for the cool weather. Some restaurants roll up the sidewalk tables and chairs, while others just put blankets out on the chairs. Even 60 degrees, though did not tempt people to sit outside at the Irish pub. Some of outdoorsmanship has to do with the ordnance limiting smoking in restaurants. One pizza place we patronized has about three tables in the non-smoking section, but the pizza was good and we think their business consists mostly of carry-out.

But enough about food--on to art. Bratislava's fame comes in part from the sense of humor shown in the public sculpture. You can see pictures in guide books and on line. But only here on this blog can you see some of the rest of the story. You may have seen the Napoleonic soldier, but can you imagine what tourists do to him? Some sit right down without even asking permission. Others, like the guy in our photo, lean on him or cozy up. Or how about Schone Naci? He stays happy and tips his hat to the ladies even when tourists (or locals) are rude. Cumil, even if he acts like a letch by popping up from his manhole to look up ladies' dresses, still attracts performance artists (who are none too good if you ask me, even if the tourists tip them).

Bratislava has its fair share of serious outdoor art as well. For example, the Holocaust Memorial is right by the cathedral, as well it should be. It may be worth mentioning that the only active synagogue in Slovakia is right across the busy street from the cathedral, and both are connected by an underpass and an overpass. On the memorial, in Slovak and Hebrew, is the word for "remember." Tour guides take their charges to see it before they go into the cathedral. Most of those serious sculptures and monuments, however, will have to be a topic for another post.

Next week, Fall Break begins after a church service at about noon. We intend to take the train to Prague on Friday morning and prowl around, and that, likely, will be the subject of yet another entry.

Living in Bratislava (Part 2)

We claim to be living in Slovakia, right? And this is baseball, right? All true. Two of our American teachers play in the Slovak league, and Jon told us that they'd be playing an American team a couple of Saturdays ago, so we went. It was the Slovak League All-Stars against an American fantasy league team made up of some Minnesota Twins fans and some Boston Red Sox fantasy campers, all, ahem, older gentlemen. Actually, though, a couple of them were former major leaguers. In the picture above, our American lead teacher is coaching third base. We sat behind some women who came with the team and one of them turned out (small world) to be from Le Mars, Iowa, where Paula went to college. Westmar has now gone out of business, so they spent part of the time catching up on what was happening to the former college. Le Mars is now best known for being the home of Blue Bunny Ice Cream. The Slovaks won, 10-3, but the Americans may have been jet-lagged and didn't use their best pitcher.

We've had two concerts by the Slovak Philharmonic, last Friday and yesterday. Last night's was excellent. They are playing in the National Theater while their own hall is being renovated. As you can see from the picture, the substitute hall is not shabby. Today we took a trip to Trencin, a small city about 120km from here. It is famous for its castle; they closed the main section for renovation, but we walked around the grounds and the old city. A Roman inscription dated CE 179 indicates that this area formed the Northeastern-most boundary of the Roman Empire. As you can see. the castle has an ecologically friendly lawn mower; we even found the place where the lawn mower is kept.

The sun kept us company all day; it was about 56 or so by noon, and we had lunch outside on Ludovit Stur Square. If you don't know who he is, Google him! Then we walked around the city some more and visited the restored Early 20th Century synagogue; it had been desecrated at the beginning of World War II. While the city has provided a small worship room, there was little or no Jewish population left in Trencin after the war. The city now uses the space as an art gallery.


In brief, while we like Bratislava rather a lot, several nearby places recommend themselves as well. And last, lest you believe Bratislava has a corner on humorous statuary, we offer this Dickensian person climbing out of a well on the square where we ate lunch. If this leaves you wanting more, Paula promises to put additional pictures on Facebook soon, and we'll be back with new facets of the adventure in a couple of weeks or so. Ciao!