{"id":8721,"date":"2021-05-03T11:51:17","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T15:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=8721"},"modified":"2021-05-03T11:51:57","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T15:51:57","slug":"episode-331-touring-the-slovak-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=8721","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 331 TOURING The SLOVAK REPUBLIC"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE  441     TOURING THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC IN 1993<\/p>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
may 2, 2021<\/div>\n

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Find Gorbachov and Yeltsin\u2026wooden dolls writing dolls in a market.<\/div>\n

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Kevin rented a Skoda for our tour of the Slovakian Hinterland. A local car would<\/div>\n
keep us anonymous he felt.   So we would not be seen as tourists.<\/div>\n

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 I really wanted<\/div>\n
to see a collective farms.   We failed to do that.<\/div>\n

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There is nothing worse than a tourist who thinks he or she<\/div>\n
understands a foreign country after a visit that lasted only a few days.  That was us.<\/div>\n
We made generalizations faster than a cat could catch a mouse.   The  pictures in<\/div>\n
this Episode are just the result of a fast visit to the Slovak Republic in March 1993 <\/div>\n
when there was still snow on the ground.   Pictures a little too much<\/div>\n
on the sensational scale.  Just enjoy them.  Do not think they express the <\/div>\n
reality of life in Slovakia.  They are the result of a week end drive to the<\/div>\n
High Tatra mountains,<\/div>\n

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Not everyone loved us\u2026read  the Graffiti\u2026\u201dEnglish Rounders\u201d is not a compliment<\/div>\n

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Here is Slovak dog we met.  Not too friendly with a muzzle made of steel.<\/div>\n

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A rural farm\u2026family owned I assume\u2026not a collective farm in other words.  I believed<\/div>\n
incorrectly that we would see many large collective farms.  We did not.  The whole<\/div>\n
issue of land ownership has no simple answer.   I loved these old rural buildings<\/div>\n
but they were not the norm.<\/div>\n

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Charming rural scene\u2026but not usual.   Must avoid generalizing.  Busy streets with<\/div>\n
cars, trucks, busses were the norm just like any other country.<\/div>\n

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As we began to enter the mountain country\u2026heading for the High Tatras Mountains<\/div>\n

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Yes, that is a New Hampshire hen I think<\/div>\n

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\u201cKevin, stop the car\u2026that looks like a collective farm barn..huge\u2026must be<\/div>\n
used by many families.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDad, look at the roof\u2026the barn is a wreck just like some in Ontario. This is not<\/div>\n
a farm.”<\/div>\n

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\u201cKevin, pull over here. This looks like it might be a collective farm\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWe are not stopping\u2026there are people watching us from the far wall\u2026must<\/div>\n
be a little careful.\u201d<\/div>\n
(Sure enough there were people\u2026men\u2026maybe a problem, maybe not\u2026we continued)<\/div>\n

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the house is newish\u2026but the storage buildings are ancient\u2026potatoes, apples, whatever.<\/div>\n

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Pictures often distorted reality.<\/div>\n

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Charming village street.  But not the norm.  Most Slovaks live in tall Soviet built<\/div>\n
apartment buildings.   I should have taken a picture of them but did not<\/div>\n

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March 1993 was not the tourist season\u2026apparent here<\/div>\n

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The sale of Soviet era officers hats at a market.<\/div>\n

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Dolls made from fine woodwork and corn husks\u2026very fine work.<\/div>\n

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There seemed to be lots of castles\u2026some in ruins, others seemed inhabited<\/div>\n

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Here we are on top of the Tatra mountains.  Many Slovaks go up here just to go<\/div>\n
hiking along the peaks.   <\/div>\n

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Kevin and Marjorie going up or down.  I was going the opposite way.  We took a bottle<\/div>\n
of wine with us for our top of the mountain lunch.  We were not supposed to do that<\/div>\n
we discovered.<\/div>\n

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Second last picture\u2026end of our Slovak adventure.   Too bad Kevin\u2019s eyes are closed but<\/div>\n
I was not looking at him. My eyes  were on the woman in pink<\/div>\n

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I think this is the best picture to use as a conclusion.  Generalization from this boys’<\/div>\n
face would be accurate.  We had a good time.<\/div>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE  441     TOURING THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC IN 1993 alan skeoch may 2, 2021 Find Gorbachov and Yeltsin\u2026wooden dolls writing dolls in a market. Kevin rented a Skoda for our tour of the Slovakian Hinterland. A local car would keep us anonymous he felt.   So we would not be seen as tourists.  I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8721\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}