""THE OLD COUNTRY"" Slovakia by lmkluque

Under Construction:

Welcome to my Slovkia page,

The title: "THE OLD COUNTRY" has a double meaning in this case. First, it is a common expression that means the country from which we came before arriving in the USA. Second, this page is not an up-to-date source of information about the Slovak Republic, because my visit was almost twenty years ago and this place was known as Czechoslovakia, a satellite country of the USSR, and Czechoslovakia has become the old country. Slovakia is the NEW COUNTRY literally.

However, here I tell about my personal journey through the part of the world that my ancestors came from. I found something timeless about this trip and for that reason, think it may be of some use to a present day traveler or to a "roots" searching individual. It was the people that most impressed me and the strong sense they had of tradition that transcended any political moment or even any geographical name given.

When my grandfather left his homeland, his village was not called Vlachovo, nor was it even from the country of Czechoslovakia, that he departed. The country he came from was known as the Habsburg-Austria-Hungarian- Empire and the village, Olaf Potak.

So much history has molded this part of the world, but one fact is as definite now as it was then, we were and are Slovaks! I guess with all the Czechs, Austrians, Hungarians and Germans milling about, it was important not to lose sight of who we were. Even in far off Montana, where my grandparents ultimately settled, it was vehemently made quite clear that we were Slovaks.

Vlachovo, a village located in the eastern half of Slovakia, was included on my tour and though it was probably the least interesting place in terms of world travel, it opened up worlds of unexpected information about this country and it's people. This was a personal journey for me and I will share some of my obversation of that obscure spot. I believe from my experience there are clues which reveal the kindness, generosity of spirit and fun loving nature of the Slovak people.

Grandfather left his home with his best friend, Geza and the two adventurous young men traveled to the USA to build a new life.

Some years later, through an arranged marriage, my grandmother left the same small village and joined her her brother. She married his best friend and in doing so, they became my grandparents.

Due to traumatic historical events, they never stepped foot in their village again.

More than seventy years passed before a member of their American born family returned. I am that family member. In Slovakia I found a new family, kind, generous and loving.

I Hope You Enjoy Your Visit,
Linda

Beautiful old buildings but not taken care of.

In 1988 I went to Czechoslovakia, a communist country, to meet relatives for the first time. I was a bit nervous going in. Not only as a Westerner, but worse than that! An American! You may think I was being foolish, I wasn't far off the mark. My Slovak relatives were nervous too!!

They wanted to meet me, but didn't know how my visit would effect their work positions and their school positions. Thankfully, we brought no attention to ourselves and the only outcome of my visit was a wonderful time had by all.

However, before knowing how it would all end up, I entered the country at Bratislava with mixed emotions. You can read about "My Thrilling Story" to get an idea of the climate of the times back then. I didn't stay in Bratislava and am sorry for that, but meeting family was more important and am not sorry about that.

I flew to Kosice which was my first stop into the past. I met family members, toured the city and later, we drove to Vlachovo, the village of my grandparents, where I met the rest of my Slovak family and not only walked through the whole village, but I learned much about life as they lived it and they learned a bit about mine as well.

My first impression of life in Czechoslovakia was that it was much like the USA, but fifty years earlier.

A new country emerges with it's New Flag!

Now, my family lives in their own NEW Country, The Republic of Slovakia. Though the prospect of this change was scary at first, things are going well for them and the adjustment wasn't as hard as they had expected.

On my return from Slovakia, my father, along with his brothers & sisters and I, chipped-in to bring one of our Slovak cousins to the USA for a visit. By the time she received permission from her govenment, the Velvet Revolution had just occured. Her reactions to things here fascinated me but one of the most revealing reactions was expressed near the end of her two month stay, she was most tired of all the choices!

One thing she liked very much was 7UP and was thrilled when she returned home to find that this product was now available in her own country.

At a local market she asked the clerk for a bottle of 7UP but the clerk said they didn't have anything like 7UP. My cousin saw the bottles on the shelf behind the clerk and argued with her a bit. Still the clerk refused, saying that they didn't have it. Finally my cousin pointed to the bottle and said, "I want that!"

"Oh," Says the clerk. "You want ZUP!"

Of course, my cousin laughed at the mix-up and then explained the proper name, but we wondered, would ZUP become the Slovak word for 7UP?

Since that time there have been many more changes, imagine my surprise to learn that even the street's names are different. Keep in mind all the changes that have probably been made since 1988, as you read my tips, but remember, the people are still wonderful and the sites are even more plentiful and more beautiful.

• Pros:Full of new and interesting experiences.
• Cons:Not enough time to see it all!
• In a nutshell:Beautiful and Enchanting!